•Absenteeism in Canada has increased steadily since the 1990s. In 2006, full-time employees across Canada missed 102 million work days due to personal reasons.
•Job stress has been linked causally to chronic diseases, such as heart disease, depression, diabetes, asthma, migraines and ulcers. Stress and job dissatisfaction are related, and both contribute to increased absenteeism and healthcare costs.
•The rate of obesity among Canadians 18 years and older increased from 14% in 1978 to 23% in 2004. The estimated costs of weight-related chronic diseases to the healthcare system are more than $4.3 billion. Workplaces are ideal environments for promoting healthy body weights, yet few Canadian employers have formal policies encouraging physical activity and healthy eating.
•Workplace health interventions that are comprehensive, well-designed, and successfully implemented will generate a return on investment (ROI) and have a positive cost-benefit ratio. Multi-component worksite health interventions, which track ROI, can reduce sick leave, health plan costs, and workers’ compensation and disability costs by an average of 25%.
In light of the evidence, what is the “next level” of healthy workplace activity? For one, it seems logical that the connection between healthy workplaces and organizational success will take on greater importance. Back in 1996, in his best-selling book The Loyalty Effect: The hidden force behind growth, profits and lasting value, F.F. Reichheld wrote “where we found … a company with superior loyalty … that was delivering superior value to its customers and employees, we found inexplicably strong cash flows.” There is considerably greater awareness today that healthier, more engaged employees are a key component of organizational success, yet organizations rarely attempt to make this connection, except intuitively. As understanding of the direct link between employee health and organizational success grows, it will become increasingly important for workplace health stakeholders to connect employee health indicators to key organizational indicators.
Also, the emergence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a key element of organizational planning will provide added impetus to the healthy workplace agenda. While much of the CSR discussion centres on the relationship between organizations and society (i.e. giving back to the community, pollution reduction, etc.), CSR also includes the relationship between organizations and their employees and a greater recognition that employee health and well-being is a key driver of organizational success. Many organizations are beginning to understand this, and are taking steps to promote healthier work environments. This dynamic is aided by a growing awareness within the investment community of the advantages of investing in “socially responsible” businesses. Going forward, one can envisage heightened scrutiny — and measurement — of an organization’s commitment to CSR.
Another element of the “next level” of workplace health will necessarily be greater collaboration by all workplace health stakeholders. Discussions at all levels of society are taking place around the need for healthier workplaces, and stakeholders from across the workplace health spectrum are now beginning to converge. The Council believes that a new level of coordinated action across the spectrum of workplace health stakeholders — public, private and not-for-profit — is needed to more fully achieve healthier workplaces. With a critical mass of government, organizations and workplace health practitioners now pursuing healthy workplace goals, the time is right for a coordinated action agenda to create healthy workplaces. Coordinated and collaborative healthy workplace action, based on a comprehensive model of workplace health, will lead to more integrated public policy and the diffusion of best practices in workplaces.
The Council is currently inviting all stakeholders to consider, discuss and provide feedback on the following approach for developing a coordinated healthy workplace action agenda: 1. Create a shared vision of a healthy, safe and productive workplace that achieves individual, organizational and societal goals, and which is accepted by all stakeholders. 2. Enable stakeholders from all levels of government, employers, unions, professional associations, researchers and non-governmental organizations to share information, identify priority actions, and implement these actions in the most effective manner possible. 3. Identify opportunities for a more horizontal approach to public policy across jurisdictions, levels of government and policy areas to achieve healthy workplace goals. 4. Launch an ongoing forum for sharing healthy workplace best practices, and evaluate the need for a national information clearinghouse on healthy workplace initiatives. 5. Leverage existing opportunities (such as conferences) to network and build alliances in the interests of pursuing comprehensive approaches to healthy workplaces. Interested individuals and organizations are invited to provide feedback directly to the Council at council@healthyworkplaceweek.ca.
Allan Smofsky is a senior consultant with Towers Perrin Inc. and chair of the Canadian Healthy Workplace Council.
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