Posts from — June 2009

A key to a thriving Corporate Health Promotion Program requires management commitment and employee involvement.

Workplace Health Promotion Program Step 2: Form a Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee

An active Corporate Health Promotion Program Committee ensures employee participation, supplies buy-in, management support, and maintains a team that is prepared to take action to integrate wellness programs.

Workplace Wellness Program Step 3: Gather Data to Ascertain Key Needs and Expectations

The next essential step is to base the Corporate Wellness Program on the needs and interests of your employer and its staff members.

Company Wellness Program Step 4: Create Goals and Objectives

Goals and objectives constitute the maps to guide you where your program needs to go.   These are the foundation for planning and evaluating activities to see to it that your wellness program will meet your unique needs.

Worksite Health Promotion Program Step 5: Design a Detailed Action Plan

There is no such thing as too much planning!  The best of intentions can get lost, overstepped, or forgotten withoutadequate planning, and then it would be all for naught.

Worksite Health Promotion Program Step 6: Choose and Launch a Plan

Now that you have the needs assessment results, a Company Health Promotion Program Committee, goals/objectives it’s now time to put your plan into action!

Employee Wellness Program Step 7: Oversee and Review Your Employee Wellness Program

Evaluation is an important step to keep a program focused, as well as to ensure that the program is reaching its goals or achieving favorable results.

In Conclusion

These Seven Steps outline considerations for a comprehensive approach to designing and launching an effective wellness program.  Can you implement components of wellness activities without following these steps?  Certainly, but you may not have the sustainability or ability to see desired outcomes.  Following the Seven Steps need not be difficult or burdensome.  A very simple approach can achieve a efficacious wellness program!

Therefore, to ensure a efficacious wellness program consider the key components as you plan your program or better your current program:

• Upper Management Support & Employee Involvement
• Active Employee Wellness Program Committee
• Worksite Wellness Program is Based on Employee Needs & Interests
• Workplace Health Promotion Program Goals and Objectives are Determined
• Detailed Workplace Wellness Program Action Plan Based on Resources & Budget
• Company Health Promotion Program Implementation & Internal Marketing
• Evaluation of Company Wellness Program Outcomes

The program design options depend on the objectives and desired outcomes of your program.  If your objective is to help workers make a change behavior, reduce risk factors, or save healthcare money then your wellness program would be designed to accomplish those outcomes and a budget would be crucial to support that design.  

There are different wellness program design levels depending on desired outcomes and budgets.  Each level has advantages and disadvantages.  The intentions or results are quite different, are not interchangeable in terms of obtaining the same results, and therefore ought not be confused.  For example, scheduling activities such as an employee health fair or lunchtime education sessions, or having brochures available do not usually result in behavior modification, but may expand awareness on a topic.  If the goal is behavior modification then a different design is required, such as Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs and Corporation Support.  The outline below outlines the wellness design levels with a brief explanation.

Awareness Programs:  At this level a business makes health information available and accessible to workers.  This type of program frequently includes handouts on a variety of issues, wellness articles in newsletters, bulletin board displays, e-mail health messages, etc.   Also, most health fairs are designed as awareness programs with vendors offering information and offering wellness screenings to workers.  

Awareness programs are cheap and do not require extensive employee or business time commitments.  Still, these programs do not usually result in behavior change.  Increasing awareness isn’t usually sufficient to generate lifestyle changes for most people, unless used to arouse staff members to register for a program being provided at the business or neighborhood on the topic.  An example of this would be providing information on the harmful effects of smoking and inviting staff members who smoke to register for a tobacco cessation class.

Education Programs:  Educational programs frequently provide more information on a topic and are able to also provide time for questions & answers, but are similar to awareness programs.  An example is lunch-n-learn sessions on a health related topic.  These cost the corporation a little more than awareness programs; however, they are still inexpensive and do not require much time for planning or attending a session.  Again, increasing awareness and offering information may not yield the desired behavior modification unless ongoing reinforcement or rewards and incentives are also planned.

Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs:  These programs are designed as 4 to 12 weekly sessions or sessions to support health and wellness education, address barriers and support opportunities to practice the desired skills.  Behavior change programs therefore require additional organization resources, cost more, and also require additional employee commitment, time and effort.  The results are frequently the desired beneficial lifestyle change, which if sustained can lead to potential cost savings.  

