Health Checks Help Keep Executives on Top of Their Game

Executives are the driving force behind any company, and these are the roles you want to fill with top talent.

You not only want to get the best out of your senior team by keeping them fit and healthy, you also want to hold on to them and stop them being lured away by rival firms.

This is because helping to look after their health goes a long way to showing executives that a company cares and is genuinely interested in them and their wellbeing. It helps motivate and engage with them to feel they are an important part of the company.

Good health also helps boost productivity and reduce absenteeism, which are both positives as companies try to meet their duty of care. By including regular health checks as well as health care as part of an executive’s salary package, a company’s top performers will feel appreciated and be less likely to want to go to another company.

Feeling the pressure

The higher up an organisation anyone goes, the responsibility and demands on them increase, and so can the stress they experience. Certain types of stress, known as good stress, or eustress, can be positive and are experienced when someone feels excited. It makes their pulse rise and they experience a surge in hormones, such as a footballer just before a cup final. But it is seen as good stress because while it prepares the body for action, it is not the fight-or-flight reaction triggered by fear or the threat of danger.

Some people, particularly in executive jobs, thrive on good stress and it gives them the motivation to excel. But distress – stress induced by threat or fear – is negative and can have a devastating impact on someone’s mental health and wellbeing, as well as their performance at work.

Responsibilities

Of course, top-level staff expect to take on extra responsibilities and pressures and this is reflected in their salaries. But it is unfair and impractical to make them feel as if they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. In fact, negative stress in these roles can have a detrimental impact on the company as a whole, as well as the individuals.

Simple checks can be carried out to determine the stress executives are under. They can show how staff are coping, how they feel about themselves, their role, and overall outlook, and work can be done to determine if any action is needed to help them deal with the pressures they are facing. This not only helps people look after themselves and their mental health, it also enables companies to retain people who have been handpicked for key roles.

Age-related conditions

Those in the top jobs are usually those with more experience and are likely to be older, which means that age-related conditions, as well as the demands of their job, can affect their health. By routinely screening for conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and poor nutrition, action can be taken to help people prevent them, or help them to deal with the symptoms.

Health checks may also reveal that certain diseases or conditions are linked – such as stress and poor nutrition or diabetes – and by tackling one of these issues, they can improve someone’s overall wellbeing, which could help them live happier, healthier and more productive lives.

The checks may also help detect conditions that can exist without any symptoms, such as high blood pressure, which can put them at greater risk of heart disease, heart attack, or stroke.

Reassurance

Carrying out regular health checks can help with early detection of some serious illnesses and diseases, but in the majority of cases, it is likely that executives will be given a clean bill of health. This not only gives them the reassurance that they are healthy or need to take certain steps to avoid something becoming an issue in future, it also means they can concentrate on their job without being distracted by any doubts or worries they might have about their health.