Company Health And Wellness Programs

Thinking about an obesity-related disease management program for your company? Here is what you need to know.

In order to be effective, the health promotion program must meet participants’ individual medical and psychological needs, not to mention your own organization’s need to control long-term medical costs.

Just how wide-reaching should the program be? After all, it doesn’t make sense to pay for services your workers don’t want or can’t use.

Mary Beth Chalk of Resources for Living suggests that obesity programs can be broken down into four tiers of employee need, from which your organization’s ROI can also be measured.

Tier 1 –  Education

Tier I staff members struggle with weight management problems but don’t need a health Coach.  Instead, they could benefit from a self-directed program that provides weight-management related materials online, targeted mailing, and/or access to nurse call line.

Precisely how to measure Return On Investment –  utilization. Do workforce click on the Web site? Do they return to the site regularly? Do individuals  use the nurse line? Your wellness program vendor ought to provide you detailed use stats.

Tier 2 –  Clinical supervision

When the worker has been diagnosed as obese – a Body Mass Index  score over 30 is obese, over 35 is clinically obese – he or she’d do better working with a wellness coach in a clinically supervised wellness program.

Three keys to getting maximum results –

1. Periodically have participants rate their relationship with their wellness Coaches. Not everyone clicks, so a change could  be in order.

2. Coordinate your disease management care with your employee assistance program (EAP)services. Reason –  Inability to control weight is often closely tied with psychological health issues – and one can negatively affect the other.

The more closely your employee assistance program and obesity program managers work together, the higher the chance for success.

3. Beware of the fade-out effect. Many employees in weight-loss programs get off to a great start and then fall back into old habits. People  should re-commit to the program after three sessions, four months and nine months.

To measure ROI, look at utlization, goal achievement and reduced presenteeism. of course, presenteeism is notoriously challenging to measure with reliable dollar figures. So how can you overcome that problem?

• Start with employees’ salaries. Let’s suppose one participant earns $40,000 each year.

• Ask workers to self-report how energetic and productive they feel on the job, on a percentage scale. Then have supervisors estimate the employee’s productivity and split the difference. for this example, let’s assume it averaged to 50 percent.

• Collect scores again six months and one year into the program and then multiply the difference by salary.  The result is your estimated productivity Return On Investment.

In the example above, if the staff member earning $40,000 improves from 50 percent to 75 percent after one year, the productivity related ROI is $10,000.  

Tier 3 –  Medical management

At this level, the obese employee needs a higher level of care than a health coach can offer.  The employee has chronic medical conditions related to obesity – like diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or sleep apnea – and needs a doctor case manager.

Specifically, the staff member needs to set up regular visits with the physician and develop a treatment plan.

To measure Return On Investment (ROI), start with the lower-tier criteria, then track quarterly and year differences in FMLA or paid absences, and prescription drug costs. Then compare it to the per-participant cost of the obesity program.

Tier 4 –  Morbid obesity

At this level, the employee has been diagnosed as morbidly obese – Body Mass Index over 40 – and is considered a potential candidate for gastric bypass surgery.

Return On Investment (ROI) is measured through ongoing health claims in addition to the previous criteria.

• Organize a launch event to create excitement about upcoming activities and to create a social climate that establishes being active as the norm.

• Organize and promote monthly or bi-monthly business events that are fun and active, e.g., picnics with physical games, staff tournaments and dragon boat racing.

Make certain to encourage families to join in by including all-ages events like relay races, soccer matches, bocce ball and baseball games.

• Begin a swim club at a local pool. Invite groups of staff members to swim the distance of a nearby lake. Convert kilometres to lengths and reward staff members who complete the swim.

Be sure to set up a challenge between staff members and managers to see who covers the greatest distance.

• Post a sign-up board where staff can become a member of  group or find a buddy to participate in activities of interest.

• Arrange a business badminton tournament that lasts several months, with each staff member playing once a week. Post the results as the tournament progresses.

• Organize an office Olympics, World Cup, Wimbledon or Masters Games. Invite teams to compete in a few activities over a month. Reward everyone who participates.

• Create a point system in which one minute of activity is equivalent to one point. Make certain to set a target, and post a chart where all workers can track their points. Reward the first group to reach that target.

• Co-ordinate a stair climb challenge. Post a chart at the top of the stairwell, and encourage workers to track the number of flights of stairs they climb each workday.

Make sure to set up teams, and award a prize to the first team to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest.

• Post and promote a sign-up board for lunchtime walking groups.

