Employee Wellness Newsletter

1. Undertake a utilization assessment – While corporations cannot get medical information on individual employees, insurance providers will supply corporations with reports that detail patterns and rates of employee use for things such as physician visits, hospital stays and drug use. This information is critical for a employer to set a benchmark of its current health risk status. Data from human resources can be integrated with benefits information to supply a complete picture of employees’ health-related costs. Then, corporations can determine the specific level of behavior modification necessary to result in cost savings. The utilization assessment helps a employer identify the areas in which it should focus its Worksite Wellness Program to reap the greatest benefits.

2. Build a company case – Once a utilization assessment is in place, employers are able to quantify the Medical Care cost savings that will result from specific levels of lifestyle change and risk reduction. This can be done by setting objectives in terms of reductions in identifi able insurance utilization, attendance or disability variables, or by aiming for reductions in health risks and projecting the associated cost savings. Effective estimates factor in the expense of the Workplace Health Promotion Programs as well as the necessary internal marketing efforts that will surround the program. Says Betty-Jo Saenz, American Medical Care Strategy lead for Motorola, “When we started our programs, our focus was on the 20 percent of staff members that made up 80 percent of the costs. We’ve addressed that, and now we’re paying attention to those who are healthy and Finding Wealth Through Wellness 8 keeping them healthy. Wherever you are on the continuum, there are opportunities.”

3. Develop a cross-functional wellness group – Corporations need to identify potential group participants who can be champions of wellness within the company. It is significant that the group is representative of the demographic and functional diversity of employees so that it can credibly address any specific needs groups may have. This group will serve as the voice and face for the Employee Health Promotion Program within the company. Best practice businesses integrate participants from human resources(HR), communications, company development and management. Using the utilization analysis as a guide, the wellness group ought to evaluate what programs would be most effective within each particular corporate culture, aligning health-risk priorities with initiatives that employees will be receptive to.

4. Build buy-in from upper management – The most effective Corporate Health Promotion Programs have substructure from the highest levels of a company. Support from management, both in words and in action, sends the message that Corporate Health Promotion Programs are a priority for a company. The utilization analysis can be a powerful tool to build the company case for Corporate Health Promotion Programs and convince executives that initiatives are worthy of investment and attention. Meaningful wellness-related messages are integrated into company discussions and aligned with corporate objectives.

5. Organize a all-inclusive Employee Engagement plan – The most brilliantly conceived Corporate Wellness Program is meaningless if no workers take part. Effective wellness discussions emphasize both health and monetary benefits at the personal and employer level. According to a 2004 survey by Towers Perrin, only 28 percent of workers say their employer communicates about Health Care problems other than cost. In addition, wellness-related information ought to be a part of existing employer discussions efforts and not coupled solely with benefits discussions. This helps elevate the significance of Corporate Wellness Programs and align initiatives with employer objectives.

Additionally, discussions around Corporate Wellness Programs can share personal success stories and supply corporation progress updates. Successful organizations not only use existing talking channels to generate discussion around activities, but also consider more interactive tools like message boards, forums, blogs and wikis. This helps personalize initiatives and authorizes for the sharing of best practices within the corporation.

Many businesses involve health care experts to advise in the construction, communication and support of the program. The use of outside authorities such as these will expand the credibility of the Worksite Health Promotion Programs as well as combat skepticism from staff members who may view the employer’s motives as merely selfserving.

Another strategy available to corporations is to brand their Workplace Wellness Program. This move can broaden the visibility and acceptance of the offering. Branded wellness programs are most common when corporations are also promoting an external campaign around Workplace Wellness Programs. An example of this is PepsiCo, which launched its HealthRoads Workplace Wellness Program internally along with a consumer campaign, Smart Spot, that puts special labels on healthier food and drink options.

These efforts are more effective when they are not owned solely by the internal communications department, but rather when managers serve as leaders of, as well as take part in, Employee Health Promotion Programs within corporations. This produces more immediate accountability and motivation.

