Corporations Implement Employee Wellness Programs, Encourage Fitness
A story from the Jacksonville Daily Record talks about CSX Corp., a company whose headquarters are in Jacksonville, and their major stake in employee wellness. Three years ago, CSX Corp. got on track with employee wellness, investing in a facility and program focusing on health and fitness. To get — and keep — the ball rolling, they initially noted health issues employees were facing and developed a pilot wellness program. From this pilot program, which involved over 6,000 workers, health tests concluded that obesity and cardiac and pulmonary disease were three common health issues found in employees. The same issues are typically true of the American population.
After the pilot wellness program came the development and implementation of health management programs, where employees could be shown how to use lifestyle changes to improve their health and wellness. Soon they found that many employees were truly interested in what was going on — improving their diet, getting fit, meal planning and more. The 10,000 square foot fitness facility located at CSX’s headquarters helps employee wellness in a huge way, and they appreciate it. One employee is quoted in the article as saying, “The company has been totally supportive in providing the best opportunities for its employees to improve the quality of their lives.”
Though it’s easy to think that companies are providing employee wellness programs out of the goodness of their hearts, there’s a reason behind it, employee wellness programs work: For every dollar invested in employee health, there’s a $3 return, says the article. Still, CSX expects to do even better than that.
You’d think it couldn’t get any better than this, really. A company with its own fitness center that genuinely cares about the benefits of employee wellness? Sounds like a joke. But it’s true, and hopefully other companies will board the employee wellness train. Though some companies may see adding a state-of-the-art fitness center as out of their budget, there are definitely other things that can be done. Employee wellness programs can include health screenings, assistance with gym membership fees and even an on-site masseuse a few days per month. Starting an employee wellness program is not that hard, and the benefits definitely outweigh the costs.
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