• Organize a walk “across the United States ” Choose a route, figure out how many steps it’d take to walk that distance and challenge staff members to do it.

Give or loan pedometers to workers, and ask them to record the number of steps they take. Or, when you can’t afford pedometers, track the minutes walked. Make certain to set up a challenge between workers and managers to see who can walk across the USA  first.

• Co-ordinate a walk to work club. Acknowledge employees who either walk to work or walk to public transit.

• Have a volunteer group leader guide weekly lunchtime power walks.

• Coordinate a million-step challenge. Form groups, challenge each group to walk a combined sum of a million steps and reward the winner. Departments or sites could compete with each other and with management.

• Challenge staff members to walk 10,000 steps a day. Purchase pedometers for all participating staff members or, if you cannot afford that, make pedometers available at a lowered rate.

Give tips for increasing daily steps, and reward staff members who succeed.

Create a culture of wellness within your organization

Create Exemplary Management Support

In the most successful Health Promotion Programs, senior managers lead their companies by example.  And they work to ensure that the senior level management structure not only allows, but actively encourages their workers to participate.

Organize a Health Promotion Advisory Team

Health Promotion committees serve as the eyes, ears, arms and legs of the wellness program, representing colleagues ideas and concerns, and helping reshape the organizational culture toward health.

Conduct an Assessment of Financial and Human Assets and Liabilities

Successful Wellness Programs are built upon a foundation of information, including claims review, demographic analysis of the workforce, senior management and staff member surveys, health risk data, history of organizational wellness, and health benefit plan design.

Create Obviously Stated Vision, Mission and Outcomes

Establish a clear vision of wellness program direction, expectations and measures to answer the questions, “Where are we going and how will we know when we get there?”

Create a Comprehensive and Strategic Health Promotion Program

A multi-component plan ought to consist of strategically developed and implemented awareness, lifestyle change, and supportive environment programs, in addition to policies and activities that target appropriate health risk behaviors and needs of the staff.

Identify an Incentive and Reward Strategy

Incentives show the organizational commitment to the health promotion program and motivate individuals to participate. Incentives vary widely from program to program, but can include such things as time off, reduction in medical insurance premiums or co-pays, cash incentives, discounts to health and fitness centers, free pedometers, etc.

Communicate to Employees

Your wellness program ought to be simple and concise, use an identifiable brand, and rely on a variety of media to communicate with workers and managers.

Evaluate Outcomes

Evaluate health promotion program participation, satisfaction levels and behavioral change. You could want to track the number of workers’ compensation claims, productivity, turnover morale and absenteeism.

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Wellness Program – Management Support.

Create Exemplary Management Support

Goal –  A Wellness Program established into the organization’s culture.

Focus – Create support and excitement for the wellness program from all levels of the corporation –  upper management, mid-level management, and grass-roots staff.

Obtaining upper-level management’s buy-in is essential to launching an effective health promotion program.  The workforce must understand that upper-level management is supportive of the health promotion program.

Actions –

Develop an Senior Management Executive Team to determine high-level decisions – positions that must be included are the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Communications Officer, and other appropriate division-level managers and health promotion program specialists, as necessary.

The Senior Level Management Executive Team will –

• Communicate to all levels of executive management about the wellness program and drive the integration of the Wellness Program as a part of the organization culture.

• Ensure that organizational resources are available for health promotion program planning and implementation.

• Be certain to encourage staff to participate and to assist in “recruiting” other staff, get the momentum going, and keep it growing.

• Share success stories within the organization, and continue to raise the perceived value of participation.

Organize a Health Promotion Advisory Team

Goal – Develop a working committee that consists of workforce and essential functional parts of the organization.

Focus –  to assist in reshaping the organizational culture to support employee-wellness activities by serving as messengers and supporters for the health promotion program.

Wellness Advisory Committees serve as an essential part of the infrastructure of your Wellness Program.  The team members are the eyes, ears, arms, and legs of the wellness program.

They represent their colleagues by sharing ideas and concerns about the health promotion program.

Actions –

The Health Promotion Advisory Committee will –

• Make sure to work with upper-level management and the Health Promotion Program coordinator in the design, implementation, and investigation of the health promotion program.

• Create methods to enhance the acceptance and success of the activities of your Wellness Program by stimulating worker ownership of the wellness program.

• Hold periodic meetings to keep the committee informed of upcoming plans and events and to provide feedback to the health promotion program coordinator about their thoughts, ideas, and suggestions, and those of their peers.

• Recommend policy and environmental changes that are aimed at bettering the health and safety of workforce.

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Health Promotion Program – Vision and Mission.

