The Health Disconnect

The statistics included in the article “The Economic impacts of Obesity in the Workplace” (sponsored by Alere) are sobering: “Obesity is associated with 39 million lost work days, 239 million restricted-activity days, 90 million bed days and 63 million physician visits per year” ( http://bit.ly/LHRWellness2 ). Next, I read in “Wellness as a Business Strategy (sponsored by Keas): The threat isn’t coming from foreign competition, rising energy costs or regulatory uncertainty. It’s coming from within—in the form of obese, sedentary, stressed, unproductive, disengaged and chronically ill employees” (http://bit.ly/LHRWellness1 ).

Here is a summary of what I’ve been reading: The health situation is dire and does impact the bottom line. Organizations should seriously address the problem and consider initiatives to reduce obesity, eliminate tobacco and drug use, and promote a healthy lifestyle.

It’s part of my job, however, to be both skeptical and curious. My skeptical side wonders if organizations are “really” serious about this problem. My curiosity then leads me to the following question: Has this whole discussion on the impact of health reached organizational leaders?

Here’s why I ask: A “no pain” solution to the employee wellness crisis does not seem to exist. Instead, wellness-serious organizations may need to address issues such as long hours , toxic leaders, unsafe work conditions, poor training, and so on. Lack of wellness is not ONLY caused by employees who eat too many French fries. For instance:

• A 2006 Australian study by Ostry and colleagues found that working long hours was positively associated with higher BMI.
• In the same year, a Japanese study by Nishitani and Sakakibara identified relationships between stress and obesity. Indeed, anxious workers’ eating patterns were similar to those of obese individuals.

This week, I challenge my Linked:HR colleagues to share experiences / examples of a possible DISCONNECT between organizational wellness initiatives and organizational stressors. Specifically:

• When have you witnessed organizational “health initiatives” run counter to managerial demands and organizational resources?
• What do you think could/should be done to better “connect the dots” between organizational culture and employee wellness?

Tip: Ask these questions in an informal survey within your own organization. You might be surprised by your findings.

Happy learning!