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April 21, 2010
Want New Customers? Prioritize Public Health
Employers are taking steps to address their workers' health, but new findings indicate that consumers expect businesses across industries to be involved in health care in ways that go beyond the well-being of their employees.
Realizing the impact of employee health on productivity and the bottom line, employers remain very concerned about their workers' health habits and are implementing measures to improve them.
However, according to the 2010 Edelman Health Engagement Barometer, the general public expects businesses to be involved in health in ways that go well beyond their employees' habits.
Based on responses from 15,257 respondents in 11 countries, the Edelman study found that people view health not only as a personal issue, but also a public one. The vast majority were focused on their own health (91 percent) and that of their family (89 percent), but many also reported engagement with the health of their communities (55 percent), countries (56 percent) and the world (49 percent).
The study, announced last week, also found that while 77 percent of respondents believe businesses should help employees and their families lead healthier lives, 92 percent believe companies should be engaging in other ways, too.
For example, 71 percent believe it is important for businesses to support the health of their local communities, 75 percent believe it is important for businesses to educate the public on health topics related to their products or services, and the same number believe it is important for businesses to provide new products or services that maintain and improve personal health. Sixty-nine percent say that companies should be as engaged in maintaining and improving personal and public health as they are in maintaining and improving the environment.
Edelman found that 72 percent of respondents trust companies that are effectively engaged in health matters, while 65 percent either recommend or buy products from these companies. Thirty-nine percent currently pay a premium for these companies' products or services — indicating that focusing on health can be a smart business strategy.
"In the wake of the global economic crisis, trust and transparency are now as important to corporate reputation as the quality of products and services provided," Edelman CEO Richard Edelman said in a statement. "Factoring the fundamentals of health into business strategies is key to rebuilding confidence."
Exploring the public's expectations of how 10 industries should engage in better health practices, Edelman's research indicates that priorities vary between fields. The following are some examples:
- Food and Beverage — Priorities include communicating the health risks of food products or services (51 percent); educating the public on health topics related to these products or services (50 percent); helping to address obesity (49 percent); helping employees and their families lead healthier lives (48 percent); and creating new products or services that maintain or improve health (47 percent).
- Biopharma and Medical Products — The key priority involves creating new products or services that maintain or improve health (59 percent). However, 50 percent of survey respondents said the industry has a broader responsibility to contribute to global health. Nearly the same number (48 percent) said this industry should support the health of local communities.
- Consumer Technology — Priorities range from helping employees and their families lead healthier lives (47 percent); educating the public on health topics related to consumer products and services (42 percent); and communicating health risks of products or services (41 percent).
"For a company to be prosperous and relevant in the future, it has to factor health into its business strategy, not only to fulfill its social contract with all stakeholders but to realize its full market potential," Nancy Turett, global president of health at Edelman, said.
Findings from the survey were presented last week at the 7th Annual World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C.
Full 2010 Edelman Health Engagement Barometer report below
Recent: Keep Your Business and Employees Healthy
Resources
More Employers Eye Changes to Health Benefits to Control Costs, Improve Worker Health Behavior
Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health, Feb. 22, 2010
2010 Edelman Health Engagement Barometer
Edelman, April 13, 2010
'Health' Joins 'Green' as Business Strategy across Industries
Edelman, April 13, 2010
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Comment
3 CommentsI think companies should obey health laws. If they choose to use additional measures, more power to them. I don't think the government should require additional suggestions and get more involved than they already are.
April 21, 2010 4:03 PMIf the figures are accurate and not just concocted to make those companies appear that they are now embracing the "green" bandwagon we are all riding today, then I am personally ecstatic to see more companies today taking interest in their employee's health. Not just for the obvious reason that a sick employee is an unproductive one, but that the investment in the health and well being of today's work force will improve the nation's well being exponentially.
Each life impacted by good and sound health decisions reaches out beyond the workplace into the home and communities that these people touch.
I can't help but believe, though, that much of the nation's industries would not have even started stepping up to meet the challenge if they weren't required to by government intervention. The tobacco industry is the perfect example of an industry heretofore only concerned with turning a profit at the expense of the human condition.
Perhaps if big business exercised common sense, integrity, and a little foresight fifty years ago, we could have stopped the degree of diseases, obesity, and other maladies that burden our society today.
April 21, 2010 4:05 PMI think that someone with an ability enough will transform the definition of production into a new philosophy. For instance, all the industries and technologies most likely to concentrate on the goods for people's needs to maintain and enhance their health and age for a longer life.
April 25, 2010 9:10 PM