Goal – Create a baseline of information and identify human and organizational needs.

Focus –  Review a selection of information to better understand past and current conditions regarding healthcare utilization, organizational culture, demographic overview, and health promotion programs.

Data collection plays an important role in planning, monitoring, and reviewing  a wellness program. It’ll also set the baseline for continued and future investigations of wellness program efficiency, effectiveness, and feasibility.

Actions –

• Claims review (health care, pharmaceutical) –

• What have been the 10 most costly major illness categories in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars compensated for each?

• What have been the 10 most costly therapeutic courses of drugs in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars compensated for each?

• What have been the 10 most frequently prescribed and filled therapeutic courses of drugs in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars paid for each?

• Demographic analysis of staff member population (may include dependents) –

• List your number of staff members, by gender, for each of the past five years and the percentages of males and females by age groups.

• Think about any other factors that might have affected the health of your workers and their use of the healthcare system.

This might include mergers, acquisitions, workplace trauma, staff member strikes, layoffs, early retirement offers, etc.

Management survey –

• Conduct surveys of mid-level management to understand their concerns and measure their level of interest and buy-in.

• Employee-interest survey –  Gather information to find out what the staff want and to measure the level of participation, satisfaction, and “success” of any previous activities.

Risk data (health-risk assessments) –

• Is there any data from health-risk appraisals over the past five years?

Participation in similar activities –

• List and describe all wellness programs that have been implemented over the past five years, including participation rates.

Design of the health plan, and anticipated changes –

• Have there been any significant changes in the health plan’s design in each of the past five years, like a change from an health maintenance organization (Health Maintenance Organization) to a PPO, increased co-payments or deductibles, or increased worker contributions?

Create Obviously Reported Vision, Mission and Outcomes

Goal –  Establish a clear vision of health promotion program direction, expectations, and measures.

Focus – Establishing a vision, mission, goals and goals to keep your Wellness Program focused toward its desired outcomes. It will answer the questions, “Where are we going?” and “How will we know when we get there?”

Actions –

• Identify two to five obviously stated goals. Make certain that your wellness program is capable of having an impact in the area desired, and make certain that you’re capable of measuring that impact.

Example Goal – Staff Members having access to healthier food options

• Establish two to five measurable goals that especially state what your wellness program is going to accomplish, by when, how, and how it’ll be measured.

Example Objective –  Modify all vending machines to include 50% healthful food options.

• Identify several activities that will help you achieveyour objective. Activities are very specific.

Example Activity – Make certain to work with vending machine owners to identify healthful food choices and restock with 50 percent of items that are healthier food choices.

• Identify who is going to do what, by when, and what resources are needed.

Example Detail –  the Program coordinator will contact XXX Vending Corporation by September 30.

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Wellness Program Incentives.

Create a Comprehensive and Strategic Health Promotion Program

Goal –  A robust Health Promotion Program plan.

Focus –  Development of a plan that consists of a variety of awareness, lifestyle change, and supportive environment program, policies, and activities that will target risk behaviors, needs, and interests of staff members.

Your Health Promotion Program should provide an integrated, strategic approach specific to the needs, goals, and culture of your company, designed throughout an annual cycle.

It’ll be important to review and revise existing policies governing such areas as tobacco use, vending machines, and the staff cafeteria. Also, it is useful to examine what company wellness or health-promotion activities are offered under your existing health-benefit plan.

Actions –

• Create activities based on your health promotion program objectives and the specific needs of your employees. Focus on those topics that are of greatest interest to your employees and the greatest needs of your organization, in that order. Prevent topics with narrow appeal.

• Keep it simple. Design the wellness program so it’s easy for the participants to understand and track. Let workforce focus their learning efforts on their own behavior, not on the rules and regulations of the wellness program.

In addition, simplify the wellness program administration. Let people  record their own activities when possible; create a mixture of self-reported activities along with verified activities.

• Integrate a combination of activities to include awareness, educational, and behavior elements. Link the activities throughout the year to allow for desired behavior repetition.

• Select activities that every staff member can participate in.

Examples –

• Challenges –  Activities that focus on practicing a desired behavior and continue for 4-8 weeks and focus on specific topics (such as physical activity, nutrition, or stress management).

• Learning experiences (seminars, videos, classes) –  One-time activities that last for a relatively short time and focus on a specific topic; these can precede “challenge activities” to prepare participants for behavior change.

• Behavior changes (such as tobacco use cessation) –  Interventions may or may not be offered at the workplace; person must be encouraged to make lifestyle changes that they wanted to make even without the incentive.

