Corporate Health: Effective Measures Need Structure

Healthy employees are an important prerequisite for stable processes, good quality, and long-term performance. In manufacturing companies, very different stresses converge: shift work, time pressure, physically demanding activities, ergonomic requirements, and increasingly, issues of psychological health. Current figures show how relevant the topic is: AOK-insured employees were absent for an average of 23.3 days due to illness in 2025. Mental illnesses led to an average of 28.5 days of incapacity to work. A current ifaa trend study also shows that psychological disorders are a relevant issue for 71 percent of the companies surveyed. This makes it clear: companies must take their employees’ health seriously.

Corporate Health Management is More Than Individual Offers

However, Corporate Health Management (CHM for short) is more than individual offers such as a yoga class, a health day, or a running group. It combines occupational safety, occupational reintegration management, and workplace health promotion. Needs must be identified, suitable measures selected, responsibilities clarified, and the impact regularly reviewed. Kim Teresa Karsten’s Bachelor’s thesis on health management at NEUMAYER therefore emphasizes that CHM should not be understood as a collection of individual offers, but as a long-term and continuously developing management process.

For health programs to be effective, they must suit the workforce and reach the employees. Employees in production, administration, or shift work experience different stresses, have different working hours, and different opportunities to participate in programs. A uniform program for everyone does not do justice to these differences. Therefore, it is worthwhile to involve employees and use existing information. What stresses exist? Which programs are used? Where are there hurdles? Employee surveys, feedback, absenteeism data, or insights from occupational safety can provide helpful information.

Communication is equally important. All employees should know what programs are available, whom to contact if interested, and how confidential matters are handled. This information must be easily understandable and provided through channels that suit the respective employee groups. Our company’s analysis shows that transparency, accessibility, and suitability are essential factors for the perception of health programs.

Health Management at NEUMAYER

The existing components of our health management include structured occupational reintegration management and measures from occupational safety and health, including company medical care. In addition, there are voluntary health promotion programs, including those in the area of exercise. A health circle with employees from various departments combines different perspectives from the company and creates a basis for addressing health-related issues from daily work. This provides important prerequisites upon which health management can build. Underlying this is our fundamental idea that health and working conditions belong together. Those who want to ensure long-term efficient processes must also consider working conditions and the support needs of employees.

The Bachelor’s thesis concludes that effective health management does not necessarily have to start with an extensive package of measures. Often, it is more sensible to systematically review existing activities, i.e., identify needs, select suitable measures, communicate them clearly, gather feedback, and learn from it. Measuring success can provide important information on participation, satisfaction, perceived stresses, and health perception, in addition to absenteeism or occupational accidents. Only by combining different perspectives can it be seen whether the programs reach employees and where adjustments are needed.

For companies, the following three questions can be a good starting point:

• Do we know which health issues truly concern our employees?
• Do our programs reach those for whom they are intended?
• Do we use feedback to further develop our measures?

We thank Kim Teresa Karsten for her intensive and insightful examination of Corporate Health Management at NEUMAYER. Her Bachelor’s thesis provides us with valuable impulses and highlights our strengths as well as potential areas for development. We understand the insights gained as an important basis for continuing to carefully monitor the topic of health in the company and to reflect on existing approaches.