Introduction

In today’s world, when organisations look to attract the best and brightest employees, they need to do so by offering a competitive package. One of the most competitive packages includes providing a healthy environment for their employees to live in. The most important aspect of this is the employee wellness program.

Wellness analytics is an essential and effective tool to ensure that the organisation is well-informed on the overall health of its workforce. This form of analysis aims for organisations to get the best return on investment from their associated labour costs while providing employees with what they need to function more productively.

A systematic review of 56 published studies of worksite health programs showed that well-implemented workplace health programs can lead to 25% savings each on absenteeism, health care costs, and workers’ compensation and disability management claims costs.

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The importance for workplace wellness

An employee who isn’t well physically or mentally won’t be working to their full potential or up to the standards set by his company. Their absence can negatively affect the productivity of other employees and the operation of the company.

Absenteeism and presenteeism are two phenomena that affect the productivity of your workforce. Absenteeism results in lost time, while presenteeism results in lost productivity.

The average yearly cost of health-related absenteeism and presenteeism per organisation is estimated at RM2.7 million based on a report from Malaysia's Healthiest Work Place by AIA Vitality and WHO also reports that nearly RM 9 billion in productivity losses annually to the Malaysian economy.

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What types of wellness data should be looking at for your organisation?

If you're going to offer or build a wellness program for your employees, you should determine what data you want to use. Below is a graph describing the prescribed medication obtained from employees across all industries, which are exclusively available with all of the HealthMetrics plans.

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The graph above shows that many employees utilise calcium channel blocker medication to treat high blood pressure(HBP), gout, and cholesterol, which doesn’t come as a surprise given as Malaysia has the highest prevalence of obesity according to the World Population Review in 2019 in South-East Asia.

In a case study with SATO International Electronics Manufacturing, a global leader in manufacturing print and labels, their employees have suffered from comorbidities (multiple health conditions) such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

This impacted their overall productivity, as there was an increase in medical utilisation as well as medical certificates. HMS CS team reached out to SATO for a customisable wellness program by analysing the employee's medical history and developed an intervention program aimed at reducing Blood Pressure readings of their employees through coaching from experts such as fitness trainers, dietitians and psychologists.

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The Results

• Number of people who lost weight: 67%
• Number of people with dropped in BP: 70%
• Engagement rate: 91%

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The results showed were well received by the top management of SATO and employees respectively. This is due to the tailored program to their needs alongside working with our vast network of healthcare professionals. The engagement rate was high thanks to the collaborative effort of both the HR team of SATO as well as the employees alongside our program manager. Overall, SATO saw an improvement in their workforce health as there was a lower number of tickets in medical utilisation and a reduction in the medical certificate issued.

By identifying the prescription medication and other data points with HealthMetrics, your organisation can build an employee wellness program with ease for your company that works specifically with your employees.Sign up today with our essential plan so that you too can begin crafting and executing the right wellness program to save your employees over 67 days a year of absenteeism and presenteeism which can cost a company to lose up to RM2.7 Million!

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Conclusion

Your company needs to have a data-driven wellness program in place. Your program should be based on scientific evidence and not on anecdotal evidence. When the science and data are there, you can create a plan for your employees and their health. This is the best way to promote employee retention, productivity, and overall well-being.

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