• Illness management (support and education groups for diabetes and hypertension) –  These may  be provided or supported by the organization through disease-management providers, or by community, health, or religious businesses.

• New skills (first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation) –  These might  be provided or supported by the business, or by community, health, or religious companies.

• Screenings, wellness assessments, physical exams –  A wellness assessment provides the business with aggregate data that could be used in wellness program planning and analysis; preventive screenings and physical exams could be encouraged by awarding credits to personnel.

• Program support (membership or leadership in wellness committee or challenge team) –  Reward those who work with you to help make your Wellness Program a success.

• Community events –  Reward participation in events like the Heart Walk or March of Dimes Walk; limit the number of these events that could be counted toward the annual total, and be selective about which events you allow to be counted.

Create an Incentive Strategy

Goal –  to motivate and reward worker participation and completion.

Focus – Develop a sense of interest in participation and completion of wellness activities.

Providing incentives and rewards will send an important message to the staff that the company is committed to improving their health and will share the rewards that these changes will bring. It also plays a significant role in arousing individuals to participate.

Actions –

• Identify through workers what incentives they value most.

• Identify what incentives the business can provide.

• Integrate your incentives into your benefits strategy.

• Ensure that every participant who achieves a goal receives some recognition.

• Offer participation incentives.

• Prevent offering incentives for the “best” or the “most.”

• Avoid rewards for biometric changes.

• Use incentives to promote your Wellness Program, through logos and branding.

Examples –

Compensated time off, reduction in health insurance premiums or co-pays, cash incentives, discounts to fitness centers, free pedometers, etc.

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Health Promotion Program Communication.

Goal –  Increase awareness of and participation in the Wellness Program.

Focus –  Promote the Wellness Program to workers to encourage participation in activities and benefits.

A well-designed communications strategy is paramount to successful wellness program awareness and participation. Even a “world class” wellness program design will not succeed when nobody knows that it’s available or how to get involved.

Workers who don’t get involved in the wellness program ought to be doing so because they select not to participate, not because they did not know about how, when, or where to participate.

Actions –

• Conduct a Resources and Communications Audit to identify internal and external resources available to support your Wellness Program, in addition to knowing how information will be disseminated.

• Keep the wellness program simple and concise –  easy to peruse about, understand, and act upon.

• Build the brand; make sure it’s something that personnel can identify with. Add the brand to T-shirts, water bottles, mouse pads, stress balls, etc.

Use a variety of media –

• Print – pamphlets, fliers, posters, banners, paycheck inserts, newsletter articles, bulletin boards, literature racks, post cards.

• Electronic – Web, intranet, e-mail, closed-circuit televisions, sign lines, audiovideo productions.

• Staff meetings and corporation events; word of mouth.

• Use existing channels of communication – what works best in your business – and make certain to know about all points of contact and systems of distribution.

Timing for communications –

• Prior to activity to develop awareness and to educate.

• During activity to stimulate participation.

• After an activity to report results.

• Between activities to maintain momentum and interest.

Consistency of communications –

• Use branding; maintain a consistent look, feel, and tone of messages.

• Maintain this consistency throughout the wellness program.

Surveys and forms –

• Collect information.

• Disseminate information.

There’s no single right way to approach wellness programs but winning programs share common success factors. These include commitment from management, worker involvement, adequate resources, and a policy on health that goes hand in hand with the corporation’s mission, vision and values.

Wellness Program –  A Range of Approaches

Although the goal is to eventually have a long-term, extensive wellness program, some companies prefer to begin with a single program at a basic level.

For  instance, the first steps can be as simple as offering lunch-hour sessions on first aid or healthful eating; or they could launch a pilot project to find out how interested staff members are to ensure staff members needs are being met before taking on anything more ambitious.

This approach provides a chance to show the impact on staff members and the workplace so management will be more willing to consider a bigger and more far-reaching strategy.

Other companies plan a variety of programs to meet the needs of the different types of people  that make up their workforce. and some decide to develop a sound business case, complete with a health strategy, before trying any kind of program.

Businesses want to ensure that a new program is fully integrated with their overall company vision and mission.

Wellness Program –  Success Factors

Whether your company chooses to think large from the outset or to begin with something smaller, always keep in mindthe following key success factors –

• support and participation from management;

• staff member involvement in planning;

• programs that meet employee needs;

• a realistic budget; and

• continuous review.

In sports, a game plan is a series of steps that a team must follow to accomplish its goal of winning. Most winning teams plan to win. Organizations also need game plans, even when they don’t call them by that name.

