The evidence

• The estimated cost of sickness absence to a business with around 100 employees is almost £70,000 per year.*

• If you are large employer with 500 employees, you lose an average of 3,700 days work to sickness each year (that's the equivalent of 15 full time members of staff not working for a whole year)*

Can you afford not to look after the wellbeing of your workforce?

It is widely accepted that eating healthily and maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for wellbeing.  Employees who eat healthily are less likely to suffer from ill health (and related absenteeism), and are more productive, efficient and alert whilst at work.

Staff who feel unwell and are overweight are more likely to make special demands on their employers and may find it difficult to carry out manual tasks and anything which requires physical activity.

Evaluation of Cook Well, Work Well shows that the course improves nutritional knowledge, eating habits and general well-being of delegates; this will benefit the longer-term health of employees, and contribute to a reduction in absentee rates (and increase in output) in both the short and long term for employers.

Key findings from staff after taking part in Cook Well, Work Well:

• Three quarters of staff were choosing healthier foods more often, even three months after the end of the sessions
• More staff made time to eat breakfast, and were generally eating a healthier meal to start the working day
• More staff were drinking water during the working day
• A number of staff reported losing weight
• More than half of staff reported regularly using simple steps from Cook Well, Work Well to eat more healthily - such as eating smaller portions, having starchy foods with every meal, keeping a bottle of water on the desk, being more active and cooking dinner from scratch in the evening rather than relying on ready meals or takeaways
• On average, staff said they felt better about themselves after attending the workshops, event three months later - reporting feeling more energetic, more able to concentrate, and better sleeping patterns
• All staff rated Cook Well, Work Well as either excellent or very good

To request a copy of the full evaluation report for Cook Well Work  please contact us.

*(based on CIPD 2009 figures)