Setting the trend for corporate wellbeing
It’s often said that the health of your employees is a direct reflection of the health of your organisation. In today’s tight labour market, corporate wellness is no longer just a buzzword thrown around by academics and consultants; it’s an undeniable reality and one part of an essential strategy to retain employees and position your business as an employer of choice.
Long working hours and the increased competition for talent has seen corporate wellness in Australia become one of the burgeoning industries of the millennium. Providers in this boom industry have been forced to innovate or risk being left behind. The increased competition has seen a number of interesting trends emerge, making the Australian Corporate Wellness Industry a space to watch.
One of the most important trends has been the increased accessibility of appropriate programs and services. According to Greg Caleo, Managing Director of Calastica, the Internet has been one of the biggest sources of innovation in the corporate wellness field.
“Online bookings for corporate health services has changed the way organisations offer services to their employees. Calastica pioneered the service in Australia providing each client their own individually branded website dedicated to keeping employees up to date with the programs offered in their corporate health scheme. Employees are able to log into the system using their work email address and unique log in codes.
“The website allows them to view the range of services on offer and book tailored programs, such as physical health assessments, flu vaccinations, group exercise classes, educational seminars and massages. Once booked, an email confirmation is sent, eliminating the need for unnecessary phone calls or paper waste. This gives employees the flexibility to book in their own activities involving them in your company’s health scheme. The website puts all the information at their fingertips, in a branded, company specific environment,” says Caleo.
Another emerging trend is the wide array of services which organisations may incorporate into their corporate wellness programs, and offer as staff incentives. Whereas twenty years ago, most corporate wellness programs consisted purely of employee health assessments and the odd group aerobics class, nowadays complementary therapies such as massage, reflexology, iridology, aromatherapy and naturotherapy regularly fall under the umbrella of corporate health.
“It’s all about choice,” comments Caleo. “Our Winter Wellness program not only offers influenza vaccinations but also aromatherapy treatments to help boost the immune system. Last season we provided 19000 flu vaccinations with 14% of clients also opting for the aromatherapy product. This corporate interest in preventative vaccinations is not entirely altruistic, after all, it only takes one sick employee to bring down an entire office.”
Corporate onsite gymnasiums are another booming area in the corporate wellness industry. Many large finance and insurance firms have onsite gymnasiums with facilities to rival those of any premium health club. This is all part of the philosophy of prevention, rather than cure, which underpins the whole concept of corporate wellness.
Being an employer of choice, Nokia Australia Pty Ltd has chosen Calastica Health & Wellbeing to be their workplace health and wellbeing provider. Nokia Australia Pty Ltd maintains that providing a balanced work environment for their employees has been a good investment leading to increased employee morale and productivity. Calastica has been working with Nokia Australia Pty Ltd since 2004 and the health and wellbeing program has evolved over the years. In addition to their annual Health Exposition and regular health seminars and massage services, Calastica manages Nokia Australia’s onsite gym and runs five group fitness classes per week.
As the saying goes, if you give a man a fish he’ll eat for a day, if you teach a man to fish his family will get sick of seafood. Education is playing an increasingly prominent role in corporate health with seminars on nutrition and disease prevention growing rapidly in popularity. Calastica has taken this one step further, offering an educational online tool called e-care. E-care allows employees to create an online health profile that takes in to account factors such as age, height, weight and lifestyle. It then offers up to date articles on health and lifestyle issues, which may affect them personally.
With such a sophisticated array of services and providers on offer, the task of choosing a program that matches your company culture and employees needs may be daunting, but the results will be entirely rewarding.
Source: Australian Corporate Wellness magazine