via Wall Street Journal
One of the greatest challenges corporations face today is ensuring the health and well-being of their employees. I have an uncomplicated solution for achieving this: appoint a chief health officer.
Health and health-related spending are a big expense for all companies, and the numbers continue to climb. Fully 86% of employees today are above their normal weight or have a chronic condition, according to a Gallup survey a few years ago. They miss an estimated 450 million extra days of work a year compared with healthy workers, which a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says annually costs American businesses from $150 billion to a little more than $225 billion in lost productivity.
Health, happiness and productivity at work are related outcomes, and companies are in a unique position to support all three. But corporate wellness programs are either ignored or resented for being too intrusive.
