Posts from — June 2009

Employee Program Engagement is the level at which workers are aligned with and working toward organization goals. Employee Program Engagement is altered by a wide range of factors that include internal communications, organization structure, benefits and recognition.

Organizations that have high levels of employee program engagement advance from greater productivity, retention and performance than peers with disengaged staff members.  Levels of engagement among staff members in America have been declining over the past several years as individuals have become disillusioned with the treatment of staff members by organizations. The inability to involve staff members is one of the reasons why, despite steady rises in hours worked, America lags behind several other nations in terms of employee productivity per hours worked.

Company Health Promotion Programs may increase employee program engagement in several ways. First, when communicated properly, they verify to employees that the employer cares about their well-being. This can improve retention and turnover as well as provide increased discretionary effort from employees. During a period of significant downsizing, Motorola found more of an interest in its Company Health Promotion Programs as managers recognized the value of providing for the health and well-being of employees.

In addition, the health improvements will lower 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 interprets 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 well-being.” Wellness looks beyond the current guide of treating disease and focuses on preventive conduct and healthier lifestyles. Employee Health Promotion Programs, also usually referred to as Employee Health Promotion 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 organizations.

Examples of potential elements of a Employee Wellness Program comprise of:

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, cholesterol, glucose levels and other health indicators. These analyses supply valuable benchmarking measures that ideally will allow workers to prevent or lower their risk of illnesses. 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 transformation in your corporation, you need to know what the issues are, and you just do not know until you get the data.”

Physical Activity and Weight Management - One of the most popular Corporate Health Promotion Programs is for employers to supply access to a exercise facility, often 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 workers to go to weight-loss sessions such as Weight Watchers.

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

Behavior Modification - This covers issues like smoking, wearing seat belts, and alcohol use. While many organizations will provide assistance for workers looking to change behavior, some organizations, like health care benefits administrator Weyco, Inc., mandate modifications, such as stopping smoking, as a condition of employment.

Alternative Treatments - Other Company Wellness Programs can include 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 include businesses beginning Company Health Promotion Programs, which allow businesses to be proactive in preventing illness and promoting healthier lifestyles for staff members. When implemented effectively, this approach can drive to reduced direct costs from claims, a reduction in Healthcare premiums and increased employee work rate.

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

Over the next 6-12 posts we’ll layout the case for Corporate Health Promotion Programs in today’s employment environment, arguing that the cost savings and grown employee engagement outweigh potential restrictions. We will examine the considerations a business must make before launching a Corporate Health Promotion Program and the communication necessary to create successful engagement from workers. Finally, we will discuss several successful Corporate Health Promotion 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 organizations, 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 corporation.

Organizations, through private medical insurance businesses, are the leading provider of medical services in America. In 2004, 59.8 percent of Americans were covered by a company-based medical insurance program, accounting for 88 percent of all private medical insurance. Yet the increasing costs of Health Care, ever-growing drug prices and a steady rise in chronic diseases have brought the corporate world to a breaking point.

For many companies the growing burden has become too difficult to carry. Over the past five years health care insurance premiums have raised 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 costs has caused the number of companies offering Health Care services during that time to drop from 69% to 60%.4 In addition, in 2005,  health care 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 corporations need to discover innovative ways to mitigate the rising costs of Medical Care coverage. Seemingly, the easiest strategies to accomplish this goal would be to reduce benefits coverage or pass on agrowing burden to employees and retirees. More than 80 percent of corporations have chosen one or both of these cost saving measures in the past several years and almost half of all sizable corporations are likely to increase the amount employees pay in 2007.5

However, these methods do nothing to mitigate the fundamental causes of rising premiums, one of which is a population that requires increased healthcare. To make a long-term and meaningful impact on premiums and central health, companies need to look beyond a traditional reactive-based approach.

Coordinating company fitness and Workplace Wellness Programs is not about establishing a grand scheme that is so complicated it is underutilized.

