Healthcare costs are out of control — but inflation isn’t the only culprit.

A look at the aging American population and increased chronic disease makes it clear that deteriorating metabolic health is chipping away at our time, money, and lifespans. Today, 86% of US medical expenses are spent on chronic illness alone.

This dire situation becomes particularly obvious when looking at heart disease. Millions of Americans die every year from heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiac events, creating a trickle-down effect that impacts businesses to the tune of $363 billion per year.

There’s an epidemic of metabolic health upon us, and it’s only going to get worse. However, business owners have more power than they think to change the status quo — both for themselves and their employees.

Why Employee Heart Health Matters To Everyone

It’s not just employees who should worry about America’s metabolic health crisis. As a business owner, your profits and productivity are on the line as well.

You simply can’t run a business effectively when your metabolic health is struggling. Your performance will be impacted, causing your business to suffer, and this negative feedback loop will create a downstream effect on everyone you serve including customers, employees, and even family members.

Plus, business owners tend to collect poor metabolic habits. They work long hours, stay under a lot of stress, and thanks to their busy schedules, don’t pay attention to what they eat.

On the employee side of the equation, supporting your talent’s health should be a priority. Metabolically healthy employees are sick less often, have fewer health problems that affect their performance, and pour into their work with increased vigor.

I say this from personal experience. I spent many years as a morbidly obese heart surgeon, and my poor metabolic health significantly impacted my love for the profession.

That all changed once I became metabolically healthy. I immediately felt more energy and focus, and discovered a newfound drive to become an independent business owner. 

To summarize: a healthy employee gets more done, costs less money, and is better to work with. And if you’re the one responsible for helping them stay healthy, they’ll likely stick around for the long haul.

You can’t force anyone to change their metabolic health, but you can encourage them to make a change using some practical tips and tools.

Concrete Ways To Improve Your Employee’s Heart Health

In order to have a healthy, functioning business, you need a healthy, functioning workforce. Here are 10 concrete ways you can make a difference in heart health for yourself and your employees.

1. Eat the right foods

Make sure the foods offered at potlucks, cafeterias, and community break rooms are metabolically healthy. Rather than soda and donuts, which are standard in our day and age, try implementing coffee, water, tea, and whole, real foods that provide healthier alternatives. 

2. Promote daily activity

Daily activity doesn’t have to involve cardio or intense weightlifting. Get stand-up desks for your employees. Schedule or allow for breaks throughout the day. Hold walking meetings outside whenever possible.

All of these things will help employees maintain their metabolic health.

3. Be an example

Employees won’t appreciate the pot calling the kettle black. Would you? If you’re not running the race alongside your talent towards better metabolic health, you’re not going to make any progress on improving your employee’s heart health.

4. Create community

Help employees feel like they’re a part of something bigger. For example, you could form teams for lunchtime walks or create an accountability-buddy system that offers encouragement outside the workplace. Maybe you could create a company-wide challenge to see who can walk the most steps in a month. You may also want to set up a company-wide newsletter that shares healthy tips at least once a week.

5. Reduce stress

Chronic stress is a silent killer of metabolic health, and an inescapable factor of modern work.

As a business owner, you can’t eliminate stress entirely, but you can control daily operations and how employees are treated. Do your best to make sure your company culture is one of respect, open communication, and support.

6. Encourage a smoke-free workplace

Smoking is deadly in more ways than one. People who smoke are far more likely to report poor metabolic health, and even secondhand smoke can raise your risks for heart disease by up to 30% on average. If you don’t already have a smoke-free policy in place, now’s the best time to implement one.

7. Supply mental health programs

Poor mental health leads to stress, which results in poor metabolic health, which creates a negative feedback loop that is difficult to escape. 

Employees should be encouraged to seek counseling or therapy when needed rather than letting problems fester, potentially leading to unhealthy coping mechanisms. Online apps are a common method of mental health support, as is subsidized counselling.

8. Offer gym subsidies

Speaking of subsidies, it may be helpful to offer employees a stipend for gym memberships, personal training, or online fitness courses. This doesn’t have to be a huge amount, even $25 per month is enough to encourage daily physical exercise.

9. Implement schedule flexibility

One of the best things you can do for your employees’ heart health is to give them some control over their schedules. When workers feel like they have a good work-life balance, they’re far less likely to experience chronic stress (and thereby chronic disease). Additionally, flexible hours give employees wiggle room to work on personal wellness goals, letting them strive towards better metabolic health inside and outside the workplace.

10. Obtaining metabolic health coaching

I’ll be frank: standard workplace healthcare programs aren’t enough to promote metabolic health. 

Most programs are provided by insurance companies in exchange for a discounted rate. But when we look at their actual benefit to employee health, it may be difficult to find much tangible value.

Customized metabolic health coaching takes a very different approach. Comprehensive employee health optimization programs should include:

• Resources regarding metabolic health
• Support for implementing said resources over time
• Implementation from the top-down, starting with the c-suite

I’d be happy to talk you through a personalized program for yourself and your employees. You can schedule a 15-minute complementary call to work out the details.