Good planning will help to ensure that your wellness program happens the way you want it to, and that costs may be identified in advance and kept within budget. Good planning avoids small problems from becoming bigger.

Steps in Planning a Wellness Program

Obtain management support. You could need to create a company case to convince managers that the wellness program is a company strategy-that employee health and job satisfaction affects their productivity. Employees need to see evidence that  upper management believes in and is committed to employee health.

Establish a planning committee. Members can include representatives from worker groups as well as from human resources (HR), health and safety, and communications.

Collect information. to prove that your program is beneficial, establish a benchmark before the program begins. You could wish to look at staff member satisfaction, absenteeism rates, stress levels, drug costs or WCB expenses.

Assess what workplace facilities are available to support workers to make healthful choices like showers and change areas or a secure place to store a bike. Assess worker needs through a recent survey or questionnaire, suggestion box or focus group. Communicate the results.

Create the plan to reflect the information collected. Include program objectives, activities and how you are going to measure whether your objectives were met.

Keep the plan flexible. You might have to change direction in response to worker feedback or changes in the corporation’s structure.

Get management approval. Support for staff time and a budget are needed.

Put activities in place. Offer a variety of activities that create awareness, increase knowledge, create skills, and provide social interaction.

Activities could include walking clubs, participation in national campaigns like Corporate Wellness Week, SummerActive, WinterActive, corporate challenge, golf days, and newsletters that provide information about community resources.

Workplaces can also make it easier for workers to make healthful options by providing flextime to allow workers to fit activity in when it’s convenient or by subsidizing programs in cooperation with community or private fitness facilities. A policy on catering for meetings can ensure that healthful foods are offered.

Evaluate the plan. Share your successes with others, learn from your mistakes and modify activities.

A wellness program does not have to be complicated or a huge investment. Just do it. Get support from management, bring a few committed individuals  together to generate some ideas and get started.

Studies show that untargeted health-promotion campaigns have little long-term impact.
Chronic conditions, which rob person and families of their health and happiness, represent major costs to corporations in the form of health care and disability costs, lost productivity, and absenteeism.
Health Promotion Programs should address risky behaviors that can help your staff members eat healthier, increase their level of exercise, help reduce stress, lower blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol, and quit smoking. Wellness programs should focus on helping staff members achieve and maintain their optimal health status.

Robust wellness programs focused on changing lifestyle behavior have been shown to yield a $3 to $6 return on investment for each dollar invested. It takes about three to five years after the initial wellness program investment to realize these savings.

Ninety-three percent of USA companies offer some type of wellness program for their workforce, but is it the right type?

Primary Kinds of Health Promotion Programs

Programs focusing on illness management. These health promotion programs monitor and treat specific illnesses. Disease management follows the 80/20 rule –  80 percent of health care costs are spent on 20 percent of staff.

Illness management is reported to have a $7 to $10 return on investment within a year.  The 20 percent of workers requiring the greatest medical expenditures today are normally different 20 percent who will cause the greatest medical expenses a year or two down the road.

Programs focusing on health enhancement and risk management. These wellness programs focus on lifestyle behavior change, and offer a $3 to $6 return on investment within two to five years, according to a 2004 report issued by the National Corporation Group on Health.

It’s crucial to note that a $3 to $6 return on an entire employee population produces a higher total savings than does illness management.

Good Data Drives Good Corporation Decisions

• Based on more than 120 scientific research studies, the National Company Group on Health stated that, within five years of wellness program implementation, overall benefit-to-cost ratios (return on investment) of –

• $3.48 in lowered healthcare costs per dollar invested.

• $5.82 in decrease absenteeism per dollar invested.

How does it feel to walk into your workplace? Do individuals  look happy? is the place well lit and cheerful? Do you feel welcome, wanted and energized? Or do you feel a gloom come over you, and count the hours until you can leave?

The influence of the worksite environment on the wellness of workers is profound. First there’s the physical look, feel, smell, and sounds of the place. Then you are affected by the policies, like whether others are permitted to smoke around you.

After awhile, more subtle factors start to affect you. Do your attempts to adopt a healthier lifestyle get recognized at work, or are they sabotaged? Are your managers inspiring you by being healthful role models? Do you get regular opportunities to learn healthier behavior?

In a supportive environment, employees feel that the organization they work for provides them with encouragement, opportunity, and rewards for healthful lifestyles.

And the spirit that results is highly contagious. Employees who feel cared are naturally more loyal and productive.

