"Focused Retention Strategies"

Excerpt from Chapter 45: Encourage Wellness in the Workplace

As you can see, there is a lot of bad news related to the current state of health in the United States. Obesity and lifestyle-related disease is on the rise. The impact of unhealthy lifestyle patterns in today’s youth has been well documented as well. These same realities apply, of course, to our current and future workforce.

Yet, there is some good news. Lifestyle choices can and do change on an individual level through information, support, motivation and well-designed programs. Positive lifestyle changes across the workforce can and do benefit an organization directly. Comprehensive worksite health programs have been shown to yield from $3 to $6 return on investment for every dollar spent.

Another piece of good news is that health is now in the national spotlight. Because of this highly public focus, many tools and resources are available to leaders who want to do something about worksite wellness. For evidence, explore some of the resources at the end of this chapter for models, information, tools and other resources available through the Internet alone.

Our point of view here is that an organization will benefit financially through well-designed worksite wellness programs and will increase their ability to attract, engage and retain employees by doing so.