MANILA, Philippines - GE Philippines attains an industry milestone by becoming a HealthAhead-certified site, an important accreditation granted to GE sites across the globe that have passed strict evaluation and final audit process. This was achieved after GE Philippines demonstrated vigorous efforts in promoting better health for its employees and their families through a healthier workplace. To date, there are 436 GE HealthAhead certified sites within 33 countries.
While GE is recognized for its “healthymagination” platform, a global initiative to drive healthcare innovation by improving the quality of healthcare and significantly reducing cost to make it accessible to millions of people, the company is gaining equal praise for its work in creating a culture of wellness right at the workplace.
Through its internal program called HealthAhead, an integral component of the healthymagination campaign, GE proactively engages its workforce to adopt a healthy lifestyle one step at a time by participating in its holistic wellness program with emphasis on eight key points: site leadership and wellness teams, education and prevention, nutrition, stress management, physical activity, tobacco cessation, health-related absence, and health coaching. This effort is angled on the perception that a healthy worksite drives productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness among employees, and that this culture of wellness can be passed on to their families. On a bigger scale, HealthAhead is seen as a means to nurture GE’s biggest and most important resource — its employees.
“GE is committed to providing its employees with a healthy workplace where they can thrive. HealthAhead is an opportunity for them to embrace a healthy lifestyle and share these practices with their families,” says Jocot de Dios, GE Philippines CEO. “We are thrilled that GE Philippines was awarded this global certification which says a lot about our employees’ deep involvement and commitment to stay healthy.”
Over the past months, GE Philippines has taken significant steps to introduce its employees to healthy practices ranging from subsidized gym memberships, on-site workout sessions, a Healthymagination Walk, and a family day sportsfest to serving nutritious food during company events, a salad making contest and turning the entire GE site into a smoke-free facility. The company has also conducted lectures on cancer prevention as well as rolled out preventive screening services that included health examinations and annual flu vaccination.