As the end of the year approaches, we are reflecting on the findings from Britain’s Healthiest Company Awards 2015. These awards work to understand the wellbeing of Britain’s workers, with the number of participants in this year’s awards being the highest yet.

The findings show the positive impact workplace wellbeing initiatives have, and how much they are needed:

·       Amongst those surveyed, companies with the strongest wellbeing cultures had a 45% lower cost of lost productivity, compared to those with the worst cultures.

·       The ‘health age’ of respondents was in fact close to 4 years older than their real age. This means Britain’s workforce is 4 years older than it should be.  The calculated impact of this due to lost productivity is 7.8% of a typical company’s wage bill. In total this amounts to £58 billion a year for Britain.

·       Over 50% of employees stated they wanted to reduce their BMI (body mass index) and 87% reported suffering from work-related stress. With figures this high, there is a real need to provide employees with the right information and support to take control.

·       When RAND Europe looked at the figures from the survey, it concluded that the most effective actions a company could take were dietary related – including providing healthy food alternatives in canteens.

We believe every company can do something to improve the health of their workforce, no matter how modest their budget. All the services we offer are dynamic and impactful. We are focused on simple changes that are supportable and sustainable alongside working life.