Employee engagement – it’s critical for the success of any business. Engaged employees are motivated and fully devoted to their job. They strive to do their best as an employee, and they focus on making the company they work for better. They see the “bigger picture” and understand the role they play in furthering the company’s vision. They’re not just satisfied – they’re motivated, committed and empowered.

Unfortunately, engaged employees are the minority. According to a Gallup poll, only about one in three employees are actively engaged at work – and that’s not a good thing. Employees who aren’t engaged bring down the morale of other employees. Plus, disengaged employees are less productive and are more likely to seek alternative employment.

Fostering employee engagement should be a priority

How can employers help their employees be more engaged? One way is to focus on improving their physical and mental health. Employees that make unhealthy lifestyle choices, eat an unhealthy diet, are overweight, fail to exercise and don’t handle stress well lack the resources to be engaged in their job. That’s why employers need to focus more on the health and wellness of their employees. According to an article published in Employee Benefit News, employees are eight times more likely to be actively engaged in their job when their employers emphasize health. Those are pretty impressive statistics.

Unhealthy employees are more likely to be disengaged

Most employees deal with constant time restraints. Between working, dealing with young children, and, possibly, aging parents, it leaves little time for them to focus on their own health and well-being. They may not eat a healthy diet and fail to get enough exercise – not to mention the constant stress they’re under. These factors make it hard for them to be engaged in their work. Employers can help by emphasizing health in the workplace. A healthy employee has more resources to be engaged and is likely to be more productive too.

Boost employee engagement by emphasizing wellness

Companies that don’t have the resources for a full-blown wellness program can use less costly methods of investing in employee health. Here are some ideas:

• Publish an employee newsletter offering tips for staying healthy and dealing with stress.


• Recruit lecturers who can demonstrate techniques for dealing with work-related stress like deep breathing exercises and meditation.


• Encourage employees to move around regularly throughout the day.


• Turn an empty room into a library, and fill it with books on stress management, nutrition, weight loss and fitness.


• Offer screening programs to check for some of the most common problems that affect employee health such as high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.


• Keep the break room and vending machines free of junk food. Instead, offer fruit to employees.

The bottom line?

If you want better employee engagement, make sure your employees stay healthy. When you focus on health, employees know you care about them, and that motivates them to go the “extra mile.”