Examples include smoking cessation classes, weight loss and weight management meetings, or an ongoing fitness program.

Environmental and Company Support:  Environmental reinforcement is often considered the highest and most significant level to include when designing your wellness program in order to support and maintain healthy behaviors.  These types of design options include policy changes such as:

• Creating a tobacco-free workplace
• Designating a walking path,
• Establishing workplace fitness centers,
• Ensuring healthy vending machines selections,
• Offering healthy diet choices in the cafeteria, and/or
• Creating flex-time policies.  

Other examples include subsidizing healthy vending machines or cafeteria choices; reimbursing health club or weight loss and weight management program memberships; or offering insurance incentives for healthy lifestyles.

Ideally, the wellness program design would include some of all of these options.  The more comprehensive the approach, the more successful the results will be.  For example, a corporation can have tobacco cessation information available; can schedule a one hour awareness session on the harmful effects of smoking and how to quit; can enable an onsite tobacco cessation program, supply self quit smoking kits, or support staff members to attend a area program; and/or on an environmental reinforcement level can establish a smoke-free workplace and grounds, offer reduced healthcare insurance for non-smokers, or offer pharmacological quit smoking aids for free.

Employee Health Promotion Program: Components for Success

There are many important parts that have to be considered to ensure the performance of your Company Health Promotion Program or Company Health Promotion Program.  These include:  

• Upper Management Support & Employee Participation
• Active Workplace Wellness Program Committee
• Program is Based on Employee Needs & Interests
• Goals and Objectives are Established
• Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources & Budget
• Program Implementation & Internal Marketing
• Evaluation of Outcomes and Program

Major benefits of healthy employees include:

• Reduced Medical Care costs
• Reduced Injuries
• Diminished Rates of Absenteeism
• Boosted Morale and Loyalty
• Higher Productivity
• Lowered Use of Healthcare Benefits
• Diminished Workers’ Comp/Disability
• Positive Perception in Community
• Lowered Turnover
• Improved recruitment for skilled workers

What is NOT Having a Corporate Health Promotion Program Costing Your Business?  

Let us look at the health risk factors that are increasing chronic diseases for adults:

• 59% of Americans are overweight or obese
• More than 60 percent of American citizens do not exercise regularly
• Greater than 75 percent of American adults do not consume the minimum recommendations for fruits and vegetables
• Cardiovascular disease is the leading common cause of death and the primary cause of death in smokers
• 26% of staff members reported they were often or very often burned out or stressed by their occupation  

Medical Care costs are On the Rise:  Medical Care costs are at a record figure of $1.7 trillion with no signs of holding steady, let alone going down.  The average cost of annual medical care spending is over $5,000 per person and including dependents almost $10,000.  Recent data shows that medical care related costs now cost North Carolina employers thousands of dollars per employee, per year.

Most Illnesses Can Be Avoided:  Although it sounds unrealistic, experts proclaim that preventable illness makes up 60 percent - 70 percent of the entire burden of illness in the U.S..   In North Carolina, it is estimated that more than 53 percent of all deaths are preventable, and that 2/3 of all preventable deaths are due to tobacco use, physical inactivity, and poor nourishment.

Stress Levels are Increasing:  As company resources dwindle and organizations adopt less-costly work practices, the effects of absenteeism and lost productivity have a greater impact.  In a current nationwide poll, 78 percent of the population described their jobs as stressful, and the majority believe that stress levels have worsened over The previous 10 years.  Furthermore, high levels of company stress are able to negatively affect a company by growing injuries, absenteeism, and healthcare expenditures while decreasing productivity.  Simple solutions such as stress management education, flexible work schedules, quality social interaction, and increased participation in company decision-making are able to improve stress levels in the workplace.

What is the Initial Cost and Time Investment for a Workplace Health Promotion Program?

The expenditure depends on the type of Workplace Wellness Program implemented.  There are several options to promote employee health with pros and cons of each.  The program design depends on the goals of the wellness program, the organization resources, and the area resources available.  

Enhancing nutrition, expanding physical exercise levels, managing stress or addressing work life balance issues, and lowering/eliminating tobacco use, are primary strategies for preventing many of the most common avoidable chronic diseases. The possibilities of how your organization deals with these issues are endless and can range from expanding employee awareness, which may include purchasing a few brochures on a variety of topics, and quantifying walking distances around your facility, to implementing organization reinforcement such as funding a full-time occupational health consultant or building an workplace fitness center.  

