Wonder why I'm wrapping a business's Health and Productivity efforts around my fave topic, Employee Engagement?

They're meaningful to one another. As your business and your employees are meaningful to one another.

Gary Billotti, leader for health and human performance with Dow Chemical, states

The Dow Health Strategy is an investment. We truly focus on efforts that will improve health outcomes, realizing fully that these will then lead to the economic benefits of both reduced health care costs and improve employee engagement and performance. Our efforts are at the individual level as well as at the operational and corporate level. (TowersWatson, Staying@Work Report 2009/2010)

I'll save the details of how Dow (and other companies) make their H&P plans work for tomorrow's webinar. For now, let me share these details:

In 2008, Dow Health Services saved more than 7,000 workdays that would have been lost due to injuries and illnesses. That equates to more than $3 million in 2008, in the US alone. When you add in the dollars those injuries and illness would have cost in lost productivity, the savings triple to more than $9 million.

In the risk areas of tobacco use, physical inactivity, and obesity, from '04 to '08 Dow reduced its "high risk employees" figure by 15% and increased its "low risk employees" figure by 18%.

Getting closer to the bottom line, health care costs for active Dow employees increased 2.4% in 2008, almost 4 points less than the national average of 6.3%. Translation: a savings of approximately $11 million in U.S. health care costs, against the national average.

How is this about Employee Engagement?

• An inclusive, well-defined Health and Productivity plan demonstrates the company's care for its employee.

• The H&P plan invites employees to engage in their own health and well being.

• The reduction in stress causes and other distractions enable employees to engage in their job, their work, and their company.

To learn about the Getting to Healthy Engagement webinar, read on....