It is called by various names including health promotion, prevention, health and productivity management and—more simply—wellness. Seriously folks, people can’t even agree on what to call it, let alone put their arms around it and define exactly what it is. So is employee wellness more than a passing fad or perhaps an idea before its time and whose time may never come?

Well, let’s look at some basic—and indisputable—facts:

  • Canadians are unhealthy. It is estimated that more than 60% of adult Canadians are overweight or obese and 29% of children are in similar categories. This is symptomatic of a culture that does not take care of itself and that will ultimately pay the price in higher incidence of medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, etc.
  • Perhaps the biggest single issue with Canada’s healthcare system is access to medical care. Wait lists for surgery or specialists are well documented but there is a real and looming crisis at the point of first contact—the family physician. Many Canadians are already without a family physician but those of us with one—get ready. Close to 30% of family physicians are over the age of 60 with retirement on the horizon. And medical schools can’t keep up with the expected demand. Medical access will be getting worse before it gets better.
  • Benefit plan costs continue to increase with little expectation for real relief in the foreseeable future. Disability plan costs continue to trend higher, particularly due to an increase incidence in stress-related claims. And whereas healthcare cost increases have moderated somewhat in recent years healthcare inflation is still approaching 10% and the future does not look bright. In percentage terms it is very likely that benefit plan costs is the budget item that is experiencing the highest rate of escalation within most organizations. Benefit plans should be viewed as an investment but it is an investment that is in danger of becoming unaffordable for some.
  • Attraction and retention of workers is an issue for virtually every Canadian employer whether they are in the manufacturing heartland of Southern Ontario or Alberta’s booming oil patch. Good workers are hard to find and they will be increasingly more difficult to find in the coming years with the aging population as more Canadians decide to retire or simply work less. And in those ultra- competitive labour markets—such as the oil and gas industry—employers are looking for an edge, something to differentiate their employment brand from everyone else’s. Cash is king but even cash compensation has its limits.

So let’s put these facts together. Employees are valuable and, in many respects, a diminishing resource. There is a looming labour crisis in Canada and it will have a profound impact on most organizations. The resource is not a particularly healthy one and may be either less productive at work or simply not be available to work as required. The problem will be further exacerbated by a medical system that is ill prepared to handle the demands that will be placed on it. All this leads to further costs—costs that are already increasing at a rate higher than most other budget items.

In this is the case for employee wellness. Simply put, organizations must invest in the health of their employees in order to keep employees active and productive at work rather than being at home sick or being less than productive on the job. The skeptics of employee wellness—of which there are many—argue there is no business case or at best the business case is unclear. Well the business case is surprisingly simple. All an organization needs to ask itself is one question: “do I need employees to run my business?” If the answer is “yes”—the business case for employee wellness has been made.

So is health promotion, prevention, health and productivity management and/or wellness a passing fad? I think not and, in fact, this is the time that organizations of all shapes and sizes should be investing in employee wellness. Whether it be implementing a simple employee assistance plan or the adoption of a comprehensive employee wellness strategy the time to act is now. Employee wellness is here to stay and should be a key component of every organization’s ongoing workforce management strategy.