Why smoking cessation is good for your bottom line

Many businesses do not feel like implementing a smoking cessation plan is going to be worth the cost to implement. However, most businesses that do implement a smoking cessation plan find that the pros far outweigh the cons, and that the cost is easily justified. Put simply, despite the cost, smoking cessation is good for your bottom line, here's why:

Improves work efficiency- When you have employees that smoke, chances are they are not being as efficient as they could be. They are likely taking breaks, which interrupts work flow. In addition, those who smoke are more likely to get sick, which means they will take more days off, and are simply just not as efficient. Those who do not smoke show far better efficiency ratings than those who do.

Lowers the amount of sick time taken- Although this has already been covered, it is worth mentioning that those who smoke take more sick time. This means paying employees who are not there to work. It means interrupted work flow, and often having holes in the staff that are not easily filled. When a smoker quits, their health tends to improve dramatically, leading to a lot fewer days being taken off due to health reasons.

Improves health insurance cost- Although much of the health insurance cost is paid by employees, most employers cover a portion. When you have smokers on the group plan, the rates go up, which means more money each month out of the company profits. If you want to cut this down, offering and implementinga smoking cessation plan can help a lot. Most insurance companies offer discounts to those who encourage employees to stop smoking, and provide the resources to make it happen. For a large company, this can mean thousands of saved dollars each month.

Fewer breaks while at work- If you do not need smoke breaks, fewer breaks will be taken. Although most employees are offered a fifteen minute break every couple of hours, many do not opt to take it, rather they work through the time to finish assignments, projects, etc. However, chances are the employees that smoke take their allotted breaks, and more. This not only can interfere with work, but can turn into the office gossip time, and lead to many other office problems, such as resentment amongst the staff that does not smoke, towards those who do spend so much time on smoke breaks.

Leads to a healthier work environment, which is always a good thing. All in all, offering smoking cessation and helping the employees that do smoke to be able to quit can only lead to a healthier, happier work environment, and this leads to greater productivity and efficiency. Your bottom line can be greatly improved by helping employees to quit smoking.