Motivating employees to stay healthy

One of the best methods of increasing productivity and improving company morale is done through the use of encouraging employees to stay healthy. Employees that live unhealthy lifestyles are costing companies billions of dollars without even realizing it.Recent studies have found obesity (a condition that can be largely preventable) to have cost United States businesses over 12.7 billion dollars in health care, sick leave, and life and disability insurance. It has been found that 50 - 70 percent of all diseases can be associated with lifestyle choices and are therefore preventable. If these types of costs are preventable, then how do you help your employees make the changes necessary to stay healthy?

Below are list of ideas companies have employed to help motivate their employees:

• Provide employee health contests. Many companies sponsor walk or ride to work days. This encourages individuals to get a little more exercise than they normally do by encouraging them not to drive. Other contests might include things like "The Biggest Loser" type challenges. Those employees that feel they want to lose weight can all work together to accomplish their goal by using positive peer pressure in helping encourage them to achieve their goals.
• Provide partnerships with local health programs or gymnasiums. Many individuals say that the limiting factor for exercising is the cost of memberships to gyms or health classes. Businesses that can partner with such companies can provide memberships at discounts or even provide a free class for employees from time to time.
• Provide on-site exercise classes or programs. Some businesses have gone as far as providing their own company gymnasiums that employees and their family members can use during lunch, before and after work. They might offer exercise classes during lunch hours like Yoga.
• Provide rewards for employees that don't use sick leave (but who don't also come into work when very sick). Some businesses have begun to reward employees for unused sick leave days. They have been able to cash them out, or use them as trade for new equipment (like a better chair), etc. Public recognition is also a great way to reward employees for healthy living. Think back to the days of elementary school, everyone worked hard to get that certificate for Perfect Attendance.
• Eliminate unhealthy snack foods from vending machines. You don't have to cut out the entire array of snack foods people enjoy, but work with the vending companies to provide a more balanced selection. Make sure there are drinks that have less sugar and caffeine. Or snacks that are healthier than potato chips and chocolate.
• Encourage programs to help individuals with specific addictions like smoking, anemia / bulimia, over eating, etc. Help employees that have these types of addictions by providing partnerships or referrals to programs that can help them if they want to take on the challenge.

A recent survey showed that 68% of Americans believe it is important to encourage people to live healthier lifestyles, to eat well and not to smoke. If the majority of Americans believe that it is important to live healthier than it shouldn't be terribly difficult to begin motivating them to take advantage of the programs available through your company.

By providing healthy options for employees you increase productivity, decrease stress levels, provides the opportunity to enhance self-esteem and self-efficacy. It provides opportunities for social support allowing for a stronger loyalty to company. It provides a balance of fun and work. It decreases boredom which translates into turnover for some industries which helps to lower costs. It also lowers costs of health premiums, life / disability policies and payouts for sick leave.