When well-planned and based on your goals, any of these programs have the potential to help you succeed.  Refer below to Company Health Promotion Program Design Options for additional ideas.

A Employee Wellness Program is an accross the board program to help and support workers in implementing healthier lifestyles.  This could possibly include increasing employee awareness on health topics, scheduling behavior modification programs, and/or implementing employer policies that support health-related objectives.  Programs and policies that promote increased physical movement, tobacco use prevention and cessation, and healthy food selections are a few examples.  

Dimensions of Wellness

Wellness is more than physical fitness.  In addition to physical fitness, the scope of ideal health include:

   • Spiritual Wellness,
   • Emotional Wellness,
   • Social Dimension of Wellness,
   • Intellectual Wellness

These ranges are often portrayed as a “life wheel” with examples of health components that include fitness, nutrition, purpose in life, monetary health, social health & support systems, stress management, mind-body health, career planning and ongoing learning.   The key behind individual health is keeping the “life wheel” in allignment.  A all-inclusive workplace wellness program addresses most, if not all, of these ranges.

Why Company Wellness Programs?

staff members spend a whole lot of time working, and the fact of the matter is that our traditional work-week is growing.  In fact, the typical American now is at work about 47 hours every week.  Additionally, technologies such as modems, laptop computers, cellular phones, voice and email have blurred the work-life boundary.  These realities cut down on the amount of time that the average individual is able to devote to health & wellness pursuits, and yet staff members are expected to be at top performance when at work.

A current study from the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses observed that workplace wellness or Employee Wellness Programs are successful in helping employees to make beneficial health changes due to several factors such as convenience, environmental reinforcement, and co-worker or social acceptance.  

What’s the Link between Wellness and the Workplace?

Programs and policies that encourage healthy behaviors can make a large difference on employee wellness AND have an effect on the company’s bottom line.  Studies have found that for every dollar invested by employers in Workplace Health Promotion Programs/wellness programs, there were savings from $1.49 to $4.91 with a median savings of $3.14*.  In company terms, that’s more than a 3:1 minimum return on investment - a number that is hard to ignore, and a best practice that ought to draw serious consideration from employers.  In fact, a Workplace Health Promotion Program literature review published in Health Promotion Practitioner Journal saw:

   • 19 different studies observed a 28.3 percent decrease in sick leave
   • 16 studies demonstrated a 5.6:1 ROI
   • 23 showed a 26.1 percent decline in medical expenditures
   • 4 found a 30 percent decrease in direct healthcare and workers’ compensation claims

There is little doubt that a accross the board wellness program optimized to meet a employer’s specific needs can save money by lowering absenteeism, reducing healthcare expenditures, reducing employee turnover, and increasing productivity.

• The United States Department of Health & Human Services, 2003

Following cost, poor employee engagement and inadequate communications and backing are listed as the greatest challenges for businesses administering any health benefi t program.22

By law, businesses are required to explain any benefits or explicit conditions of employment to all employees - this is called “due process,” and it usually takes the form of a packet of information that new employees are asked to review and sign during orientation or, in the case of existing employees, a brief communication during open enrollment periods.

Employers that only engage in the minimally required due process communication of a Company Health Promotion Program, however, do a disservice to the program and the business.

Opinions about Healthcare in employers represent one of the largest disconnects between management and employees. In discussing the need for savings, most employers (70 percent) believe their organization effectively communicates about increasing Healthcare costs, while only 34 percent of employees feel increasing Healthcare costs influence their business’ ability to succeed.23 When it comes to behaviors, 74 percent of employers believe their employees must be held largely accountable for improving, managing and maintaining health, yet only 4 percent of employers think that employees engage in these activities.

Under the proposed rules, the four requirements to be a bona fide Company Health Promotion Program are:

- The total reward that may be given to an individual is limited. The departments invited comments on the appropriate level of the reward, suggesting that a limit of 10 percent to twenty percent of the total expense of employee-only coverage may be appropriate.
- The program must be reasonably designed to promote great health or prevent disease for people in the program.
- The reward must be available to all similarly situated individuals. More specifically, the program must allow any individual for whom it is unreasonably diffi cult due to a healthcare condition to meet the Worksite Wellness Program standard (or for whom it is medically inadvisable to attempt to meet the Worksite Wellness Program standard) an opportunity to satisfy a reasonable alternative standard.
- All plan materials describing the terms of the program must disclose the availability of a reasonable alternative standard.
Source: American Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration

As Northwestern Memorial’s Kathryn Krivy says, “The most fundamental failure in any Employee Health Promotion Program is not communicating. You need to tell people what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. You have to get employees engaged and educate them of what’s going on.”

