Company Health And Wellness Programs

Ways organizations can increase company wellness participation

Worker health promotion programs are crucial that you worksite benefits. However, they do not make any difference when your workforce are not participating. Does your business have an staff member health promotion program that seems to be failing as a result of lack of participation? If so, there are creative ways that you can motivate your workforce to take control of their health, and participate in the health promotion program.

Giving health promotion program materials upon sign-up is a excellent way to show workforce that the business acknowledges and encourages their wellness efforts. Receiving free health promotion program materials, such as pedometers and exercise guides, will boost participation for workforce with little time or money.

These health promotion program materials can be quite inexpensive when bought in bulk. Plus, the company will still be saving money because their personnel are going to be getting fit and there are going to be less sick days taken.

The toughest times when starting a new exercise regimen, are at six weeks and six months. When a individuals could make it to the six week point when starting to exercise, they’re more likely to continue. Those first six weeks are very critical.

After exercisers have made it past the six week mark, many stick with their fitness routine until six months, at which point they often become bored or lose motivation. During these two vital times it’s essential that workforce have motivation to continue. One way to celebrate participants’ successes is to recognize their achievements through incentives.

Incentives such as a celebration banquet, certificate of achievement for making it past six weeks or six months and even cash incentives, work well to increase morale and increase participation. Worker health promotion programs that stay involved by checking in on participants, stimulating and rewarding them, often see better results.

When your corporation is struggling to raise participation in the worker wellness program, take a good look at how involved the employer is in the process. Offering start-up materials and continued support will get more people  on board and keep employees focused on fitness.

Precisely how does a health promotion program affect the organization?

Health promotion programs undoubtedly benefit both the businesss and employees. Numerous studies have found a direct link, showing that healthy employees make happy employees, accordingly increasing productivity in the worksite.

Not only are staff who exercise more apt to be productive, but they’re more likely to stay with their corporation long term. This saves corporations a great deal of money in application and turnover costs.

Health Care costs in the USA doubled between 1990 and 2001. They’re expected to double again by 2012. During this time, studies have shown that adult obesity has risen as high as 80% in some states. This is a startling statistic. for every 1% in BMI, a person’s healthcare costs increase by $120.

Not only is this expensive for the company but it can also be deadly, greatly raising one’s chances of heart attack or stroke. Employees at risk for these two serious medical conditions cost companys thousands of dollars more annually than their healthy peers.

Knowing these troubling statistics authorizes corporations to take action.  The first step is to come up with a plan on how to fight these statistics in your worksite. Most adults in this country spend the majority of their time at work.

That is why wellness programs are so essential. Having access to an fitness facility and other healthful lifestyle choices ought to be implemented in every company. There really is no reason not to.

One study showed that starting a health promotion program in the workplace, reduced sick leave by 28%, reduced the use of health care benefits by 26%, and reduced employee’s compensation claims by 30%.

Take a good look at some of these statistics. Your organization cannot afford not to have a wellness program.

How can our business increase participation in the company wellness program?

Having a company wellness program in place can improve morale, improve health and fitness and increase productivity in the worksite. Now that you have taken the steps necessary to implement a company wellness program, how do you get your workforce interested and willing to participate?

By starting healthful eating habits, exercise and offering incentives, your workforce will not only sign up for the health promotion program, but they will stick with it.

Does your organization have an onsite health club that staff members have access to? When not, offering free or discounted health club memberships to a local health club can be an effective method for getting staff members to exercise. Whether or not the health club is on or off-site nevertheless, allowing staff members to use the facility during work hours, like on their lunch break, will increase the likelihood that they will exercise.

Rewarding employees’ achievements is another way to keep them aroused and living a healthy lifestyle. Setting business goals such as collectively walking a certain number of miles, supports team building. Offering incentives such as gift cards, certificates of achievement, and even a day off work may be effective ways to keep participation levels up.

Since there will likely be less sick days being used as a result of disease, your corporation might  be able to afford to offer a day off pass as an incentive. These incentives do not have to be expensive, just valuable to the worker.

Providing a healthy lunch once a week for employees participating in the corporate health plan, is a excellent way to promote healthy eating. Offering an incentive of healthy, scrumptious, free food is one way to reward employees for their efforts while supporting their new healthy lifestyle.

Having a company wellness program in place will provide long term benefits to both the company and the workforce. This is one corporate plan that is certainly worth your time and money!

Why should our organization host a company wellness fair?

Do you work in your organization’s human resources (HR) department? Are you looking for events to plan for your organization this year? If so, it would be a great idea to look into hosting a company wellness fair. Corporate wellness fairs are valuable to both the employer and the worker because they promote overall health, awareness and prevention.

What type of providers are at a wellness fair?

There are lots of providers to pick from when bringing a company wellness fair to your corporation.  The most well-liked providers include dentists, massage therapists, chiropractors, nutritionists and the American Red Cross. These few well-liked providers are a part of a long list available to attend wellness fairs.

Precisely how do we choose which vendors to include in the health fair?

While most vendors are excellent for all workforce, there are some vendors available for corporations with a specific demographic. for  instance, when your company has a lot of pregnant women or women of child bearing age, it could be a good idea to have a vendor particularly talking about prenatal care.

If there are a lot of smokers at your company, you may want to have the American Lung Association present. Try to select providers that meet your employees’ needs. Don’t forget that hosting a company wellness fair is meant to be beneficial to them.

When should we hold a health fair?

