Johnson & Johnson's CEO Alex Gorsky reiterated his company's commitment to employee health and wellbeing earlier this week, during a lecture he gave at the London School of Economics.
Speaking on the topic of healthcare innovation, the new-ish CEO said the company sees a return of $2 to $4 dollars on every dollar it spends on encouraging a healthy workforce – a useful margin for any big business currently being squeezed by volatile market conditions.
J&J uses a number of carrots and sticks to encourage health and wellness among its workforce, some of which sound next generation when compared to a free piece of fruit and a flu jab. One such initiative is to put employees through the Human Performance Institute, a J&J company, which looks at how employees manage their energy for life, both physically and mentally. Other companies offer similar programmes, but health and wellbeing at J&J is not just for the rank and file...
During the Q&A at the LSE, a member of the audience asked Gorsky how he manages to stay fit and healthy, particularly as a busy CEO managing a global conglomerate. "I am addicted to fitness," declared Gorsky, before running through the routine of his regular morning workouts – apparently the one thing in his day that he can control.
Given the CEO's key man status, it would be interesting to know what return J&J sees for every dollar that Gorsky invests in his own health and wellbeing. Should the answer prove to be a significant multiple, then it is perhaps worth asking if companies should be more transparent about the overall health and fitness of the C-suite, getting ahead of recent debate about the appropriate time to disclose major debilitating illness, such as cancer.
Gorsky brought up employee health during his discussion about the general shift in healthcare thinking away from treatment and towards prevention - he reckons that one of the biggest challenges for the next thirty years will be addressing lifestyle choices. One finding he referred to at the LSE shows that not smoking combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise can prevent 80% of chronic illnesses and 40% of cancers.
Yet the availability of gyms on every street corner and a new fad diet each week proves to him that the answer to lifestyle changes is more than a question of convenience and availability – which is where business comes in. And being the CEO of a conglomerate like J&J means that Gorky has 100,000-plus employees on hand to take part in his 'medical' trials.
For now, though, he draws the line at quantifiable goals like employee fitness and healthy diets. A separate question from the floor wanted to know if pharma companies should have a responsibility for employees' happiness and moral wellbeing, not just their health. "If people are healthier, they will be happier," quipped Gorsky, adding "But I'm not so sure on the moral side."
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