A properly started Employee Health Promotion Program is designed to save a business more money with better participation. However, a business must match its focus on program design with an equally strategic investment in efforts to engage employees in the initiatives.

Lay out your case - Despite widespread recognition of rising Medical Care costs, workers remain skeptical that the issue affects company operations. In fact, only 53 percent of workers even believe what their company communicates about the subject.24 Corporations need to be more candid and forthcoming about the amount they spend on Medical Care and how that relates to larger budgetary constraints and potential investments.

Says Motorola’s Saenz: “We share with workers that we have been able to maintain Motorola’s Medical Care spend trend below national average over the past decade due to their participation in our various Employee Wellness Programs. This transparency is necessary to keep reminding people the reasons for our actions.”

An effective strategy is to focus on the cost savings and central health benefi ts to the employee and not the company. By personalizing the information in this way, it establishes a win-win scenario instead of presenting the program as a sacrifi ce on the part of the employee. Information must be presented through multiple channels, constructed in a way that makes sense to all levels of employees, and offered to employees, dependents and retirees.

Make it your own - Every Worksite Wellness Program will be different, and ought to reflect the culture of a corporation. While program areas will be determined by analyzing employee health risks, the actual offerings ought to be shaped by the nature of the corporation. Younger, more active employee communities may be attracted by different programs than an older or technicaloriented employee. Additionally, a global corporation with mobile employees will have different needs than a corporation with one central location.

As noted earlier regarding PepsiCo’s HealthRoads, one strategy is for organizations to brand their Workplace Wellness Programs. Union Pacifi c Railroad (HealthTracks), General Motors (LifeSteps) and Caterpillar (Healthy Balance) all adopted this approach to help create recognition and a larger meaning around their efforts. Having a branded initiative helps staff members and other stakeholders see the larger goals and objectives of the Workplace Wellness Program, rather than focusing on isolated offerings.

Say it loud, say it proud - As a potential cost-saving plan, Company Health Promotion Programs ought to be given the same executive support and internal responsibility as any comparable employer effort. Employers ought to not approach wellness as simply a preventive, financially-motivated program, but rather as an opportunity for the employer to distinguish itself and become more competitive.

Jeffrey Treem, analyst, Edelman Change and Employee Engagement Group, says that effective communication about Employee Wellness Programs must be integrated into existing organization communication channels and vehicles. “This comprises executive communication to external stakeholders,” he notes, “because this sends a powerful message back to workers about the significance of the programs. Employee Wellness Programs must not be treated as merely an additional employee perk, but rather a progressive and strategic effort to cut costs and create a healthier work environment.” Talk among yourselves - The most powerful champions of any Employee Wellness Program will be the participants.

Organizations ought to find ways to facilitate discussions about the program among workers. This could take the form of support groups, interactive media and the sharing of success stories.

Nonetheless, since Corporate Wellness Programs touch on potentially private health problems, it is important communication remains positive and inclusive, while not pressuring employees. Discussion of wellness problems must be voluntary, though corporations may consider providing incentives for those willing to contribute. Motivation and information from peers is likely to carry more credibility and significance than messages from management.

———-

Even in an at-will employment environment, individuals are still guarded from discrimination (including wrongful termination) by virtue of belonging to a protected class. Before starting a Corporate Health Promotion Program, employers need to be cognizant of the relevant legal restrictions and the potential impacts these measures can have on benefi ts and employee behavior programs.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

This means that standards and offerings need to be applied equally (or possibly proportionally) to all protected classes. In other words, if a organization is offering access to fitness centers, it ought to ensure that men and women have equal access to facilities. Organizations ought to also consider whether a person who may live in areas heavily populated by one race, religion or ethnicity also have access to facilities and programs. The easiest way to address this concern is to supply on-Site Employee Health Promotion Programs whenever possible. This not only ensures equal access, but according to Northwestern Memorial’s Krivy, also boosts participation.

