This month marks the seventh anniversary of Employee Wellbeing Month, originally launched by Virgin Pulse in partnership with the STOP Obesity Alliance. Since 2009, Employee Wellbeing Month has highlighted the role of the workplace in health promotion, and this year more than 200 companies took the pledge to promote healthy workplace activity during the month of June. A commitment to workplace wellness provides a significant opportunity not only to create a healthy company culture, but also to increase employee productivity and engagement-molding better business.

Approximately 30 percent of the U.S. workforce has obesity, and the estimated annual cost attributable to obesity is $73.1 billion among full-time employees.  In addition to cost, obesity in the workplace increases the number of unplanned absences and decreases productivity at work. These issues are of great concern to employers, many of whom have taken steps to build healthy habits within their companies. Workplace sponsored health promotion and disease prevention programs improve modifiable health risks like obesity. These programs save companies money in health care expenditures and produce a positive return on investment by increasing employee loyalty and improving worker retention.

Workplaces offer a unique opportunity because health promotion programs are able to reach populations not necessarily exposed to or engaged in health improvement efforts. The infrastructure to introduce healthy policies or practices to this population is already established, and employees already share a common purpose and social culture with which new wellness programs can be aligned.  Employers can capitalize on this foundational social structure by creating programs that offer colleagues the opportunity to support and encourage one another through their health improvement efforts.

New research from Virgin Pulse shows that 88 percent of employees who participate in workplace wellbeing programs feel positive about their work culture as a result of those programs. Of these same employees, 65 percent report that these programs make them feel appreciated. Employers recognize the importance of employee wellbeing as a driver of organizational success, and 78 percent of employers surveyed indicated that they will be expand their wellbeing programs to also include financial and mental health wellbeing.

These and other findings were discussed in detail during an Employee Wellbeing Month Webinar held earlier this month. Panelists included Lenny Sanicola (WorldatWork), Candace DeMatteis (Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease), Wayne Nemath (Knoll, Inc.), and myself. Our conversation introduced innovative strategies to help employers build healthy habits across a wide variety of organizations. At the heart of employee wellbeing is a willingness to design policy and environmental systems that are conducive to healthy behavior. These do not need to be monumental, but rather can start small and grow organically over time.

An example given during the webinar was one company's experience with a group of employees who liked to walk together during lunch. Over time this group became a recognized "walking club" with a specific route advertised throughout the organization. Eventually different "teams" emerged with some employees walking the route in the morning, others at lunch, and others in the afternoon. The progression from a simple lunch-time walk to a well-established part of the company's day-to-day schedule demonstrates how easily simple modifications can grow over time.

Another example comes from George Washington University where the STOP Obesity Alliance is housed. The Milken Institute School of Public Health has a central staircase and standing desks for both faculty offices and classrooms, making healthier options readily available. The school has instituted a "healthy foods at meeting" policy that makes it much easier to eat healthy in the workplace. The design of these systems encourages smarter choices by making healthy options both available and accessible.

During the webinar, the other panelists and I discussed the need for a committed leadership for significant, scalable impact on employee wellbeing. Champions at the executive level can significantly improve the success of workplace wellness programs, no matter how small the organization or how limited the budget.

I encourage you to review the recorded version of the webinar here and to read the full Virgin Pulse report here.