Are healthy employees more productive?

When you look at doing employee satisfaction surveys, you might not think to ask whether your staff think you have a strong culture of health.

However, research from UK company Aon Hewitt, the UK National Business Group on Health and the Futures Company, indicates employees that believe their company has a strong culture of heath, are more productive.

They are less stressed, happier and more likely to look after their own health than staff in other organisations.

Over 2,700 people were included in this survey and asked questions to determine their perspectives, attitudes and behaviour surrounding their organisation's culture of health.

This refers to the way healthy behaviours are prioritised in the workplace.

Entitles the "Consumer Health Mindset" the analysis shows employees who work in companies with a strong culture of health are happier. In fact, 66 per cent of them said they are extremely happy or very happy with their lives.

To compare, in companies with a weaker health culture, only 32 per cent reported a similar level of happiness.

Happy employees are less likely to search out another job to fulfil them, so this is an important element to consider.

It was not only happiness that was measured, with many of the employees in health-focussed businesses also reporting lower stress levels – 25 per cent vs 49 per cent said stress had a negative impact on their work.

This indicates a strong health culture could be highly beneficial where employee satisfaction is concerned.

How do you create a strong culture of health?

Make health improvement a priority. Ensure employees are aware that workplace initiatives are set up to improve health and wellbeing.

You could also encourage staff to partake in healthy activities during the workday, such as attending wellness programs, including sitting and walking meetings and providing healthy foods that can drive creative energy.

This could improve staff morale, focus and performance.

If you wonder what other snippets of information you could learn from a staff survey, why not try a free demonstration of PeoplePulse?