The following ideas will help you transform your workplace environment into one that in fact supports the wellness of your workers and organization.

Wellness Program Ideas for Creating Supportive Environments

Wellness Friendly Facilities

When you enter a worksite, do you feel comfortable? Could you be happy working there? is there enough light and clean air? Are there pleasant work areas, places to eat decent food, take a walk before lunch? Close your eyes. How does it smell? Sound? Do the workers have enough space?

There’s no doubt that our physical environment affects us, from basic safety matters to subtle factors that could cause  or reduce stress. Healthy environments often have these features –

• Vending machines with healthy food choices like low-fat milk, fruits, sugar-free and caffeine-free beverages and low-calorie snacks

• Workout area, walking paths, playing fields, basketball hoop, or other exercise opportunities on-site or nearby

• Cafeteria offers healthful foods including a salad bar with low-fat dressing

• Natural light is used whenever possible; all lighting is appropriate and adequate

• Heating and ventilation is adjustable, comfortable and healthy

• No cigarette machines, ashtrays, or tobacco use areas onsite

• Noise levels are safe and conducive to concentration

• Make certain to work station furniture conforms to ergometric standards

• Safety hazards have been eliminated

• Lockers and showers are available for staff members who workout before work or during breaks

• Stairs are clean and well lit, convenient and pleasant to use

Familiarity could make it hard to evaluate a worksite. People  get used to stressful conditions and forget that conditions ever bothered them.

It may be useful to ask individuals  who are unfamiliar with your workplace to walk through with you. Specialist consultants can also help.

Proactive Wellness Policies

One clear way to influence behavior is through policies and procedures. When nurses are not allowed to work more than twelve hours in a row, there will be fewer medication errors.

If parents are permitted flextime to attend to their children’s needs, they will be less stressed. If staff members can apply unused sick days to planned vacation time, they will save them up in lieu of calling in sick to use them all.

Supportive corporate policies may include –

• Seatbelt use required in corporation automobiles

• Alcohol and drug policies are appropriate to the industry

• Emergency procedures are developed, known, and practiced

• Flexible work schedules allow employees to exercise, attend children’s school conferences, etc.

• Nonsmoking policy is enforced

• Excessive overtime is discouraged

• Membership at exercise facility is partially reimbursed

• Shift workers are scheduled to allow adequate rest

• Medical care coverage rewards good health

• Absenteeism policy rewards employees who don’t use sick days

• Employee assistance program available to help workers with chemical dependencies, depression, family problems

• Significant consequences are given for unsafe, unhealthful, prohibited behavior.  Your company may have a policy against alcohol use during work hours, but when everybody looks the other way when someone comes back from lunch smelling like beer, the culture is one that authorizes drinking at lunch-and one in which written policies can be safely ignored.

Prohibited behaviors ought to be confronted promptly. Otherwise your policies become mere lip service in lieu of springboards to health.

Consistent Recognition and Rewards for Success

Attention, praise, and rewards are given for wellness achievements.

You can show you value wellness by celebrating your programs and those who’ve made lifestyle improvements in corporation newsletters, on bulletin boards, and at annual banquets, meetings, and celebrations. Incentives are a direct way to show appreciation, too.

Wellness mentors are sought and applauded, too. Workers who support others’ efforts to improve their health are noticed and appreciated. Colleague modeling and mentoring courses can encourage those who enjoy assisting others to step forward into a new role.

Managers Model and Support Healthy Behavior

Nothing could say “We encourage you to exercise often” better than a manager going on a bike ride during the lunch hour–or your supervisor sitting next to you in a weight control class.

Wellness activities promote relaxed interaction between individuals  from different departments and at different levels in the chain of command. That promotes relaxed communication and a feeling of solidarity that is pure gold.

Managers can also provide support for workers who are working on improving their health. It doesn’t take anything fancy-just a “good job” or “nice to see you at the health club” can put a glow on the cheeks of most of us.

Managers can also help by allowing staff members the flexibility to attend wellness events.

Ongoing Wellness Programs

It’s important to give staff members the sense that the wellness program is a permanent and important part of the organization, not a business fad. That can start as soon as a new employee is hired.

New staff members are oriented to the wellness program as one of the employee benefits. Information about the program must be presented by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable individuals who invites the new employee to participate.

The workers are familiar with the ongoing programs.

The programs and wellness staff are well known in the business. Opportunities to participate are abundant and it’s easy to sign up.

A broad variety of awareness courses are offered. There are topics of interest for everyone.

