Human Capital Investment for Better Business Results

Two forces are converging in the management of employer‐based health and related benefits. As benefits professionals recognize the need to treat workforce health as something more than simply healthcare costs, they are expanding their focus to include dimensions such as absence from work, disability, employee performance and productivity. This broader view is influencing how these professionals are designing and measuring the impacts of benefits plans, programs and interventions. At the same time, a growing number of employers understand that health is only part of a human capital management strategy that can influence broader “health‐as‐business‐value” outcomes. Organizational dimensions such as employee wellbeing, corporate culture and employee engagement are being seen as opportunities to create a more integrated and holistic strategy in managing workforce health and human capital, and to more broadly influence their impacts on business performance. This report examines how corporate culture influences two key dimensions affecting business performance ‐‐ absence from work and performance at work. The report findings show that unsupportive workplace climates –where employees perceive unsafe working conditions, low respect and trust, poor variety and learning and high workload – are associated with higher absence and lower job performance among ill employees. This study shows the importance of developing supportive work climates that can enhance, rather than undermine, employers’ investments in healthy, high-performing human capital.