The health and wellbeing of the individuals working within a company are key to that company’s success. Specialist coaching and advice on general nutrition, medical nutrition, lifestyle and fitness provides one of the most palpable and tangible, yet successful, methods available to enable people to reach their full potential and ultimately increase that company’s productivity.

While the cost of absenteeism in industry and commerce is known to be substantial, how considerable are the immeasurable costs associated with other factors such as low morale, poor decision making, fatigue and illness………?

Nutritional guidance is now viewed as an essential requirement for workforce health.

When economic times are difficult companies are vulnerable to the many uncontrollable factors that effect business productivity; world economies, global markets, currency markets, to name a few. However, the area that can be influenced and controlled for significant gains in productivity, regardless of the economic climate, is employee health and performance.

There is considerable research to support the concept that improvements to health, weight and wellbeing will improve productivity and reduce absenteeism. Below are a few of the hard facts available to illustrate how poor health is likely to be eating into your companies profits.

• Healthy employees are nearly 3 times more productive than employees with poor health (Medicare report).

• Employees with poor health take 9 times more sick leave than their healthy colleagues (Medicare report)
  
  Nutrition and lifestyle factors directly influence health. Improving the health of employees will benefit productivity.

• The common cold is associated with substantial health-related productivity losses. The economic cost of lost productivity due to the common cold is estimated to be approaching $25 billion in the US (Bramley et al, 2002).
  
  
  

  Sub-optimal nutrition impairs immunity. Good nutrition stimulates the immune system and can reduce both the severity and duration of the common cold.

• Fatigue in the workforce is highly prevalent and is significantly associated with lower productivity, particularly when associated with other health conditions. Workers with fatigue are estimated to cost the US employers $136 billion annually. (Ricci et al, 2007).

• People in poor health are associated with increased fatigue-related complaints and losses in productivity (Boles).
  
  
  
  

  Poor sleep, stress, illness, disease anxiety, obesity, nutrient deficiencies, lack of exercise, dehydration and a refined diet can all cause or exacerbate fatigue. Promoting and integrating positive nutrition and lifestyle change will energise a weary workforce.

• ‘Pain’, most commonly associated with headaches, is inordinately common within the workforce and is known to reduce productivity (Stewart et al, 2004).
  
  

Headaches are often caused by stress, tension, anxiety, dehydration, poor posture, sleep deprivation and food intolerance. Identifying and eliminating the underlying cause of a headache or other pain, will enable you employee to work, unimpeded, in a more focused and productive manner.

• Depression adversely affects productivity (Stewart et al, 2003).
  
  Food affects mood.

• Obese workers have a significantly greater association with lower health related productivity than normal weight workers. Reducing excess weight within the workforce and improving the health of overweight individuals can positively improve productivity (Ricci and Chee, 2005)
  
• Overweight, obesity, high blood pressue and diabetes are all independant risk factors leading to illness absenteeism and lost productivity (Burton).
  
  Overweight, high blood pressure and diabetes are widespread in the UK and have a significant and detrimental effect on productivity. Indvidual nutritional support and advice, alongside lifestyle adapatations, are vital for sustained weight reduction and benefits to health.

• Diabetes is associated with significant losses in productivity (Stewart et al, 2007)
  
  Nutrition and lifestyle factors are central to diabetic control and management. Improving diabetic control through nutritional and lifestyle factors should reduce symptoms and improve productivity.

• Job strain and high job demands are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (Kuper and Marmont, 2003).
  
  The effects of stress are multiple in the longer term, leading to an increased of a number of diseases and illnesses. The risk factor for and the prognosis of coronary heart disease can by manipulated through nutritional and lifestyle change.

Improving the factors that influence the health and wellbeing of the workforce is the beginning of positive change that will result in multiple benefits for the workforce, improvements to performance and ultimately raised productivity.