Medical Monday Employee Health Month

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) -Over the past few years, employee health has become more of a focus for many companies. Many are finding that in addition to being beneficial to employees, employers are also benefiting.

Joseph Siddiqui is the Vice President of Human Resources at Northern Light AR Gould, he says, “Our employees are our most valuable resource and so we need to make sure that they are at their best and available to us.”

Siddiqui says focusing on employee health doesn’t just make a difference for the employee, it makes a difference for the employer as well.

He says, “I think that when they feel cared for, first and foremost they’re going to feel appreciated and they’re at a good place to work and from a retention point of view, that is an added benefit. In addition, that’s going to help them with their own work attendance and their work productivity and their work performance. All the benefits of being well, that contributes to you being a strong performing, effective employee.”

Siddiqui recommends employers focus on their employees health as a whole, through the whole wellness wheel, not just focusing on physical health, but also aspects like emotional, spiritual and financial health as well.

“We’ve actually brought our employees into the equation and we’ve set up a team to look at what are some activities we can be doing. One of the things we really try and do is make sure that we are meeting employees where they’re at. Not everyone is going to be able to go out and run a marathon today, but everyone of us has a particular aspect of our wellness that we can be working on.” Siddiqui adds.

Offering Employee Assistance Programs, trainings on saving for retirement and challenging other businesses to physical challenges are all ways Siddiqui recommends supporting employee health. He also encourages employees to talk with your employer if something like this isn’t offered at your place of business.

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