While many business owners and their managers know that investing in employees can help improve their business and increase the bottom line, many don’t realize just how much the actual physical and mental health of employees can affect these two things. A person’s health is inextricably linked to how they perform, both inside and outside of work. This means that the way your employees live when they’re off the clock can have a big impact on their functionality during work hours. To show you exactly how the health of your employees may be helping or hurting your business, here are three ways employees’ health affects their productivity.
How Sickness-Related Absences Hurt Company-Wide Productivity
When a person is unhealthy, be it physically or mentally, they tend to require more days off from work. This can be due to many factors, each as unique as the employees you hire. What isn’t unique is how sickness-related absences are hurting your company’s productivity. According to FitForWork.org, some of the direct costs include having to get coverage for employees—which could include paying overtime—while still paying the salary of the sick employee. Indirectly, productivity is lost in areas such as customer service, stress felt by other employees, additional training and more.
The Role Of Mental and Emotional Health Issues
Not only can physical health in the form of sick employees and absences be bad for productivity, but also the mental and emotional health of employees matters. According to an infographic by CDCFoundation.org, stress is the number one workplace-related health issue. This stress opens your business up for major vulnerabilities, including hazardous mistakes made by employees. In addition to stress, employees who don’t get enough sleep and are often tired on the job are markedly less productive and could put everyone they work with at safety risks. Any measures your company can take in reducing stress and fatigue at work will boost productivity.
Increase Productivity With Workplace Health Programs
One of the best ways to get a more productive and healthy workforce is to make physical and mental fitness a priority. To best do this, CDC.gov recommends instituting a workplace health program. This can vary widely based on the type of company you’re running, how open your employees are to this idea, and what your business goals are. Some ideas you could try are getting employees gym memberships, holding walking meetings, teaching stress management techniques and more. By showing your employees that you value their health, you could see major improvements in their productivity at work.
If you’re worried about your employees and their health or productivity, use the tips mentioned above to help your company make some changes for the better.