Worksite Health Promotion Programs are about beginning an environment that encourages fitness and healthy 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 provides plenty of opportunity for exercise, teaches proper nutrition and stays current on health topics productive to the workers.

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

Planning Employer Physical Activity Programs and Corporate Wellness Programs - Making a Proposition

Planning company fitness and Worksite Wellness Programs means understanding there are many directions the program can take. For starters, it must be of interest to employees at all echelons.

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

In other words, it must address the needs of the top executives as well as the warehouse workers. The variety of jobs within a corporation 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 at work and at home. A organization with a organization fitness and Company Health Promotion Program in place sends the message to its workers and customers is that the organization takes health seriously.

Structuring organization fitness and Company Health Promotion Programs involves determining the types of movements that will be most effective for the situation.

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

It can provide real opportunity to enhance the entire business environment. A Employee Health Promotion Program can comprise of the following:
• Health intervention for existing health problems
• Recreational programs that engage workers and their families
• Ergonomics to reduce work strain and resulting injuries
• Specialized programs that target employees with physical conditions interfering with job execution
• Addressing health and fitness concerns related to an aging work force
• Establishing physical activity programs specifically designed to expand employee job-specific strength

The advantages of carefully planning company fitness and Corporate Health Promotion Programs are obvious. Staff Members get access to the physical activity program either workplace or through company membership at the gym.

Coordinating business fitness and Company Wellness Programs means including those components important to great health.
• Meal designing and sound nutrition choices
• Sessions instructing on the food pyramid and how the body processes nutrients
• Instruction on exercising safely
• Weight loss and weight management

The benefits for the corporation are endless.
• Savings on Health Care costs
• Less employee sick days
• Staff Members with a sense of health fitness
• Lowerincidences of chronic ailments
• Attracts new employees dedicated to fitness

Structuring Corporation Fitness Programs and Company Wellness Programs - Closing the Deal

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

Corporate Health Promotion Program proposals must be designed so that they meet organization goal.

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

Workplace Wellness Program Proposals for implementing a program must take into consideration the type of employer, the budget and the makeup of the employee population.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs for office employee will be different than programs for construction staff members

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.

• workers achieve better overall conditioning
• Health Care claims decline
• Productiveness increases
• workers experience fewer sick days
• Number of injuries declines
• Physical issues like high Blood Pressure are decreased
In general, Company Health Promotion Program proposals must target the fitness concerns at the corporation and provide plans for progress.

Corporate Health Promotion Program Proposals - Going the Distance

There are many different kinds of wellness proposals.

• One-one-one employee assessments by a  professional healthcare provider
• Outside specialist assistance for program design and implementation only
• Ongoing program monitoring by a personal trainer
• In-house program design
• gym memberships
• Corporate Wellness Programs
• Comprehensive Worksite Health Promotion Programs including nutrition and fitness
• Programs that address a specific concern like injury at the worksite

These are just a few forms Workplace Wellness Program proposals can take. A Wellness program can be very basic or elaborate depending on the company budget. A program can include up to 4 components.

• Education on health problems
• Screening programs with follow-up assessment
• Corporation culture of health change

• Fitness and diet programs - supervised and unsupervised programs can cover a myriad of health and fitness information and exercises. The rewards for starting a Employee Wellness Program are unlimited.

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

Wellness Proposals - Healthy Alternatives

Corporate Health Promotion Program proposals provide workers alternatives to specific health issues. Proposals can address particular topics in addition to central fitness.

These topics include quitting smoking, growing flexibility for job performance, preventing back injuries, preventing repetitive motion strain, improving loss of functionality due to age and prenatal programs.

Worksite Wellness Program proposals ought to have goal that cover improving employee morale, more productiveness, reducing absenteeism, more employee vitality and netting Health Care savings to the employer.

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

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

Research online the different Worksite Wellness Program proposals that are available for organizations. Then choose the one that works as if your employees’ lives depended on it, because that very well may be the case.