6. Measure constantly and consistently – At every step of implementation, a Company Wellness Program must be able to demonstrate its value to a corporation. Company Wellness Programs should be designed to allow corporations to set benchmarks and evaluate behavior modification. Assessment ought to consider not only quantitative health measures, but also qualitative measures of stress and employee engagement. Less than 10 percent of corporations do extensive management of healthcare expense, employee health risk status or employee satisfaction with benefit offerings, and less than half of corporations do any measurement in these areas at all.16

Measurement is only useful if a business explicitly specifies what data would constitute success. Potential measures of success comprise:

• Participation rates
• Better employee program engagement
• Decrease of risk status
• Lowering of direct health costs
• Diminished absenteeism
• Less disability claims

Motorola’s Saenz advises administrators of Corporate Health Promotion Programs to track as many measures as possible from the start, even if management only needs one, because it is very difficult to retrieve data later. She notes that even if leadership begins by looking at participation rates, they will eventually want to know about reductions in claims and costs.

Frequent measurement is the only way to build support among management and employees. Nearly half of organizations feel a lack of useful data is a top barrier to their ability to manage employee health, and at least 20 percent of organizations do not know how effective existing Worksite Health Promotion Programs are regarding various outcomes. Companies must conduct utilization analyses each year and reevaluate Worksite Health Promotion Program priorities based upon changes. Additionally, progress must be shared with the wider business community to build support for initiatives. Managers and executives throughout a corporation are likely to support a program that can prove increased productivity among employees. Effective Worksite Health Promotion Programs are designed to be fl exible so they can respond to changes in both corporation goals/objectives and larger health variations.

Company Health Promotion Programs first became popular during the economic boom of the late 1980s and early 90s. Programs featured on-Site fitness centers and massages, and were used as recruitment tools for young staff members searching for nontraditional work environments. Still, when the tech bubble burst, so too did the willingness to spend money on perceived perks, and employers returned to a more traditional benefit structure focused on managed medical care.

In recent years, as Health Care costs have spiraled out of control, businesses have explored the potential of Corporate Wellness Programs as a cost-saving strategy. Companies such as Johnson and Johnson, General Motors, Motorola and Union Pacifi c Railroad have all seen a signifi cant return on investments in employee health (See Case Studies, p.20). Corporate Wellness Programs can help reduce the costs associated with:

Health Care premiums – The expense a business pays for health insurance: According to a 2005 study by Hewitt, the Health Care expense per employee in the United States in 2006 will average $8,046, with organizations absorbing nearly two-thirds of that expense.

Pharmaceutical costs – The price of a prescription drug plan: According to a 2005 study by Mercer, the average annual prescription drug costs for big organizations grew 11.5%, making it nearly a decade straight of double-digit increases in cost.

Short-term disability (STD) – The price of offering short-term disability insurance to employees: According to a 2004 study by insurance provider Cigna, the average short-term disability claim results in $13,094 in direct disability payments and medical costs. The report also found that 26 percent of claims related to medical events were a result of chronic conditions that could likely be mediated through Worksite Wellness Programs, and that these cases amount for 56 percent of the STD-related medical costs.

Absenteeism – The price of missed work: Absenteeism cost corporations $660 per employee in 2004, with nearly one-third of corporations characterizing the trend as a somber problem.

Presenteeism – The price associated with employees who work at decreased productiveness levels: Sixty percent of the total cost of employee diseases come from presenteeism, according to a 2004 study by the Institute for Health and Productivity Studies at Cornell University.

The evidence is clear that strategically designed Worksite Wellness Programs can lower both direct and indirect Health Care costs. A 2004 review of Worksite Wellness Programs revealed that, in total, an investment of $1 by a company in Wellness Programming returned a median cost savings of $2.05 to $4.64.

Employee Engagement is the level at which workers are aligned with and working toward corporation goals/objectives. Employee Engagement is altered by a wide range of factors that comprise of internal discussions, corporation structure, benefits and recognition.

Corporations that have high levels of employee program engagement profit from better productiveness, retention and performance than peers with disengaged employees.  Levels of engagement among employees in the United States have been declining over the past decade as individuals have become disillusioned with the treatment of employees by businesses. The inability to involve employees is one of the reasons why, despite steady growths in hours worked, America lags behind several other nations in terms of employee productivity per hours worked.

