How can helping your employees quit smoking help save your business money?
It is often spoken about how quitting smoking can save the health of those that quit smoking, how it can benefit businesses is often not discussed.
1. Increased profits & productivity
The average employee that smokes cost you between $2500 and $6000 in lost wages and around 2 weeks lost productivity on smoke breaks !
It’s been emphatically shown that employees who don’t smoke are far more productive than those that do.
Smokers generally spend more time on breaks and take many unscheduled breaks than non-smokers which overtime adds up substantially. Add to this Australian statistics show, on average, smokers take an additional three days of sick leave per year.
So this means that if you can help your employees quit smoking, they most likely will become more productive while at work, work a higher percentage of their time at work, take less sick leave and be less distracted.
2. Increased staff happiness and loyalty
Statistics show that approximately 70% of smokers wish to quit, but most do not succeed. If you can help your employees accomplish such a huge goal you will not only earn their trust and loyalty, but they will also be happy staff. Employers who actively find ways to improve the health and happiness of their staff retain their staff for longer.
3. Better company image
While smoking is a personal choice of your employees, it is important to remember that it can negatively impact your companies image. Some of the most common ways include that some customers more sensitive noses prefer to deal with staff do not smell like cigarettes. This can hurt sales. Many companies ban their employees from smoking in public areas or while wearing company uniform due to public perception.
Summary
The biggest study of the costs of smoking to employers was conducted in the US, it found that staff that smoked cost and average of between $2885-$10,125 more than their non-smoking co-workers. These figures may not be exactly the same in Australia, but it is clear that helping your employees quit smoking will benefit your business in measurable and financial ways.