Organizations must also be aware that particular health topics may disproportionately affect protected classes. Health Risk Assessments and any incentives and rewards put in place may must be customized to account for non-lifestyle related differences.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) - Protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination. Benefits, incentives/rewards and programs need to be applied equally to men and women. A corporation can’t set a weight goal for men and not for women, even though a corporation can set health parameters by job function. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) - Protects people who are 40 years of age or older from discrimination based on age.

Policies not only need to be available to people of all ages, but program goals and objectives, restrictions and incentives/rewards need to be designed with age appropriateness. While older workers (or retirees and dependents) may inherently pose a higher health risk, their conduct must be assessed in terms of demographically appropriate measures.

Title I and Title V of the American citizens with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) - Prohibits employment discrimination against qualified people with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments. Similar to other workplace offerings, any Corporate Wellness Programs, such as a fitness center or health clinic, would have to make reasonable accommodations for staff members with disabilities.

One area of uncertainty is whether corpulent staff members qualify as disabled. The issue is complicated because weight is caused by several factors (genetics, environment, behavior), some of which may be out of the employee’s control. Generally, for staff members to qualify for disability based on weight, the condition must signifi cantly impair their physical or mental ability to perform their job. This determination would need to be made by a qualifi ed physician. Although this label may affect the types of incentives and program requirements offered, it likely would not affect the overall implementation of behavioral-focused initiatives.

Civil Rights Act of 1991 - Provides monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.

This legislation allows people to sue employers for improper treatment. Compensation can be in the form of actual damages such as lost or expected wages, compensatory damages for a circumstance that causes public embarrassment, or even punitive damages meant to send a message to a company for egregious or habitual violations.

While these laws govern all employer activities, there are even more stringent restrictions with regard to Medical Care problems. Most policies, communications and data collection regarding employee health are governed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Under HIPAA organizations cannot deny eligibility for benefits or charge a higher premium on the basis of:

• Health status
• Health condition (including both physical and mental illnesses)
• Claims experience
• Receipt of health care
• Medical history
• Genetic information
• Evidence of insurability (includes activities such as riding a motorcycle, skiing, snowmobiling and other similar pursuits)
• Disability

Still, because wellness programs may not include healthcare treatment or be insurance related, and may instead be confined to behavioral initiatives, HIPAA’s nondiscrimination provisions do not totally apply. To address this, in 2001 the United States Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service and the United States Department of Health and Human Services jointly issued a proposed regulation to help clarify the lawful provisions of a “bona fi de Wellness Program” in the context of HIPAA’s existing language (See Box p. 14). Although the regulation is not yet final, employers that comply with the measure will be viewed by the government as making a good-faith effort to avert discrimination in wellness programs.

Comprehensive Company Wellness Programs are still relatively new to corporate America and the legal implications of implementation and enforcement are not fully known. By their very nature, these programs potentially expose employers to discrimination lawsuits, disengaged workers and harmful public relations. Nonetheless, employers that make a good-faith effort to comply with current Health Care-related laws, discover ways to engage workers, and communicate strategically, will be able to minimize these risks while finding plenty of room to develop a creative and effective Company Wellness Program.

For many businesses, a smoking ban would not even apply to all staff members. That is because currently 30 states and the District of Columbia prevent businesses from banning off-duty smoking.21 In Addition, 13 states prevent businesses from banning alcohol use away from work. Only six states have broad statutes that prevent businesses from prohibiting any lawful behavior. Michigan is the only state that expressly prohibits discrimination on the basis of weight, however the cities of San Francisco and Santa Cruz, Calif., also have this provision (San Francisco makes exceptions for police offi cers, fi refi ghters and the San Francisco 49ers football team). When creating Company Health Promotion Programs, businesses ought to keep in mind local statutes as well as established common law.

Savings of Voluntary Employee Health Promotion Program = (number of participants x savings per participant) - (cost of program)
Savings of Incentive-based Corporate Health Promotion Program = (number of participants x savings per participant) - (cost of program + cost of rewards and incentives)
Savings of Mandatory Corporate Wellness Program = (number of participants x savings per participant) - (expense of program + expense of policy-related turnover + expense of limited talent pool)

Constructing Workplace Wellness Program policies in a business that employs unionized employees can pose unique challenges. Workplace Wellness Programs may be perceived by some unions as a condition of employment and therefore would be subject to collective bargaining between the parties. Still this circumstance can represent an opportunity for both groups, as a policy agreed upon between union leadership and management is likely to be received more favorably by employees. The United Auto Employees and General Motors worked together to create and position a joint Workplace Wellness Program which has successfully reached more than 800,000 participants. (See Case Studies, UAWGeneral Motors LifeSteps Workplace Wellness Program, p.21).