Corporate Wellness Programs may increase employee engagement in several ways. First, when communicated properly, they show to employees that the business cares about their wellbeing. This can improve retention and turnover as well as support a greater discretionary effort from employees. During a period of significant downsizing, Motorola found a greater interest in its Corporate Wellness Programs as managers recognized the value of providing for the health and wellbeing of employees.

In addition, the health improvements will decrease presenteeism and absenteeism (when workers continue to work despite decreased work rate), allowing for more time spent at full work rate. Lastly, healthier workers are more likely to have increased morale, which translates into a more enjoyable and more effective work environment.

The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports defines wellness as “a multidimensional state of being describing the existence of positive health in an individual as exemplified by quality of life and a sense of wellness.” Wellness looks beyond the current model of treating disease and focuses on preventive behaviors and healthier lifestyles. Worksite Wellness Programs, also usually referred to as Worksite Wellness Programs, serve as a complement to existing insurance-based health benefit programs and can take many forms and address a myriad different potential health conditions. They are a powerful strategy to promote positive lifestyle changes that can result in significant cost savings for companies.

Examples of potential components of a Company Wellness Program include:

Health Risk Assessments / Employee Wellness Screenings – Health Risk Assessments (aka Health Risk Appraisals), evaluate the most prevalent lifestyle-related risks of an individual. HRAs often include screenings for Blood Pressure (BP), cholesterol, glucose levels and other health indicators. These analyses supply valuable benchmarking measures that ideally will allow employees to prevent or lower their risk of diseases. Finding Wealth Through Wellness, As noted by Kathryn Krivy, director of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Wellness Institute in Chicago, “Medically based Health Risk Assessments are a necessity because in order to affect modifications in your corporation, you need to know what the issues are, and you just don’t know until you get the data.”

Physical Activity and Weight Management – One of the most popular Workplace Health Promotion Programs is for employers to support access to a wellbeing and health center, frequently on-Site. Other potential measures include offering healthier vending machines and cafeteria options, weight management support groups and fitness challenge programs. Some employers, like hospital group Baptist Health South Florida, will even pay for employees to go to weight-loss classes such as Weight Watchers.

Awareness and Education Programs – A lot  businesses have events approaching the benefits of nutrition, safety or physical fitness, among other issues. Other options are to host a wellness fair or administer a disease-awareness campaign.

Behavior Modification – This covers issues like smoking, wearing seat belts, and alcohol use. While many businesses will provide assistance for staff members looking to modify behavior, some businesses, like health care benefits administrator Weyco, Inc., mandate changes, such as quitting smoking, as a condition of employment.

Alternative Treatments – Other Corporate Wellness Programs can cover absorbing some or all of the costs for massages, stress-reduction activities like yoga or even herbal medicines.

A more modern and systemic solution may incorporate businesses starting Corporate Health Promotion Programs, which allow businesses to be proactive in preventing disease and promoting healthier lifestyles for employees. When implemented effectively, this approach can drive to reduced direct costs from claims, a reduction in Medical Care premiums and increased employee work rate.

Yet while Workplace Wellness Programs potentially offer organizations substantial cost savings, the success is dependent upon the ability to engage employees in them. Additionally, organizations must navigate the legal and cultural challenges posed by Workplace Wellness Programs: Employers must be careful that initiatives respect protected classes and the privacy of employees. Additionally, organizations must battle resistance from employees wary of their business regulating off-the-clock behaviors.

Over the next 6-12 posts we’ll layout the case for Workplace Wellness Programs in today’s employment environment, arguing that the cost savings and raised employee engagement outweigh potential restrictions. We will investigate the considerations a business must make before starting a Workplace Wellness Program and the communication necessary to create successful engagement from staff members. Finally, we will discuss several successful Workplace Wellness Programs and support a list of resources that organizations can use for guidance.

Over the past decade health care insurance costs have risen at a steady pace. This is taking a toll on the bottom-line of employers, cutting into profits, limiting growth and forcing a reevaluation of a once sacred employee benefit system. According to a projection by McKinsey & Co., at the present rate, by 2008 health benefits will eclipse profits at the average Fortune 500 organization.

Corporations, through private health insurance businesses, are the leading provider of medical services in the U.S.. In 2004, 59.8 percent of Americans were covered by a employer-based health insurance program, accounting for 88 percent of all private health insurance. Yet the escalating costs of Medical Care, ever-rising drug prices and a steady rise in chronic diseases have brought the corporate society to a breaking point.

