MODERN BUSINESS
Cutting Back On Corporate Health ? Why This Impacts Culture ,
Connection and Performance
By Nikki Fogden-Moore
Are you sabotaging your company ’ s true growth and success but taking shortcuts on the corporate health inside your organisation ? I ’ d hazard a guess that the answer is yes , you just don ’ t realise it . Just like personal health and wellbeing , corporate health activities are the first things to go when there are cut backs or high stress periods . Funnily enough it ’ s actually the element that is needed most . Especially when budgets are tight and performance is crucial . Mental stress costs Australian businesses more than $ 10 billion per year . Ignoring the signs is an expensive lesson .
When you cut back on a health and wellbeing of your workforce it impacts safety , performance and your bottom line :
It ’ s the cost of the “ show up ” employee - the person that comes to work every day but is not motivated , does not perform or keeps turning up ‘ sick ’.
It ’ s the employee on autopilot - who ’ s not looking when they refuel a vehicle , skim reads a budget , sends confidential information out by mistake , forgets to do full safety checks
Exhausted employees make mistakes - this could be machinery , financial deals , hiring the wrong people , getting into workplace disputes or breaching code of conduct .
It ’ s sick leave and no clear plan for return
It ’ s the lack of initiative and drive . When stressed out executives don ’ t think with strategy and initiative but instead operate on a fight or flight mentality .
Often subtle signals inside an organisation are the true signals of bigger issues . High levels of stress , decreased motivation and lack of employee engagement are all signs you need to take seriously . Without a true culture of transparency people hide their exhaustion , lack of knowledge or concerns about change and do not step up with initiative . I call this the leadership squeeze . The good news is Corporate health can be improved fast , and with lasting results . It ’ s all about a plan that is effective and flexible . Here ’ s how :
A ) You know your business landscape . Every great CEO knows that company performance , no matter what size of business , goes in peaks and troughs . There are years of growth
8 ModernBusiness May 2016