The Facts Speak for Themselves – Wellness Assists Reduce Costs

• A 2003 analysis of one large U.S. company found that simply assisting staff members control their blood pressure (BP) alone can save $547 per person per year.

• Johnson and Johnson claims to have saved $38 million in healthcare costs for its personnel between 1995 and 1999 by promoting healthy life choices.

Healthcare expenditures decreased $224 per staff member per year (averaged over four years), and this rate improved over time.  The company found most benefits in the third and fourth years after wellness program initiation.

• A 2004 Univ. of Michigan study of 23,500 General Motors staff showed that nonexercising staff claimed at least $100 more a year in healthcare costs than exercisers.

The study  also announced that obese, sedentary staff who began exercising at least twice a week lowered their costs by an typical of $500 a year.

• The Washoe County School District in Nevada estimated that, in a single year, it spent $300,000 on direct costs associated with obesity and $1 million for gastric-bypass surgeries. It instituted a weight-loss program that paid workers $10 per pound lost, up to 25 pounds.

Program participants missed three fewer workdays per year, producing a cost savings of $15.60 per program dollar spent.

Staff Time
Building a successful Health Promotion Program requires staff time in addition to money. Some larger businesses may spend 20 hours per week for three to six months preparing all the steps prior to launching a Health Promotion Program.
Company Costs
Monetary costs can fluctuate widely, depending on whether the company pays all costs, the personnel pay all costs, or the costs are shared.
A 1992 study indicated that 28 percent of organizations spent $5 or less per employee, and 19 percent spent between $6-10 per employee.
The Wellness Council of America estimates the cost per worker to be between $100 and $150 annually for an effective health promotion program that produces a return on investment of $300 to $450. A sample expenditure for various levels of health promotion programs include –
Program Type
A minimal (largely paper) health promotion program          $1 – $7         

A moderate wellness program
A medium health promotion program with a few activities       $16 – $35            

A fairly robust wellness program             $36 – $75      

A very robust, effective wellness program       $76 – $112            

These are fun and easy events that can be done within your organization to motivate healthful behaviors during a contest or during other times. the goal is to encourage staff member participation. Some examples –  

• Create a sub-committee of enthusiastic workers who’ll help promote the fitness program by offering ideas, suggestions and encouragement to fellow workers.

• Create monthly mailbox flyers to promote a contest or provide fitness-related education/encouragement information.

• Send a weekly voicemail on each participant’s telephone with encouraging wellness messages.

• Provide regular cumulative health progress reports.

• Offer low-fat or heart-healthy lunch selections once a week in your cafeteria or have workers bring a healthy snack to share, with a recipe book compiled after the contest or specified time (such as a National Nutrition Month in March).

• Distribute staff member gifts (pedometers or other novelty item related to some aspect of your contest theme) as registration begins.

• Allow workers “Fitness15-Minute Walk Breaks;” company time to walk, exercise, etc. When appropriate, you may use a space not currently used to set up a treadmill, elliptical bike, some free weights and meditation music.

• Hold a T-shirt design contest.

• Develop posters to map contest (or fitness) progress and to serve as reminder of your goals –

• Use push pins or other identifiers for each individual to put up in the office showing how they have progressed – workers can get very creative with this and design pins that reflect their personalities.

• Use a bar graph to compare progress.

• Use a “thermometer” kind graphic and color in progress – consider a different, fitness-related graphic all together and color it in as you progress.

• Offer aerobic dance or walking videos in your conference or break rooms.

• Compile a list of organized events in the community that offer opportunities to get employees exercising by participating as a team (below are just a few) –

• Race for the Cure

• March of Dimes Walk America event

• Juvenile Diabetes Research

• Foundation Walk to Cure

• American Heart Association’s Heart Walk

• American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life

• American Lung Association’s Lung Run

• Local marathons or special community walks or runs

• Create or attend a health-and-fitness retreat or workshop.

• Hold a soup-and-salad luncheon followed by a hula-hoop contest!

• Use the mall as an alternate walking location during inclement weather.

• Designate “Move it Mondays” – allow employees to take an extra 10 minutes during lunchtime for exercise.

• Designate “Tasty Tuesdays” – provide staff members with low-calorie treats/snacks.

• Designate “Walking Wednesdays”- allow workers to take an additional 10 minutes during lunch to walk, or “Wacky Wednesdays” that allow workers to explore new exercises.

• Designate “Thirsty Thursdays” – make healthy smoothies or juice drinks for employees.

• Designate “Fresh Fruit Fridays” for staff – offer seasonal fruit treats.