Employee Health Promotion Programs has become a essential component of organizations. It has become apparent in a service oriented economy that workers are living more sedentary lives than ever before.

As a result, a myriad of health care ailments plague the labor force costing the employee quality of life, while the employer faces growing Healthcare costs.

It is a situation in which no one wins. Waiting until the problem occurs is self-defeating for both the corporation and the employee. Company Health Promotion Programs only makes great sense by approaching the problem before it happens.

Corporate Health Promotion Program - Cease and Desist Order

Workplace Health Promotion Programs are like cease and desist orders. These particular orders are instructions on why staff members must cease living unhealthy lives and desist from eating junk food.

Let’s face it - employee frequently consume unhealthy food throughout the day. Office employees, line employees, 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 much 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 outcomes in weighty chronic ailments eventually including heart disease and strokes.

Waiting until the issues occur is expensive. Growing healthcare costs are taking a serious financial toll on companies. Every dime that is invested on illness recovery could have been invested on a business preventive health and Company Health Promotion Program.

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

• employees are screened for potential for serious chronic diseases such as diabetes
• employees are taught the value of good food and how to develop a dietary plan
• Individual job stress levels are assessed
• Fitness Programs are made easily accessible to encourage participation
• Frequent courses are helpful on relevant topics of health and Corporate Health Promotion Programs
• Business offers incentive programs to maximize participation

Most employees don’t know the long-term consequences of living a life with little or no exercise. Worksite Wellness Programs bring the information to the employees so they can make informed decisions.

The cut back in sick days, reduced injuries and lower stress enhances production and cuts costs.

Corporate Wellness Program - Resuming New Health

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

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

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

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

Worksite Health Promotion Programs only make sense. It creates a company culture that speaks volumes about the priority of a healthy lifestyle.

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

Worksite Health Promotion Programs are here to stay.

Organization health and fitness are not just words to be spouted so people think the business cares about its employees. Health and fitness are significant concepts that are just as critical to a business as finance and sales.

That’s because the health of its workers is one of the big determinants of the health of the corporation. Organization workers manage long and hard hours and sometimes the price they pay becomes an unhealthy lifestyle.

A responsible company does not want its workers to be worried with numerous somber health topics. A Corporate Wellness Program is a merger of an workers desire to fit exercise into a hectic schedule and a company’s desire for a healthy labor force.

It’s a takeover of poor health affecting company production.

Employee Health Promotion 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 Workplace Wellness Program concept. A business has many options as to how it begins a health and Workplace Wellness Programs.

• A professional company writes a company specific fitness plan
• A Employee Wellness Program consultant and the organization jointly create a fitness plan
• An internet based fitness consultant can be utilized
• A personal trainer at a gym develops a employer program
• Corporation can create its own plan without assistance from outside professionals.

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

Utilizing a professional provides means the company gets knowledge based assistance in evaluating workers. 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 health club, or visit worksite as schedules. Some organizations hire a certified personal trainer to manage directly with staff members on an ongoing basis at the workplace. Other organizations pay for the services of a trainer at the nearest health club.

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

The rewards of this plan is that the whole family can use the gym, which encourages participation. A lot  businesses pay for the entire expense of the Employee Health Promotion Program at a gym.

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

There are group exercises and daily tips for working on health. Some plans are very simple in that most of the internal Corporate Wellness Program is mostly information. All exercise is done outside the organization at the gym.

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

Workplace Health Promotion Programs - Like Stock Options?

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

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

In other words, employees have plenty of choices and the company realizes real dollar savings through a healthier crew.

Business Exercise Program - Group Effort

Businesses are expected to be socially responsible in today’s world. It used to be employees had few amenities, because the organization didn’t see any benefit to the organization.

Times have changed drastically. Corporations now know that the health of its employee workforce is indicative of the health of the organization itself. The organization fitness program was introduced to encourage healthy employee lifestyles, even while on the job.

