The Good health is good business report details initiatives employers can easily adopt to minimise the negative effects today's working environments can have on employee wellbeing.
It states that in this "struggling" economy, employee health and wellbeing becomes an important factor. Managers are working longer hours and many organisations can't justify giving pay rises when budgets are tight.
The report from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and specialist healthcare provider Simplyhealth states there are strong links between the dominant management styles within organisations and measures of health and wellbeing and indeed to organisational growth and decline.
Accessible, empowering and innovative styles are associated with both happier staff and better organisational performance, the report finds. And any organisation looking to improve health and wellbeing will find itself "pushing water uphill" if underlying problems of poor management remain unchanged.
The report finds the rewards for improving health and wellbeing are likely to include measurable effects, both upon employees and the employer.
It says "substantial" progress can be made to the business if it can tackle the two biggest causes of lost working – stress, depression or anxiety, and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which are responsible for some 10.4 and 7.5 million lost working days respectively.
The report states as well as tackling some of the biggest causes of ill health at work, employers should see the positive effects on engagement and performance by offering wellbeing benefits. These include: healthy eating facilities, gym and sports facilities, health coaching, progressive return to work options and health cash plans.
Patrick Woodman, head of external affairs at CMI, said: "The UK's prolonged economic downturn has put organisational performance and individual wellbeing under much strain.
"Some businesses are struggling to survive and may be concerned that implementing a health and wellbeing strategy will incur increased costs at a time when cost cutting is the order of the day. But there are hard-nosed reasons for supporting employees.
"Initiatives to promote better health and wellbeing are more an investment than a cost. They have the potential to generate substantial returns.
"Investment in employee benefits needs to happen at the same time as cultural change, especially when it comes to management style. Simply put, bad managers are bad for employee health and bad for business.
Howard Hughes, from Simplyhealth, added: "By investing in our people, they will invest in us and help to build strong businesses for the future."
• Look out for our health and wellbeing supplement in April's issue of HR magazine