For many employers the growing burden has become too difficult to bear. Over the past five years medical insurance premiums have increased an average of 11.6% each year, more than four times the average rate of inflation and employee earnings over that time.3 Not surprisingly, this exponential growth in premiums has caused the number of employers offering Health Care services during that time to drop from 69% to 60%.4 In addition, in 2005,  medical insurance premiums jumped 9.2%, more than three times the rate of inflation – and that was the lowest increase in the past five years.

In this environment businesses need to discover progressive ways to stem the rising costs of Medical Care coverage. Seemingly, the easiest strategies to accomplish this goal would be to lower benefits coverage or pass on arising burden to employees and retirees. More than 80 percent of businesses have chosen one or both of these options in the past few years and almost half of all sizable businesses are likely to increase the amount employees pay in 2007.5

Nevertheless, these options do nothing to address the fundamental causes of rising costs, one of which is a population that requires increased healthcare. To make a lasting and substantial effect on costs and central health, employers need to look beyond a traditional reactive-based approach.

Designing employer fitness and Workplace Health Promotion Programs is not about beginning a grand scheme that is so complicated it is underutilized.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs are about beginning an environment that encourages fitness and active living. The program must be accessible and make sense to the people it is directed at throughout the day.

The outcomes will be a plan that gives plenty of opportunity for exercise, teaches proper nutrition and stays current on health concerns constructive to the workers.

The outcomes will be a plan that offers plenty of opportunity for exercise, teaches proper nutrition and stays current on health concerns constructive to the workers.

Designing Company Physical Activity Programs and Corporate Wellness Programs – Making a Proposition

Planning employer fitness and Employee Health Promotion Programs means understanding there are many directions the program can take. For starters, it must be of interest to employees at all levels.

The company’s proposal to the employee is this: you take better care of yourselves and we will help you accomplish your objective. To be effective, the Corporate Wellness Program must be pervasive.

In other words, it must address the needs of the top executives as well as the warehouse employees. The variety of jobs within a business usually indicate wide differences in stress and strain levels on the body and differences in mental and emotional stress.

The program must also take into account employee habits on the job and at home. A business with a business fitness and Corporate Wellness Program in place sends the message to its staff members and customers is that the business takes health seriously.

Structuring corporation fitness and Workplace Health Promotion Programs involves determining the types of activities that will be most effective for the circumstance.

Every business will need a different plan. A business fitness plan can include a lot more than just an exercise program and dietary planning.

It can offer real opportunity to improve the entire company environment. A Workplace Health Promotion Program can include the following:
• Health intervention for existing health problems
• Recreational programs that engage employees and their families
• Ergonomics to lower work strain and resulting injuries
• Specialized programs that target workers with physical conditions interfering with work performance
• Addressing health and fitness concerns related to an aging work force
• Establishing exercise programs specifically designed to expand employee work-specific strength

The advantages of carefully designing business fitness and Employee Health Promotion Programs are obvious. Employees get access to the fitness program either worksite or through business membership at the fitness center.

Structuring corporation fitness and Workplace Wellness Programs means including those components essential to great health.
• Meal structuring and right eating choices
• Classes instructing on the food pyramid and how the body processes nutrients
• Instruction on exercising safely
• Weight loss and weight management

The advantages for the company are endless.
• Savings on Health Care costs
• Less employee sick days
• Staff Members with a sense of health fitness
• Lowerincidences of chronic sickness
• Attracts new staff members dedicated to fitness

Structuring Business Exercise Programs and Workplace Wellness Programs – Closing the Deal

Implementing and designing corporation fitness and Employee Wellness Programs nets big advantages for employees and the corporation.
staff members are happier, feel better, are more satisfied with their work, are healthier and have more vitality.
Stress is reduced which positively impacts the attitudes of staff members, reduces injuries and makes staff members more positive.
Closing the deal on a exercise program means the business and workers sign on the dotted line of health. Don’t let Health Care care costs continue to rise. Begin now coordinating business fitness and Workplace Health Promotion Programs.

Employee Health Promotion Program proposals must be designed so that they meet employer objective.

