Debunking (in some cases) Employee Wellness Myths

A study done by Hewitt in 2009 looked at the best employers in Canada.  The study incorporated a range of questions designed to look at the links between employee engagement and health and wellbeing.  

Some of the results from the study were as predicted, but now there is data to back them up.  Other findings were a complete surprise and challenged commonly held assumptions.

Approximately 115 000 employees at over 200 participating companies were surveyed and their engagement levels were measured.  These employees also answered questions about their personal health and wellbeing.

Here are some of the myths that were either supported or debunked by this study:  

1.  Overwork leads to low engagement.  

There is some truth to this myth.  High-engagement organizations have fewer employees (15%) who report high work overload.  These employees may be as overworked as their low-engagement counterparts who claim to have high work overload (22%), but they don’t see their workload as a burden - nor are they reporting the same levels of job stress.

2.  Younger workforces are healthier.  

This myth is false.  The oldest employees had the highest self-reported levels of health.  

3.  Men are honest.  

The logic behind this myth is unclear.  When asked about the state of their personal health, 59% of men – regardless of their engagement level – stated that they were in good health, while only 47% of women made the same claim about themselves.   

4.  Higher engagement leads to increased productivity and lower costs.  

This myth is true.  The number of days absent per employee per year is much lower at high engagement organizations (6.38 days) than at those with lower engagement (12.89 days).  
Moreover, the number of new long term disability claims per 1 000 employees is greater at low engagement organizations than it is at high-engagement ones, and workers’ compensation premium per employee are almost double. 

5.  Engaged employees are healthier. 

There is definitely a relationship between high engagement and better personal health.  Better personal health seems to be related to positive manager support

The latest research shows that engaged employees enjoy lower job-related stress and absenteeism, along with better overall health, resulting in lower disability and workers’ compensation costs for their employers and a more productive, motivated and happier workforce.  

Source:

Clarke, T. (2009).  Debunking (In Some Cases) Employee Wellness Myths. In Working Well. June/July 2009 Issue, pp. 19-21.  

Posted by: suhujitha on 2009-06-09 11:23:14

Subscribe to the feed   Direct Link to this post

Next post: Offering support is the best medicine for a stressed worker 2012-02-07 09:29:21

Don't forget: there is a search box on every page!

Recent Posts:

View Your Cart?

Call us for more information: In Toronto and Area call 647.723.6381 or call 1.866.395.8904 Toll-free. Dial answer group (ext) 3.

Check out our Amazon Reading List!