BUSINESS ACTION ON HEALTH REPORTS A GROWING NUMBER OF FTSE100 COMPANIES

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7th October 2008: Business Action on Health, the Business in the Community
(BITC) campaign committed to improving the health and wellbeing of the UK
workforce, today publishes the 2008 report, ‘Nurture your people & Grow your
business’. The report reviews the progress of the campaign one year on,
highlights successes and key trends, and outlines future aspirations.
A year from the launch of the Business Action on Health campaign, health and
wellbeing has emerged as a key corporate responsibility issue. Research
conducted by the campaign with FTSE100 companies reveals that 81 percent of
companies now report publicly any commitment or activity to increase the health
and wellbeing of their employees, up from 68 percent in 2007. Forty of these
companies report on the health and wellbeing of their employees in their annual
report and 65 companies are including these details in their Corporate
Responsibility or Sustainability reports.
Crucially, there has also been a dramatic increase in the number of FTSE 100
companies reporting on their progress on health and wellbeing using quantitative
measures, up from 7 last year to 23 in 2008. This demonstrates a significant
rise in the number of employers measuring key indicators of health and
wellbeing, such as levels of absenteeism, and reporting statistically on the
impact of company programmes; reporting the number of employees enrolling in a
healthy eating programme for example.
Louise Aston, Campaign Director, Business Action on Health, commented:
“Significant milestones have been reached over the past year and the issue of
health and wellbeing in the workplace has, it seems, finally reached its tipping
point. However, we still have a long way to go and ambitious targets to meet. We
have committed ourselves to raising the proportion of FTSE 100 companies
reporting and measuring on employee health, using quantitative measures, from 23
to 75 percent by 2011.”
Although this research demonstrates an increase in the number of employers
promoting and reporting on health and wellbeing in the workplace, too few
companies are making tangible efforts to approach the issue strategically and
measure progress quantitatively. For example, while many companies measure
absenteeism through line managers or self-assessment forms, fewer than half of
companies collate these centrally. Moreover, just under two in three of those
reporting on health and wellbeing have set improvement targets, with under half
of these employers reporting publicly on the targets set and their performance
against these targets.
Health and wellbeing programmes are also becoming a vital weapon in the battle
for talent. According to YouGov research commissioned by Business Action on
Health, six in 10 workers would consider leaving employers who fail to address
workplace health and wellbeing and 83 percent consider prospective employers’
attitudes towards health an important factor when making a decision about a job.

“Since the launch of the campaign in October 2007, health and wellbeing has
become increasingly important, not only as part of the HR and corporate social
responsibility agendas, but as a core business issue for UK business leaders,”
commented Stephen Howard, Chief Executive, Business in the Community. He added:
“the business case and return on investment for investing in employee health
and wellbeing programmes is becoming more apparent - employers can reduce
absence, recruitment and retention costs, and increase employee engagement and
productivity at work.”
Julian Hunt, Director of Communications, Food and Drink Federation, said:
“Our industry has long recognised that a healthy, committed workforce is vital
to business success and it’s good to see more companies coming round to that
way of thinking. We’re delighted to be involved in the BITC campaign and
sponsoring the ‘Nurture your people & Grow your business’ report, which
reinforces the point that there’s a strong business case for investing in
workplace wellbeing.”
Next steps for the campaign include research on key areas, such as absence
management, and the development of three new toolkits for employers: Emotional
Resilience, Physical Activity and Skills. These practical toolkits will be
launched in the New Year at a BITC conference aimed at HR practitioners.
Longer-term, the campaign is calling on all BITC members, as well as other
companies, to commit to reporting publicly on the health and wellbeing of their
employees as a boardroom issue by 2011. The campaign is also working alongside
the Government’s Health Work Wellbeing initiative to establish standardised
criteria which enable companies to report on, and manage, health and wellbeing
performance as a boardroom issue as well as documenting the return on their
investment in workforce health.