Healthy Attitudes Mean Healthy Workforce
08 September 2009
A north east Chief Executive is urging more employers to consider the well-being of their staff after taking part in a regional health initiative and seeing the results for herself.
Since joining the Northumberland Healthy People - Healthy Business Award, which is run by Northumberland Care Trust, employees at DAWN Advice have benefited from a series of special health campaigns offering important information and advice.
Liz Chadwick, Chief Executive of DAWN Advice, hopes that many of the region's employers will follow suit to help improve the health and well-being of the north east's workforce.
She said: "The Healthy People - Healthy Business programme offers a real wealth of benefits and allows employees to access important health information easily and conveniently. All of our employees have praised the programme and it has certainly helped to improve staff morale.
"Each of our campaigns has offered simple yet essential advice on staying healthy as well as quizzes and activities to help get people thinking and most importantly to ensure the programme remains fun.
"A happy and healthy workforce is key for any organisation no matter its size or sector and especially in today's circumstances. If staff morale is low then businesses are more likely to suffer from an increased level of staff illness and therefore a higher rate of absenteeism," Liz added.
Through the award, DAWN Advice has organised a number of themed campaigns to help promote healthier lives - focusing on smoking cessation, healthy hearts, cancer prevention, fruity Friday and sun care.
Alongside providing health advice to its workforce the programme has also seen DAWN Advice create its own Social Fund to help fund and encourage social inclusion across the company.
Liz added: "In difficult financial circumstances it can become all too easy for companies to become distracted from the responsibilities it has with its employees but we must always remember that employees are at the heart of any organisation and helping them to maintain good health and well-being is essential."
Advantages of a healthy workforce include a reduction in sickness and absenteeism, a reduction in early retirement, lower stress and increased productivity, better staff loyalty and in turn lower recruitment costs, an improved corporate image and of course healthy and motivated staff
Developed by Northumberland Care Trust the Northumberland Healthy People - Healthy Business Award aims to reduce ill health both in workers and the public caused, or made worse, by work, to help people who have been ill, whether caused by work or not, to return to work, to improve work opportunities for people currently unemployed due to ill health or disability and to use the work environment to help people maintain or improve their health.
Established in 1998, DAWN Advice is a Northumberland-based social enterprise and a member of the UK's largest network of free, advice-providing organisations, adviceuk and a Member of the National Association of Citizen's Advice Bureau. It offers advice and information on a number of issues including debt, housing, employment, welfare benefits and family law.