Half The Time

Stress is a huge factor in how we handle a heavy workload. Stress impacts our physical and mental wellness. It even creates a chemical that is processed into fat by our bodies. A company fitness program uses exercise and health information to inform employees how to stay physically in-shape.

When fit, the body and mind is much better able to handle stress. Stress has much side effects. It can cause inattention, sickness and high Blood Pressure. These effects in turn cost the company much money in absenteeism, poor productiveness and higher medical care costs.

A employer physical activity program makes fitness a priority in the employer among its staff members. In return, a physical activity program provides many benefits to the employer.

• Improved productiveness because of improvements in health
• Better employee concentration due to minimization of stress effects
• General improved morale
• Declined absenteeism

You usually hear people who are under a lot of stress say, “I don’t know why I did that” when they make a mistake. The truth is they probably really don’t understand that their concentration is misdirected because of stress.

I Want to Participate

A employer physical activity program can take many forms.

• Physical Activity Program can be set up at the business’s facility and managed by an employee
• Organization exercise program  can have a organization membership with a nearby fitness club
• Physical Activity Program can be under contract with a fitness professional who comes to the employer’s facility and coordinates the program, including employee assessments
• Physical Activity Program can be managed by an employee worksite using the services of a web based exercise program

A organization fitness program can be modified in almost any way necessary to accommodate the organization and its employees.

Usually, in any program, seminars are available periodically also to inform staff members of current health concerns and trends. As a minimum, a business program normally will provide the following:

• Aerobics for cardiovascular conditioning
• Abdomen strength building
• General muscle toning
• Exercises for improved flexibility

More elaborate programs will offer employee classes, courses and gym equipment. Organization programs can be adapted to any company and any budget.

Why Will This Work

We spend much time at our place of employment. It’s easy for staff members to skip exercising, blaming it on lack of time. Using professional fitness services like those found here takes away the excuses that are costing the business money.

Employer Fitness Programs and Wellness - A Clear Message

Corporation culture varies from business to business. Some companies are strict and formal while others are more laid back. But one thing most have learned is that the health of their employees impacts the health of the business itself.

Because of this, many companies have started corporation health and Workplace Health Promotion Programs. By doing so, the company’s owners send a clear message to their employees that health is a priority and ought to be taken seriously.

Just by the fact that the employer is willing to spend money to start and maintain a Employee Wellness Program indicates by itself that good health equates to dollars and Employee Wellness Program equates to active employees.

No Smoking

A corporate fitness and Company Health Promotion Program can be as simple as a ‘no smoking’ policy to a menu of health and fitness services. Usually, the programs fall right in the middle. There are many fitness centers that provide Company Health Promotion Programs. A company has a variety of choices when it comes to deciding on how to deliver a Wellness plan.

• Hire an outside health trainer to deliver an employee program to an existing facility
• Utilize a professional in the original design of a new facility
• Create a Company Wellness Program manager responsible for coordinating the business fitness program
• Use an online health expert as a consultant

The first step in starting any company fitness and Employee Wellness Program is to evaluate the condition of the workers. The kind of work a company does will guide the focus of the program.

For example, a warehouse operation may be interested in starting employee strength to avoid back and neck injuries. A building of office employees with sedentary jobs will need aerobic conditioning. A business program is customized to meet the needs of its employees.

Online fitness trainers are professionals at designing programs for small and large groups. They can adapt exercises and diets to any situation. They can also save a company money by developing a plan that is streamlined yet effective.

Result Oriented

A corporation fitness and Corporate Wellness Program has direct benefits, not just for the workers, but for the corporation as well.

• Decreased Healthcare claims as employee health improves
• Reduced cases of obesity
• Reduced use of sick leave
• Staff Members able to deal with stress better
• Stronger workers less likely to be injured

It is not unusual to find a fitness center in an office building anymore. Easy access to workout equipment and a fitness expert encourages workers to follow a program. By using an expert, a employer can offer something for everyone - pregnant women, older workers, walkers, active adults, mothers, overweight people, fathers and others.