FITNESS
ABSENTEEISM PARCELLED UP
itability? A study carried out by the London School of Economics (LSE) on the eff ectiveness of a health and wellbeing policy at the UK’s Royal Mail Group (RMG) found that tack- ling staff absenteeism saved £227m* (us$364m, €269m). T e cut in absenteeism from 7 to 5 per cent equalled employing an extra 3,600 full-time people to the 180,000 workforce. T e three-year strategy focused on: health
C
screening for employees and occupational support services, such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy; health clinics in more than 90 RMG sites to help people return to work and prevent them from getting ill; health promotion campaigns targeting smoking and back pain; and increased support and train- ing for managers to improve the eff ectiveness of absence-to-attendance policies. T e £46m (us$74m, €54.7m) programme
between 2004 and 2007 included a £90,000 (us$145,900, €107,000) management deal with 54 corporate fi tness centres off ering a standard gym kit and numerous fi tness classes. To evaluate the positive impact of the strat-
egy, LSE examined the ‘before and aſt er’ eff ects of the health and wellbeing initiatives based on a single RMG business unit comprising 48 Parcelforce depots. T ree years of absence data, as well as profi tability, cost and pro- ductivity measures, was analysed, alongside one-to-one interviews with key personnel and an employee satisfaction survey. T e fi nd- ings revealed that by introducing a culture
108 spa business handbook 2011
ould spas off er packages and fi tness services to help large corporations reduce absenteeism and raise prof-
T e Royal Mail Group’s health and wellbeing initiative reduced staff absenteeism and improved net income
of wellbeing, the RMG managed to reduce absenteeism by 25 per cent over the three years. Controlling absence enabled Parcel- force to hit daily targets (items delivered and net income) more easily, by removing unpre- dictability in meeting targets and helping to keep unit costs down, while tackling absen- teeism reduced dependency on replacement labour, including agency staff . T is helped them to improve net income by reducing costs, with the 2.5 per cent fall in absentee- ism over three years contributing an estimated
£1.2m (us$1.9m, €1.4m) in improved net income across the group and also having a positive eff ect on quality of service, suggest- ing that agency staff are half as effi cient as full-time employees. Dr Steve Boorman, chief medical adviser to RMG, says: “Investing in and improving workers’ health and wellbeing is not only the right thing to do, but makes perfect business sense too.” T e LSE has produced a report called Value of
Rude Health: a compilation of health and wellbe- ing initiatives aimed at helping the UK – as well as other countries – to combat ‘sick-note cultures’ and save up to £1.45bn (us$2.33bn, €1.72bn) a year by bringing more than 94,000 people absent through illness or injury back in to work.
*Value of Rude Health is available free at:
www.royalmailgroup.com/valueofrudehealth
www.spahandbook.com
PHOTO:
ISTOCK.COM/©MARK GODDARD
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