Worksite Wellness Programs for workers are the newest attack on employee unhealthy lifestyles that are equating to high health care costs.

Company Wellness Program Proposals for beginning a program must take into consideration the type of organization, the budget and the makeup of the employee population.

Company Wellness Programs for office employee will be different than programs for construction workers

The objective will be same, but the approach to reaching those objective will be different. For a program to be considered successful, results must be measurable.

• staff members achieve better overriding conditioning
• Healthcare claims decline
• Productiveness increases
• employees experience less sick days
• Number of injuries declines
• Physical issues like high Blood Pressure are decreased
In general, Corporate Health Promotion Program proposals must target the fitness problems at the organization and offer plans for improvement.

Corporate Wellness Program Proposals – Going the Distance

There are many different kinds of wellness proposals.

• One-one-one employee evaluations by a  professional medical care provider
• Outside specialist assistance for program design and implementation only
• Ongoing program monitoring by a personal trainer
• In-house program design
• Fitness Center memberships
• Company Health Promotion Programs
• Complete Workplace Wellness Programs including nutrition and fitness
• Programs that address a specific concern like injury at the workplace

These are just a few forms Company Health Promotion Program proposals can take. A Wellness program can be very basic or elaborate depending on the organization budget. A program can cover up to 4 components.

• Education on health topics
• Screening programs with follow-up assessment
• Employer culture of health change

• Fitness and nutrition programs – supervised and unsupervised programs can cover a myriad of health and fitness information and activities. The rewards for beginning a Employee Health Promotion Program are unlimited.

Workplace Wellness Program proposals offer a way for management to invest in their staff members with a promise of returns in the form of productivity and cost savings.

Wellness Proposals – Healthy Alternatives

Worksite Health Promotion Program proposals provide staff members alternatives to specific health problems. Proposals can address particular problems in addition to overall fitness.

These topics cover stopping smoking, increasing flexibility for job execution, preventing back injuries, preventing repetitive motion strain, improving loss of functionality due to age and prenatal programs.

Employee Health Promotion Program proposals should have objective that cover improving employee morale, increasing productivity, reducing absenteeism, increasing employee vitality and netting Healthcare savings to the employer.

Corporate Health Promotion Program costs can significantly vary and many include cost sharing between the employee and the business to cover gym fees. The bottom line is that a business can design a Corporate Health Promotion Program proposal that suits the business budget, employee lifestyles, and employee and business mission.

In any of the Company Wellness Program proposals, healthy alternatives to current business concerns must be spelled out. Employee health is a top priority for any business that cares about its success.

Research web-based the different Worksite Health Promotion Program proposals that are available for corporations. Then find the one that works as if your employees’ lives depended on it, because that very well may be the case.

Employee Wellness Programs has become a essential component of employers. It has become apparent in a service oriented economy that employees are living more sedentary lives than ever before.

As a outcome, a myriad of healthcare ailments plague the crew costing the employee quality of life, while the company faces growing Medical Care costs.

It is a postion in which no one wins. Waiting until the problem occurs is self-defeating for both the corporation and the worker. Corporate Wellness Programs only makes great sense by approaching the issue before it happens.

Workplace Health Promotion Program – Cease and Desist Order

Employee Wellness Programs are like cease and desist orders. These particular orders are instructions on why workers ought to cease living unhealthy lives and desist from eating junk food.

Let’s face it – employee frequently eat unhealthy food throughout the day. Office staff members, line staff members, sales associates, and executives – they all fall prey to the temptations of donuts, vending machines food, office party snacks and so on.

The bad habits continue at home. Food that is bad for your health is staples in a lot of diets. These foods include too much white bread, cakes, alcohol, fast food picked up on the way home and unhealthy snacks like buttered popcorn and sugar rich soda drinks.

Poor diet and little or no exercise results in serious chronic sickness eventually including heart disease and strokes.

Waiting until the issues occur is expensive. Rising health care costs are taking a somber monetary toll on employers. Every dime that is spent on illness recovery could have been spent on a corporation preventive health and Workplace Wellness Program.

Prevention means starting conditions such that illness and injury are minimized through diet and exercise and an awareness of what is a great fitness plan.

