The document discusses challenges in getting senior-level support for workplace wellness initiatives. It cites studies that show the significant costs of illness-related absences and the benefits of effective health programs. While measuring the relationship between health and productivity isn't exact, evidence over 20 years supports the economic benefits of workplace health promotion. Some forward-thinking companies that have prioritized employee health are seeing results in improved health and greater revenue.

1. may 2008 | working well
editorialby Nancy Kuyumcu
Often when I meet workplace
health professionals I hear that
one of their biggest challenges is
getting senior-level support for
wellness initiatives. It’s no wonder
a Buck Consultants questionnaire
revealed that some wellness
managers felt their greatest
success with these programs was “actually getting [them]
approved in the first place.”
There are decision-makers who are still unconvinced that
employee health is a business issue. These business leaders
need to start paying attention to the data that’s out there—
both statistical and anecdotal.
A recent Watson Wyatt study estimates that illness-related
work absences can cost the average Canadian firm up to $10
million a year in lost productivity. The study also finds that
companies with the most effective health and productivity
programs generate 20% more revenue per employee.
According to a well-known study by Duxbury, Higgins and
Johnson, work-life conflict cost Canadian businesses around
$2.7 billion in work absences in 1996–’97.
Obviously, measuring the relationship between health and
productivity isn’t an exact science: the different methods used
for calculating costs and ROI make it difficult to generalize
outcomes. But the existing knowledge gap shouldn’t deter
decision-makers from making workplace health a priority.
As leading work expert Graham Lowe wrote in a 2003 report
prepared for Health Canada: “Even though the picture
is incomplete, over the past 20 years the evidence from
increasingly rigorous studies supports rather than refutes the
economic benefits of workplace health promotion.”
Meanwhile, employers who don’t need any more
convincing are taking action—and seeing results. Our Healthy
Outcomes Conference report on page 19 outlines what four
forward-thinking companies—Purolator, RBC, Xerox Canada
and Campbell Company of Canada—are doing to improve
employee health. For them, and undoubtedly countless others,
workplace health is working—and working well.
To keep you abreast of the latest workplace health research,
Graham Lowe joins Working Well as a regular columnist. Lowe
is president of The Graham Lowe Group in Kelowna, B.C., and
a professor emeritus at University of Alberta. Read his first
column, “Getting a grip on stress,” on page 10.
—Nancy Kuyumcu
volume 2, number 2 may 2008
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Wendy Bott ACS Buck Consultants | Fanny Karolev Campbell Company of Canada
Tim Kelly Workplace Health Outcomes | Jacques L’espérance J. L’Espérance
Actuariat Conseil | Garth Lockwood Petro Canada | Wanda McKenna McMaster
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The case for wellness
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