• Send weekly exercise tips to workers via the most effective communications automobile in your workplace.

• Partner with another business representative for local media events coordinated through your marketing and advertising or communication department.

• Be sure to encourage departmental teams to challenge each other (examples –  Clients Service, Marketing, Medical Support).

• Establish walking clubs with executive/supervisory leadership.

• Seek out local aerobic opportunities or courses through churches, community groups, college, YMCA, etc.

• Contact a few local area gyms and ask if they can or will offer group discounts for fitness plans, waive enrollment fees, or set up a 12-week program as opposed to signing an extended contract.

• Hold a Frozen Yogurt Social – “Reap the Benefits of Fitness.”

• Map out a walking track around the building including the number of laps required for one mile.

• The news is not encouraging. As reported by Company Week, family health care premiums increased 49 percent from 2000 to 2004.

Another increase of 12-15 percent is expected in 2005. General Motors expects to spend $5.6 billion on medical costs in 2005, or 40 percent more than it earned in profits in 2004.

• More and more research shows that poor diet andlack of exercise are major drivers of increases in health care costs for companys.  The number of obese adults has doubled since the 1970s.

• The rise in obesity has a significant impact on health care costs. on average, 2002 health care costs for an obese person were $1,244 higher than for a person with a healthy weight.

• Obesity is causing rapid increases in kind 2 diabetes and contributes directly to a 65 percent increase in diabetes treatment from 1987 to 2002. Nearly $1 of every $5 spent on healthcare in the United States is for a person with diabetes.

Treating staff member health care as an investment, rather than a cost, can yield long-term dividends

• At least 50% of your organization’s healthcare costs are driven by the lifestyle related behaviors of your staff, like tobacco use, poor diet, and lack of exercise.

• In the past 10 years, the annual return on investment for Health Promotion Programs has been as much as $6 saved for every $1 spent, doubling the return on investment of earlier wellness programs.

• The typical reduction in health-plan costs, sick leave, disability costs, and workers’ compensation is more than 25 percent for well-designed Health Promotion Programs.

• Fit staff are more productive staff, with fewer sick days, fewer accidents, higher morale, and lower job turnover.

These are short informational “Health Tips” in an e-mail format on many different health-related topics. You can appoint someone within your organization to find specific topics on the Internet from sites that are in the public domain or topics can be purchased from companies.

Some qualified sources include –

• Hope Health

• Sound Ideas, Inc.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• National Institutes of Health

These e-mails can be sent daily, weekly or monthly. Our experience indicates weekly is the best frequency.

When the majority of your workers do not have e-mail, consider providing the information to them through –

• Bulletin boards

• Check stuffers

• Mailbox stuffers

• Newsletters

SAMPLE #1 Corporate Wellness E-mail Messages

From –  Wellness Program

To –  Wellness Team

Subject –  Layering for Exercise

One way to help ensure enjoyment of a winter walk (or run) is to be sure you are dressed properly for the weather. and the secret to that, for a winter workout, is to dress in layers.

Layer 1 — Avoid 100% cotton in the first layer, next to your skin. Cotton holds perspiration. Wear underwear made from manmade fabrics to wick perspiration away from skin.

Layer 2 — A zippered sweatshirt and sweatpants will keep you warm. Just open the zipper if you get too warm.

Layer 3 — When needed, over the sweatsuit, you are able to add a waterproof and windproof jacket. When it’s very cold, you may want to wear a jacket made with goose down.

Hands — Mittens will keep your hands warmer than gloves.

Feet — Wear socks made from wool or manmade fabrics that keep your feet dry and warm. Avoid 100 percent cotton socks. Do not wear sneakers or boots that fit too tightly … this will restrict blood flow and your feet will end up feeling colder.

Head — About 40% of your body heat is lost through your head. Wear a hat and cover your ears.

Lips — Don’t forget lip balm with sunscreen … even in winter!

SAMPLE #2 Corporate Wellness E-mail Messages

From –  Wellness Program

To –  Wellness Team

Subject –  Energy Increases

Need an energy boost? Here are some ideas for tapping into your own energy sources — and most require little effort.

• Get an additional hour of sleep. No surprise here — it may make a big difference in your energy level the next day.

• Eat less more often. Have small, balanced meals or snacks throughout your day for a steady supply of fuel and energy. Make note of which foods seem to increase your energy level.

• Drink plenty of water. Dehydration contributes to fatigue, which you can offset by drinking water throughout the day.

• Prevent alcohol and caffeine. Both can contribute  to dehydration and fatigue. They also tend to disrupt sleep patterns.