By Emma Thomson, High Life Highland’s Business Development Manager
Reading the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development’s Health & Wellbeing at Work report, it is worrying to read that businesses reported the highest rate of sickness absence in a decade last year, at 7.8 days per employee per year.
However, it is equally encouraging to see more and more businesses are focusing on prevention by offering employees a range of benefits from employee assistance programmes to subsidised gym memberships to promote good health among employees. Indeed 70% of businesses see their health and wellbeing activity as a great opportunity to boost employee engagement, with some also seeing it as very much part of their recruitment and retention strategy.
Numerous studies have shown that being active daily is not only good for a person’s physical wellbeing it also boosts mood and can greatly help with improved mental health, which is reported to be one of the top three causes of short-term and longer term absence.
Around a third of respondents to the Health & Wellbeing at Work survey agreed that their efforts to promote health and wellbeing for employees was having a positive impact with staff morale and engagement improving and generally a healthier and more inclusive culture within the workplace. A happy workforce is a productive workforce!
In my role as Business Development Manager at High Life Highland, I know that Highland businesses are following a similar pattern to these national statistics with more and more joining as Corporate Members of our highlife scheme, investing in the health and wellbeing of their staff and families.
We are hearing some encouraging and heart warming stories from our corporate members who have been part of the highlife family for some time now. Highland employers are seeing the difference it is making to their employees, their working environment and the culture of their organisations.
Emma Thomson is High Life Highland’s Business Development Manager. To find out more about how your business can benefit from our corporate membership packages, email [email protected].
High Life Highland is a local charity with the aim of making life better by providing affordable access to opportunities in sport, leisure and culture across the length and breadth of the Highlands.