Unless specifically stated otherwise, most corporation-employee relationships in America are governed by the principle of at-will employment. Under this system a corporation, or the employee, can terminate the relationship without any needed showing of cause. This at-will standard gives private organizations large power in governing the behavior of workers. In this environment, organizations can Finding Wealth Through Wellness 10 creatively design Company Health Promotion Programs based upon their specifi c corporate culture. Company Health Promotion Programs generally take three main forms:

Voluntary Employee Health Promotion Programs - The most popular form of employee Employee Health Promotion Program, in most cases they are made available to workers but participation (or lack thereof) is not linked to any type of consequence. Due to ineffective communication, frequently workers are either unaware of these offerings or confuse them with insurance-based medical care. Incentive-based - Employee Health Promotion Programs based on incentives reward workers for participation in Employee Health Promotion Program activities. Incentives usually comprise lower Medical Care premiums, fitness center membership or personalized support offerings. In these programs, employees’ behavior can be linked to a particular reward.

Mandatory Company Health Promotion Programs - Some businesses require, or ban, certain health-related behaviors. These can take the form of mandatory Health Risk Assessments for staff members and limitations on smoking or alcohol use. While mandating behavior is an effective method to eliminate high-risk behavior, the cost savings must be measured against the potential message sent to existing and prospective staff members. Given that staff members are already under various levels of scrutiny in the workplace, individuals may resist attempts by businesses to regulate off-duty behaviors. In Addition, some staff members may fi nd it diffi cult to comply, forcing businesses into the uncomfortable situation of punishing an otherwise advantageous employee.

In the short-term a mandate-based Corporate Health Promotion Program can lead to an increase in turnover, as employees either choose to leave or are fi red for noncompliance. In the long-term, the policy may prevent the corporation from hiring an otherwise qualifi ed applicant, or may serve as a deterrent for individuals thinking of the corporation. Limits in recruiting, for instance, led CNN to rescind a 13-year ban on hiring smokers.18

Corporations need to make sure that Corporate Health Promotion Programs are aligned with the values and culture that lead employer operations. If a employer emphasizes trust and individual responsibility, then a mandate-based program will likely cause more dissension than it would in a employer that already heavily regulates employer actions. Moreover, a work environment with a sizable disengaged population will likely have poor participation in a voluntarybased program. When calculating cost savings, businesses need to take a wider view and consider the effects on long-term employee engagement.

In 2005, Michigan-based insurance benefits provider Weyco instituted a smoking ban for all of its nearly 200 staff members. Employees are subject to random testing and if they fail a mandatory breathalyzer test, they will be fi red. It is believed that Weyco is the first company to use testing to enforce a smoking ban - most businesses ask staff members to self-report behavior. Four staff members (more than 2% of the total crew) left Weyco as a result of the policy. A year prior to the ban the company createed a $50 smoking fee, which would be waived if a employee passed a nicotine test or agreed to take a smokingcessation class. Weyco’s president Howard Weyers announced that 20 staff members quit smoking through this program.20 Employees were told they had one year before the total ban would go into effect. Under the new Company Health Promotion Program, Weyco does offer $35 a month for staff members who want to use a fi tness center and another $65 a month for staff members who meet fitness goals.

1. Undertake a utilization assessment - While organizations can’t get health information on individual staff members, insurance providers will supply organizations with reports that detail patterns and rates of employee use for things such as physician visits, hospital stays and prescription use. This information is critical for a company to set a benchmark of its current health risk status. Data from human resources(HR) can be integrated with benefits information to supply a complete picture of employees’ health-related costs. Then, organizations can determine the specific level of behavior change necessary to result in cost savings. The utilization assessment helps a company identify the areas in which it ought to focus its Employee Health Promotion Program to reap the greatest benefits.

2. Build a corporation case - Once a utilization assessment is in place, employers are able to quantify the Health Care cost savings that will result from specific levels of lifestyle transformation and risk reduction. This can be done by setting goals and 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 cost of the Company Health Promotion Programs as well as the necessary internal marketing efforts that will surround the program. Says Betty-Jo Saenz, U.S. Health 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 active and Finding Wealth Through Wellness 8 keeping them healthy. Wherever you are on the continuum, there are opportunities.”

