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Many companies that focus on employee health may miss two key areas: One, the focus should go beyond just physical health; and secondly, that focus should also make for a healthier financial bottom line.

The Society for Human Resource Management recently held its 2016 Annual Conference & Exposition in Washington, D.C. And a recent post focuses on a presentation by Dr. Bruce Sherman, medical director of population health management for Buck Consultants at Xerox titled “Connecting the Dots: Examining the Link Between Workforce Health and Business Performance.”

The piece states that Dr. Sherman noted that “the World Health Organization got it right when it defined health as ‘the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.'”

The piece continues: There’s little doubt that those attributes—physical, mental and social well-being—are significantly impacted by conditions and relationships at work. ‘People can have their well-being improved or worsened by what’s going on in the workplace,' he remarked.”

“Organizations that understand that concept—and help employees achieve overall good health—realize some pretty significant returns, Sherman said.”

• Individual employees with high well-being scores perform at a higher level in the workplace.
• Similarly, business units whose members have high well-being scores perform better.
• Workers at companies that emphasize well-being are more likely to stay with their employers, thereby contributing to lower turnover rates.
• For each $1,000 reduction in health care costs, per-employee output rises by $2,000 (based on an analysis of a group of Goodyear workers).

Dr. Sherman previously posted a full article on the topic here at the American Journal of Managed Care. That article “describes how employers and other stakeholders can gain a broader understanding of the relationship between workforce health status and business performance. This approach:

• Optimizes use of employer data sources that are readily available but have not been integrated.
• Yields a more comprehensive and compelling basis for assessing the impact of health benefits strategic planning.
• Can help employers and other stakeholders make more informed and value-based health benefits purchasing decisions.