LONDON, October 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

http://www.nuffieldhealth.com/corporate-wellbeing/our-approach/workplace-wellbeing

Nuffield Health Chief Executive David Mobbs has dismissed the role of the state in improving people's everyday lifestyle decisions, and pointed to employee wellbeing solutions as the new corporate social responsibility model to help solve the UK's health challenges.

Research, commissioned by Nuffield Health, in conjunction with Ashridge Business School, reveals how the future financial health of companies relates closely to the wellbeing of their employees.

David Mobbs spoke at the Wellbeing in the Workplace 2012 event held at The Gherkin's Searcys Club, in the City.

He said:

"It is not practical or desirable for the state to intervene in everyday lifestyle decisions on a mass scale, therefore, the solutions to the health challenges facing the UK lie outside of the NHS.

"Employers and individuals need to work together to create the right conditions to improve the UK population's wellbeing alongside UK PLC's competitiveness and productivity.*"

Dr. Andrew Jones, Nuffield Health's Managing Director for Corporate Wellbeing, said:

"To retain the best staff in this economic climate, employers have to become the 'employer of choice' by demonstrating a willingness to invest in the health of their employees and their families. But this reaps dividends for the companies themselves in reduced employee sick leave and absenteeism. It is an initiative that increases productivity and economic security for the UK."

Marcus Powell, Nuffield Health's Group OD and HR Director, said:

"Employers are fast-becoming 'guardians of health'. Technology is being deployed to provide vital data on health trends, behaviours and impacts of interventions. Personal health 'optimisation' and disease prevention are the new drivers of change."

Judith Parsons, Business Director for Ashridge Business School, added:

"The costs of not attending to employee wellbeing are enormous - both at an individual level and to the company bottom line. The cost to employers of sickness is in the region of £600-700 per employee per annum and that is money that organisations could have added to the bottom line or invested back into the organisation. In spite of those alarming figures fewer than 50% of employers have a strategy for managing illness.  Employers who are not taking wellbeing seriously also lose out on higher levels of employee engagement, retention and creativity."

The research gives guidance to businesses wanting to deliver first class employee wellbeing:

The Nuffield Health Seven Steps:

• Strategic Imperative - Determine the strategic imperative driving attention to employee health and wellbeing
• Strategic Assessment - Assess the current and projected situation with regard to employee wellbeing, both inside and outside the company
• Strategic Leadership - Identify the individuals and teams that are required to achieve impact in this area
• Strategic Priorities - Establish the priorities and develop the overarching strategy for employee wellbeing
• Strategic Design - Design the optimal wellbeing programme or interventions given available resources
• Strategic Management - communicate and manage the suite of offerings
• Strategic Monitoring and Evaluation - Monitor results and measure impact to ensure success

The research entitled, Developing a Strategy for Employee Wellbeing: A Framework for Planning and Action, can be viewed alongside a film of yesterday's event here:

http://www.nuffieldhealth.com/corporate-wellbeing/our-approach/workplace-wellbeing

*World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011:  Health of the workforce is one of the four pillars of global competitiveness

**Dame Carol Black: "Working for a healthier tomorrow", 2008

About Nuffield Health

Nuffield Health provides expert, joined-up healthcare defined by and created for UK health consumers. We are the largest healthcare charity in the UK, providing health services for over 50 years. We are independent of Government, have no shareholders and reinvest our surplus to improve our facilities or provide public health education. We provide access to 15,000 health experts through our 31 hospitals, 65 fitness & wellbeing centres, 200 corporate facilities and 20 medical clinics to help people get healthy, and stay healthy. Nuffield Health is an award-winning not-for-profit, having won Health Investor Social Enterprise of the Year in 2010 and Private Hospital Group of the Year in 2011.

We are the largest provider of employee wellbeing services in the country, working with more than 1,600 employers. We have over 100,000 members in our 200 corporate fitness clubs, run more than 50,000 Health Screenings each year and advise many blue chip companies on how to support the wellbeing and health of their staff. For six consecutive years we have won the Flame Award for Integrated Corporate Wellbeing.

SOURCE The Broadcast PR Business