Health Promotion At The Workplace: The Role of Managers

The shortcomings of the professional healthcare systems introduced health promotion back in 1970. It's a critical strategy for elevating health on socioeconomic, psychological, and medical dimensions.

Steep growth in self-care, community participation, and workplace health prevails in various sectors. For organizations, health promotion is becoming a fundamental issue under employee wellbeing strategies.

Around 53% of employers admit to being responsible for the welfare of their employees. Adopting measures like corporate wellness programs, health coaching, etc. is growing among them.

A study says that employees feel more well being when they have organizational support. Managers having suitable resources and power can become health advocates for their employees.

They can take the opportunity to develop and enforce sustainable health promotion initiatives.

Before delving deeper, let's know the basics of workplace health promotion.

What is Health Promotion?

The 1986 Ottawa Charter, by the WHO, was a landmark in health promotion history.

It defines it as "the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health."

The key strategies, according to the charter, are:

• Building healthy public policy,

• Creating supportive environments,

• Strengthening community action,

• Developing personal

• Skills and reorienting health services

Workplace health promotion uses similar strategies of fostering well being within the organization.

The collaborative efforts of employers, employees, and society help create a better workplace. It encourages personal and professional development and enhanced workplace engagements.

Importance of Health Promotion At Workplace

Employees spent most hours in the office, completing tasks, and meeting their deadlines. Rising workload stress and other health problems harm employees' productivity levels. An employee looks for an organization that caters to their emotional, financial, and wellness needs. Employers are aware that healthy employees produce better business results. Hence, supporting them with health activities becomes imperative.

Some activities concentrate on a single health factor(like preventing diabetes) or the holistic nine dimensions of wellness(like health fair). Employees having all nine elements save healthcare costs and job turnover. Hence it's quintessential for employers to promote health and wellness in their organization.

Benefits of Workplace Health Promotion

Health promotion benefits the organization and employers on a large scale. There are various programs under health promotion which help the employers in the following ways:

1. Reduced Absenteeism

Spreading awareness of eating nutritious foods will prevent them from gaining weight. That healthy workforce seldom misses its workdays due to medical issues. It inspires employees to follow the wellness regimes that will keep them fit.

2. Increased Productivity

Health Promotion includes various programs like workplace Yoga, Health camps, workplace ergonomics. Active participation can help employees increase productivity and improve health.

3. Reducing Health Risks

Regular health checkups detect disease before it becomes severe. It helps with the prevention of chronic diseases like heart ailments and diabetes.

4. Reduced health care cost

Increasing health care costs is one of the significant concerns among employers. 70% of the health issues are preventable if not treated at the proper time can result in severe. Health promotion is a way to reduce costs by preventing the disease.

5. Reduced job turnover

One of the main reasons for turnover is job dissatisfaction due to work burnouts. Activities like counseling by health educators are one way to know your employees. Study shows that employees are 81% less likely to seek out a new job.

Role of Managers In Health Promotion

Managers have the authority to set up policies and objectives for the organizations. Poor management of health and safety issues may degrade the quality of the employees. It will affect the outputs of the organization and degrade its market value. Hence knowing the responsibility of a manager before enrolling in programs is essential.

Here are five ways you can play your role in health promotion.

5 Ways managers can do health promotion in the workplace:

1. Having Effective Communication

A manager who has a clear idea of the subject matter will guide his employees well. Successful Health and wellness programs need the trust of your employees. Proactive participation is only possible if managers communicate with them. Communication is the prime factor for bridging the gap and strengthening the relationship.
Dynamic employers can bring positive influence to their employees. Employees engage 59% more likely under their supervision.

2. Lead By Example

The approaches taken by managers are crucial to the success of health programs. Employers who engage themselves in health initiatives prove the true meaning of leadership. This involvement motivates its employees to adopt a healthy lifestyle. For example, if a manager participates in a walkathon, his employees will likely do the same.

3. Showing Care and Concerns

A great manager never fails to show care and will make sure that his employees feel valued. The study says that 38% of employees listen to their managers when they are valued. One way is by introducing the initiatives under health programs. It will create emotional wellness and boost the morale of the employees. Employers can incentivize health promotion activities to suffice their employees' health needs.

4. Monitoring employees

Managers who know the likes and dislikes connect better with their employees. They can elevate engagements either by one to one sessions or survey questionnaires. Using an online application, they can track the participation of their employees.

Vantage Fit App helps in monitoring the fitness of employees in real-time. Employers can run various Wellness campaigns and create healthy competition among employees. They can also motivate employees by rewarding them with fitness points.
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5. Empowering employees

Usually, employees complain about being uncomfortable while completing activities. Managers amplify wellness by empowering their employees to manage their health issues. They might give employees the right to point out faults or alter in wellness programs. The participation will make your employees confident and help them in professional development.

Conclusion

The idea of health promotion is relevant to companies in the private and public sectors. The success of their organization depends on a healthy, motivated, and qualified workforce. A healthy employee will be more enthusiastic about his work and motivate his peers for the same. A health-promoting workplace help reduce medical costs and absenteeism rates.

Managers play a vital role in designing health programs for their employees. Implementing it will improve employee health and the organization's bottom line. Evidence-based wellness programs help them live a more extended period of disease-free life.

Now I would like to know from you.

In what ways do you do health promotion at the workplace?

Let me know in the comment section below!

This article is written by Rangana Atreya, a Content Marketer at Vantage Circle. Having a creative mind with a spiritful life, she takes inspiration from travelling and learning languages. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com