For Your Health: Say Hello to the CHO

Chief health officers focus companies on health as a basis for productivity, retention, recruitment, risk management

The pandemic has made organizations aware of the need for a new C-suite leader, the CHO, or chief health officer. This has been driven by recognizing the importance of employee health for engagement, productivity, and risk management, along with lowering healthcare insurance costs. At the same time, more employees report mental and physical health challenges.

To keep employees safe, and productivity and morale up, organizations realize that simply offering yoga and other wellness programs through employee assistance programs won’t cut it. This awareness helped create a top executive whose sole focus is on optimizing employee health, both physical and mental, for the sake of company bottom lines.

Thus, say hello to the chief health officer, the new C-suite leader who is both captain and curator of an organization’s health policies, and deals with the employees’ health on all levels.

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Comments

CHO for Better Health or Less Disease??? Where is joy?

It sounds like CHO is to get the most they can out of the people rather than making work a better experience that also enables higher productivity. As W. Edwards Deming emphasizesd, "People are entitled to joy in work." He also made clear, people should be able to take pride in their work. Instead of promoting these ideas, as the article stated, "The CHO focuses on health as a basis for productivity, retention, recruitment, and risk management, the latter most strongly embodied in best practices for a safe office return"

In other words, how can we get more out of people - what about purpose, meaning and a better experience? People don't just want a safe return - they want a work environment that helps them become better versions of themselves. That better version of themself will also help the organization - make people want to stay and do good work, attract top level workers and make it a good steward for society.

So much of health has been about avoiding, treating or preventing bad things. The medical system is designed to treat disease and infirmity, acutely or for the short term. Health improvement is for the long-term. Treating or avoiding problems does not cause health, health is the presence of physical, mental and social well-being. Health must be enabled by increasing capacity and potential. Prevention cannot do this, environments must be designed for success not just to avoid failure.

Much of the article suggested higher productivity from less bad health. Less bad health would only achieve what they should be achieving without problems, not more good - only less bad. That aim is far too low, better health should be enabled by increasing skills, abilities and connnections which will automatically increase productivity as it improves health. Also, this better health will be an example that will demonstrate a great offense is the best defense against problems. Also when uncontrolled and unexpected bad things happen, such as COVID, they will be better prepared to deal due to higher levels of health and well-being.

We must focus on health improvement beyond the absence of disease.

BeWell'r,

Craig M. Becker, PhD

BeWell'r, LLC