Business case justification for buying any new product or service is crucial but can you afford to not invest in the occupational health and wellness of your staff?

Business budgets are growing tighter and managers increasingly have to justify their departmental spend, particularly in relation to the procurement of new products and services.

Occupational health and employee wellness services have an important role to play in business productivity for many organisations because they work to control risk such as increased employee absence. Therefore it could be said that this is a critical area for business investment.

The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) has published a guide for employers outlining the business case for, and value of, investing in occupational health and how employers are becoming increasingly responsible for staff wellbeing.

The economic implications of employing occupational health is often overlooked, but it is undeniable that the service offers both rehab for those coming back to work, but also acting as a preventative method to reduce sickness absence in the first instance. Companies with a solid occupational health offering see increased engagement and employee loyalty.

Three main influences in providing occupational health services could be defined as:

  • Financial – Pressure to reduce costs or add value
  • Legal – Compliance and legislative procedures to be met
  • Moral – It’s simply the right thing to do

The SOM report highlights an improvement in UK employer attitude towards occupational health from the former view that it was not a primary organisational objective. Factors such as moral obligation, brand image and staff morale were more highly considered than the tangible elements of sickness absence rates and insurance premiums.

Workplace wellbeing has dramatically risen within public policy, however, surveys of UK employers revealed the most prevalent reasons for investing in occupational health are to encourage a healthier, more productive workforce, staff attraction and retention and company image of responsibility.

A simple investment in a system which has proven ROI for businesses in terms of drastically cutting down occupational health process times would complement the aims of organisations attempting to attain the tangible and intangible results from providing an effective service.

Contact us now to learn more about the many benefits Cohort can offer your business.

Cohort Software offers many benefits for businesses allowing users to focus on more value added tasks in their daily schedules leading to increased employee efficiency.