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

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

5. Create a complete Employee Engagement plan - The most brilliantly conceived Company Health Promotion Program is meaningless if no workers participate. Effective wellness talks emphasize both health and monetary benefits at the personal and business level. According to a 2004 survey by Towers Perrin, only 28% of workers say their business communicates about Healthcare problems other than cost. In addition, wellness-related information should be a part of existing business talks efforts and not coupled solely with benefits talks. This helps elevate the priority of Company Health Promotion Programs and align initiatives with business objectives.

Moreover, talks around Workplace Health Promotion Programs can share personal success stories and provide organization progress updates. Successful corporations not only use existing communications 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 organization.

Many companies involve medical professionals to advise in the construction, communication and substructure of the program. The use of outside authorities such as these will increase the credibility of the Company Wellness Programs as well as combat skepticism from employees who may view the business’s motives as merely selfserving.

Another strategy available to companies is to brand their Company Health Promotion Program. This move can expand the visibility and acceptance of the offering. Branded wellness programs are most common when companies are also promoting an external campaign around Company Health Promotion Programs. An example of this is PepsiCo, which launched its HealthRoads Company Health Promotion 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 participate in, Workplace Health Promotion Programs within organizations. This creates more immediate accountability and motivation.

6. Measure constantly and consistently - At every step of implementation, a Workplace Wellness Program must be able to confirm its value to a business. Workplace Wellness Programs must be designed to allow companies to set benchmarks and evaluate behavior modification. Measurement ought to consider not only quantitative health measures, but also qualitative measures of stress and employee engagement. Less than 10% of companies do extensive management of healthcare cost, employee health risk status or employee satisfaction with benefit offerings, and less than half of companies do any assessment in these areas at all.16

Assessment is only useful if a employer explicitly specifies what data would constitute success. Potential measures of success include:

• Participation rates
• Greater employee engagement
• Lowering of risk status
• Lowering of direct health costs
• Decreased absenteeism
• Fewer disability claims

Motorola’s Saenz advises administrators of Workplace Health Promotion Programs to track as many measures as possible from the start, even if management only requires 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 assessment is the only way to build substructure among management and workers. Nearly half of employers feel a lack of useful data is a top barrier to their ability to manage employee health, and at least 20 percent of employers don’t know how effective existing Employee Wellness Programs are regarding various outcomes. Corporations ought to lead utilization analyses each year and reevaluate Employee Wellness Program priorities based upon changes. Additionally, progress ought to be shared with the wider business community to build substructure for initiatives. Managers and executives throughout a company are likely to substructure a program that can prove increased work rate among workers. Effective Employee Wellness Programs are designed to be fl exible so they can respond to changes in both company goals and objectives and larger health variations.

Workplace Wellness Programs first became popular during the economic boom of the late 1980s and early 90s. Programs featured onsite health clubs and massages, and were used as recruitment tools for young employees searching for nontraditional work environments. Nonetheless, when the tech bubble burst, so too did the willingness to spend money on perceived perks, and businesses returned to a more traditional benefit structure focused on managed medical care.

In recent years, as Medical Care costs have spiraled out of control, businesses have explored the potential of Company Health Promotion Programs as a cost-saving strategy. Organizations 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). Company Health Promotion Programs can help reduce the costs associated with:

Health Care premiums - The cost a employer pays for healthcare insurance: According to a 2005 study by Hewitt, the Health Care cost per employee in the American in 2006 will average $8,046, with corporations absorbing nearly two-thirds of that cost.

Prescription Drug costs - The price of a prescription drug plan: According to a 2005 study by Mercer, the average annual prescription drug costs for sizable employers grew 11.5%, making it nearly a decade straight of double-digit rises in cost.

Short-term disability (STD) - The cost of offering short-term disability insurance to staff members: 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 Employee Wellness Programs, and that these cases amount for 56 percent of the STD-related medical costs.

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

Presenteeism - The cost associated with staff members who work at decreased productiveness levels: Sixty% of the total cost of employee illnesses 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 Employee Wellness Programs can reduce both direct and indirect Healthcare costs. A 2004 review of Employee Wellness Programs revealed that, in total, an investment of $1 by a organization in Wellness Programming returned a median cost savings of $2.05 to $4.64.