• staff members are screened for potential for serious chronic diseases such as diabetes
• workers are taught the value of good diet and how to develop a dietary plan
• Individual job stress levels are assessed
• Exercise Programs are made easily accessible to encourage participation
• Frequent courses are helpful on relevant issues of health and Worksite Wellness Programs
• Corporation offers incentive programs to maximize participation

Most workers do not understand the long-term consequences of living a life with little or no exercise. Company Health Promotion Programs bring the information to the workers so they can make informed decisions.

The reduction in sick days, fewer injuries and reduced stress expands manufacturing and declines costs.

Employee Wellness Program – Resuming New Health

Workplace Wellness Programs can be elaborate menus of choices or simple plans that show employees how to improve their quality of life.

The programs can cover all the concerns that confront staff members during their work day also. These kinds of topics include preventing injury, fitting exercise into a hectic schedule, making right fast food choices or decreasing work related stress.

No matter what form the employer preventive health and physical activity program takes the rewards will be rapidly incurred. It only takes a couple of weeks for employees to begin to feel the results of a more active life.

A physical activity program instructs on diet and provides the opportunity for exercises that tone, strengthen and improve flexibility.

Workplace Wellness Programs only make sense. It produces a company culture that speaks volumes about the importance of a active lifestyle.

Once workers stop their old sedentary habits, they are left with the choice of resuming new active attitudes and practices.

Workplace Wellness Programs are here to stay.

Business health and fitness are not just words to be spouted so people think the organization cares about its staff members. Health and fitness are significant concepts that are just as vital to a organization as finance and sales.

That’s because the health of its staff members is one of the big determinants of the health of the company. Employer staff members labor long and tough hours and at times the price they pay becomes an unhealthy lifestyle.

A concerned employer does not want its workers to be troubled with countless genuine health concerns. A Company Wellness Program is a merger of an workers desire to fit exercise into a hectic schedule and a company’s desire for a active crew.

It’s a takeover of poor health affecting business work.

Worksite Wellness Programs – Benefits

Bearer bonds are owned by whoever has them in hand. Their value to the individual who carries them is realized by ownership. Health operates under the same concept.

An employee and the business must take ownership of the Company Wellness Program concept. A business has many options as to how it begins a health and Company Wellness Programs.

• A consultant employer writes a employer specific fitness plan
• A Corporate Health Promotion Program consultant and the corporation jointly create a fitness plan
• An internet based fitness consultant can be utilized
• A personal trainer at a gym develops a company program
• Organization can create its own plan without assistance from outside professionals.

A Company Wellness Program may center around a program at a fitness center. It can also be based at the workplace itself, making it easily accessible to employees.

Utilizing a consultant provides means the organization gets knowledge based assistance in evaluating employees. Each employee gets an evaluation of basic health status. Customized fitness plans are instituted and progress is monitored.

A qualified consultant can be available at the fitness center, or visit workplace as schedules. Some corporations hire a fitness professional to labor directly with staff members on an ongoing basis at the workplace. Other corporations pay for the services of a trainer at the nearest fitness center.

The corporation health and Worksite Health Promotion Programs vary. A corporation may institute a fitness plan that includes employees and their families by paying for family membership at the gym.

The advantages of this plan is that the whole family can use the health club, which encourages participation. Many  corporations pay for the entire cost of the Workplace Wellness Program at a health club.

Some companies pay a portion while the employee must pay the difference. Others only pay part and the employee pays the balance. Some company fitness plans are multi-layered and provide a wide range of exercise classes and seminars on nutrition.

There are group movements and daily tips for improving health. Some plans are very simple in that most of the internal Worksite Wellness Program is mostly information. All exercise is done outside the company at the health club.

It doesn’t matter what form the plan takes. The point is that a Company Wellness Program is valuable for the success of the employer and the health of the employees. Taking care of its most valuable assets, the employees, only makes sense.

Worksite Health Promotion Programs – Like Stock Options?

Businesses provide stock options, whereby staff members can buy stock in the corporation. It is another form of ownership. Employees have many options when it comes to fitness.

Their health needs, genetics, work environment and current physical condition all play into the structure of the Worksite Health Promotion Program. It is up to the company to provide a program that involves all employees so that maximum rewards are realized on both sides.

In other words, employees have plenty of options and the employer realizes real dollar savings through a healthier workforce.