British firms suffer from sickness

Companies are losing almost a month’s worth of work due to illness, according to new reports. A study by VitalityHealth has revealed that the UK economy is losing a massive £73 billion each year due to both sickness outside of the office or bringing illness into the office. While some employers have considered alternative methods to improve health, there are concerns that not enough is being done nationwide.

The study measures health in terms of how employees are exposed to ‘risk factors,’ which can include anything from lifestyle choices such as their diet or clinical factors like blood pressure or cholesterol. More than two thirds of respondents were found to have at least two risk factors, but there are concerned that many won’t change their lifestyles to improve their health. 63% of those with three or more factors didn’t believe there was anything wrong with their wellbeing, making it less likely that they’ll change their lifestyle.

Examining workers’ general health at various organisations, the study found that the healthiest average companies were likely to lose around a week less work time due to health concerns compared to the least healthy surveyed. The results are particularly worrying for VitalityHealth following the report that British productivity has dipped to its lowest average in over 20 years, with absenteeism potentially a major contributing factor. The health organisation are urging employers to rethink the way they treat their employees’ health in order to get the most out of their workers.

“Traditionally, we have seen that employers looking to boost the productivity of their business often focus on measures such as the automation of human tasks or process re-engineering to pursue efficiencies,” said Shaun Subel, strategy director at VitalityHealth. “While these measures are important they have definite trade-offs in terms of cost, sustainability, and potentially being perceived negatively by employees. Health and wellbeing, on the other hand, is an area where this trade-off does not exist – while wellbeing interventions can be of relatively low cost compared to the alternatives, they deliver tangible improvements in employee engagement and productivity, and are typically viewed positively by employees.

“Together, these ultimately lead to improvements in a business’s bottom line.”

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