February is American Heart Month, a time when red ribbons and heart-shaped pins remind us that cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. While the message often focuses on individual lifestyle choices, there’s an important angle businesses should not overlook: taking care of employee heart health isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s good for business. Healthy employees are key to a productive workplace. Heart disease, hypertension and related conditions contribute significantly to absenteeism and rising health care costs. Additionally, employees who are dealing with health issues are often less productive and more worried about their health.
According to national health data, heart-related conditions cost employers billions each year in medical expenses and lost productivity. Investing in prevention can help reduce your costs while improving your employees’ morale and improving retention.
Our current workplace plays a bigger role in heart health than many employers realize. Long hours at desks, high stress levels, limited physical activity and poor nutrition options all increase cardiovascular risk. Employers can counteract these factors with policies and programs that support healthier choices without being intrusive on your employees or breaking your budget.
Simple steps can make a meaningful difference. Encouraging movement throughout the workday — such as walking meetings, utilizing coffee breaks for walks rather than smoking or incentives for using stairs — helps employees move more and gets them up off their chairs. Offering healthier food options at meetings or in break rooms sends a clear signal that wellness matters.
Even small changes, like replacing donuts or muffins with fruit or nuts (or even simply providing fruit and other options with the donuts) can support better heart health over time.
Stress management is another critical component.
Chronic stress is strongly linked to heart disease, and many employees feel pressure to always be “on.” Employers who promote reasonable workloads, flexible schedules and the use of paid time off help reduce burnout. As we spoke about in previous columns — making sure your employees use their vacation (and using your own) can significantly reduce stress.
Also, providing access to mental health resources, employee assistance programs or mindfulness workshops can further support cardiovascular and overall well-being.
Preventive care should also be encouraged. As employers, we need to promote annual physicals, blood pressure checks, cholesterol screenings, and smoking cessation programs to our employees. If we can eliminate these problems before they become serious, it will benefit both our employees and our company.
You could also look into on-site screenings partnering with local health providers to make participation easy and visible. When employees see leaders participating as well, it normalizes preventive care and reduces stigma. We have several great health care options in Ozaukee County, contact one and see how you can partner with them on your employees’ health.
Beyond the health metrics, there’s a powerful cultural benefit. Employees who feel their employer genuinely cares about their well-being are more engaged and loyal. In a competitive labor market, a reputation for valuing employee health can be the difference in attracting and retaining talent. It also reinforces trust — an essential ingredient in strong workplace relationships.
Heart Health Month is an ideal time for employers to start or renew these efforts, but the goal should extend beyond February. A consistent, year-round commitment to employee wellness builds healthier habits and a stronger organization.
At its core, taking care of employee health is about seeing them as more than job titles or productivity numbers. When businesses invest in the well-being of their workforce, they invest in resilience, performance and long-term success. A healthy heart, after all, keeps everything else running.
Kathleen Cady Schilling is executive director of the Ozaukee Economic Development.