There are many reasons for why business owners provide employee benefits to their workers. In many respects, they serve as an effective recruitment tool, as insurance coverage doesn't come cheaply but tends to be more affordable when it's accessible through the workplace.
Another motivation is the Affordable Care Act. With the passage of the health reform law in 2010, the ACA requires that large business owners provide or offer health benefits to all workers who are full-time. Though the mandate doesn't go into effect for at least another year – and not until 2016 for some organizations – acting as though the legislation is already in force is a good way to prepare for the new health care management environment.
But more than anything else, many employers would agree that they make benefits available because they legitimately care about their staff members' physical health and well-being. For the most part, this is something that today's workforce largely agrees with.
By a 2 to 1 margin, employees agree with the statement that employers are mindful of their workers' health, according to polling data performed by Harris Interactive and commissioned by health management company Provant.
Few companies have wellness programs
However, based on the types of benefits that employers provide – or lack thereof – business owners may not be living up to the interest in the well-being of the people who work on their behalf.
For example, just 1 in 5 respondents said that their company ran a health or wellness program, designed to help workers maintain or improve their overall physical function. Additionally, just 21 percent said that their employer had healthy food options in the kitchen or cafeteria.
An outlet for exercise is a great way to work out stress, which there can be plenty of when on the job. Yet only 20 percent of respondents said that their employer provided the means for exercise, whether through an on-site fitness program or ability to take a walk outside when things get overwhelming.
Heather Provino, CEO of Provant, indicated that wellness programs are a win-win for everyone involved.
"Employees who are healthy are more engaged and more productive," said Provino. "When companies provide workplace wellness programs, workers see that their employers care about them."
She added that employers who join their wellness program with their overall vision for the business tend to be more likely to achieve it.
A key component of employee productivity is ensuring that they're engaged in the process, or driven to be successful because they're happy and want what's best for the company. A wellness program may help accomplish the often difficult task of boosting morale and, by extension, employee engagement.
According to a recent study from Gallup, employers should consider themselves in good company if they have employees who seem disconnected from the production process. Just 30 percent of respondents to the 2013 survey said that they felt like they were engaged at work. Seventy percent said they were either actively disengaged or not engaged at all.
