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In this article the authors discuss the role that employee health plays in employee performance and organizational performance and success. They are supportive of reconsidering the concept of employee wellness and replacing it with the concept of employee vitality, which encompasses health, fitness, nutrition and other factors, and of conducting research on factors which play a role in health so that organizations can improve employee performance.

The article presents an interview with several presidents of medium sized businesses, including Jennifer Myster of Buffalo Hospital, Phil Davis of Minneapolis Community and Technical College and Ted Wegleitner of the TRIA Orthopaedic Center. When asked about employee productivity and performance, Davis says he thinks of the quality of work when considering performance and efficiency when considering productivity. Myster comments on the differences between productivity and performance. Wegleitner believes that commitment to mission and choosing the right people drives high performance.

In this article the author reflects on the relationship between employee health and performance. In the article he discusses work that he has done with Jim Loehr, cofounder of the Human Performance Institute, to help organizations improve employee performance and health by helping to manage the physical, emotional,mental and spiritual energy of their employees and reflects on research on employee health that he has conducted at Wellness & Prevention, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company.

The article discusses various reports within the issue, including one by Jack Groppel on the biology of business performance, one by John Harris and Paul E. Terry on the connection between health and performance and one by Ted Wegleitner, Jennifer Myster and Phil Davis on the relationship between health and employee productivity and performance.