01 May See hard returns on corporate wellness

The terms “corporate-, employee- or worksite wellness” are used frequently, but is there any real value in investing time and budget into it?

“Absolutely”, says Karin Andrea from Optivest Health Solutions. “Any workplace health promotion activity or organisational policy designed to support healthy behaviour and improve health outcomes at work will create positive results for the employer.”

Employers who are investing in their employee’s wellness are seeing:

• Improved employee engagement and increased individual resilience
• A positive staff retention rate and a value proposition that attracts talent.

“Keeping employees healthy should play a vital role in the long-term human asset management strategy of any organisation”, says Karin.

Human Capital is a crucial factor in business success
Successful enterprises are dependent on healthy, motivated people. Productive people are healthy, happy and content in their working environment. “This is easier said than done, as in reality employees are confronted with the challenges of illnesses, trauma’s, stress and unbalanced lifestyles,” Karin adds.

In South Africa, as our population ages and undergoes urbanisation and globalisation of unhealthy lifestyles, the burden and impact of chronic diseases on the economy and health systems are on the increase. Family budgets are already stretched to its limit, with the costs of medicine to treat these conditions also rising rapidly.

“The first step towards employee wellness is providing access to basic primary healthcare benefit,” says Karin. This can be done by implementing occupational health benefits and assisting employees with access to medical scheme cover.

Implementing a company medical scheme solution also provides access to the wellness days offered by the different medical schemes. At these days employees have access to health screening tests like:
• Blood sugar levels
• Blood pressure
• Cholesterol screening
• Body Mass Index

“Ultimately employers want to improve the well-being of their employees and decrease healthcare expenses for both employer and employee. By including employee wellness in their business goals, they would also by laying the foundation towards building a successful enterprise,” says Karin.

“South African employers can increase the long-term value of their human capital and productivity by including employee wellness in their business goals and long term strategy towards building a successful enterprise,” says Karin.

Nineteenth century American essayist and lecturer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, summarised it perfectly: “The first wealth is health.”

For more information about how Optivest Healthcare Solutions can assist you in sourcing and implementing a wellness solution according to your needs and budget, contact Karin and her team at 021 970 6942 or groupsupport@optivest.co.za.