Anytime is a excellent time to host a health fair. Nevertheless, you may want to consider not scheduling around holidays or busy seasons so that you can maximize participation. Another excellent choice is having the corporate health fair on a weekend and making it family friendly. Corporate health fairs help keep everyone healthful, consequently increasing work productivity.

Not only does hosting a corporate health fair promote health, it also builds friendship between colleagues, bettering team building and communication in the office. It is a win-win for both the business and the employee!

Wellness programs have been proven to decrease rates of absenteeism, employee turnover rates, and health care costs. It is a key piece of a corporation’s success.  The results of these wellness programs lead to higher productivity, which in the end leads to a more profitable company.

In order for these wellness programs to run properly and produce results they must have a clear operating plan with an attainable and measurable goal.  The wellness programs must also encourage all staff members to lead a healthful lifestyle while at work and at home.

Health promotion programs have been introduced to organizations all over the United States in an effort to make personnel healthier and in turn happier. Organizations which implement these health promotion programs do so to varying degrees. Some simply offer literature about how to live a healthy lifestyle and reduce stress while at work.

Some businesses offer health testings and health risk assessments for free during the year to help employees understand what’s going on with their health and what they are able to do to improve it.

At the top of the list, there are the organizations which offer free, onsite fitness centers and aerobics programs to be used at lunch breaks or after work. No matter what is offered it’d be a waste not to take advantage of these wellness programs.

It requires cautious planning and thought to start health promotion programs. Once a health promotion program is put into place it’s very crucial that you reassess and analyze it several times in order to reach the main goal –  healthier workforce.

All the wellness programs that are put in place should be assessed after a determined time frame to help the organization understand what needs to be changed or kept in place to maintain company wellness.

Everybody knows today that working in corporate America could be a stressful situation. It seems that staff members are expected to work longer hours and spend more time away from home. Long commutes and big amounts of work are taking its toll on American office employees. Something should be done; organization wellness is a good way to begin to help all those stressed out employees.

Beginning organization wellness programs can help develop a healthy culture. There should be an incentive program set up to drive interest to wanting to be more health conscious. Making good decisions that affect health now and in the future should be rewarded as individual’s objectives are met.

There are a number of wellness program ideas that a corporation wellness program can help plan for. Some ideas include giving out maps of walking or jogging trails located near the workplace. It is a good idea to post a steps accumulated map on the workplace wall where all employees can log their steps or miles.

Be sure to help encourage walkers, joggers,, and those who enjoy other forms of exercise to form exercise groups to meet before work, at lunchtime, or after work.

In a company environment, relationship development is also an area where aligning cultural touch points are necessary. Make certain to work culture affects health practices.

Employees will either form personal relationships in a bad way, like tobacco use in the break room, or they’ll form relationships doing something more physical like going for a round of golf for relaxation and developing friendships with fellow workers. Be sure to work ought to be done to develop healthful venues to develop expert friendships and relationships.

There are so many good benefits for a organization picking  to make organization wellness a priority. Staff Members who participate in wellness programs are more likely to be the best staff members.

Peer relationships in the worksite are crucial to building a healthful lifestyle culture that lasts.  As an added bonus, overall job satisfaction is better when staff members are feeling well and healthful while doing their work.

Company health promotion is among the most important investments which a business will make. Businesses that begin health promotion programs are not only investing in the physical health and wellness, safety, and psychological health of their workers, but they are also taking preventive measures by building a more healthy environment.

By establishing a health promotion program, companies have the ability to increase the overall productivity and have the ability to save money on health costs. Typically, companies are concerned regarding the actual wellness ROI but the fact is that by stimulating healthier lifestyles, companies are creating healthier workers who’ll work more diligently and miss fewer days of work because of illness.

It’s very important that businesses not only offer company wellness options for their workers, but that they also sustain ongoing knowledge about safety and wellness techniques. Employers need to keep up to date on health statistics and stay aware of methods to motivate specific wellness concerns such as use of tobacco cessation or losing weight.

It is often ideal for a corporation to speak with doctors who participate in medical Continuing Medical Education to ensure they’re current with how they may assist their staff to maintain wellness.

In addition, when a organization maintains an onsite health club, it’s necessary that the organization employs individuals that have received the appropriate training and certification, which makes up the health club management, for assist workers with exercising safely.

Despite the fact that corporations may establish a robust health promotion program with a lot of alternatives, an incentive health promotion program is usually required for encourage staff to actually participate in the programs.

Whether or not one is creating a employee health promotion Chicago or a employee health promotion small-town Nebraska program, the issue that organizations often have in common, is the lack of motivation of staff to actually participate. Providing incentives for staff, such as a free lunch or gift cards, may  be simple enough rewards to encourage staff to participate in employee health promotion.

Do you know the fastest-growing reason for employee assistance program (EAP) use since 2003?  

It isn’t for substance abuse or depression. Actually, it’s financial in nature. Over the last five years, there’s been a stated 69 percent jump in worker employee assistance program use related to personal financial concerns.

The trend isn’t all that surprising in this era of salary freezes, high deductibles and cost-sharing of benefits premiums.

Statistics show that, for the first time since the Great Depression, the typical American has negative savings – in other words, debt exceeds income – in a typical month.

Many staff are racking up high credit card debt, make the problem worse.

Troubling trends

Here are some ominous numbers from a recent staff member survey –

• 27 percent of respondents said they were “one major setback away from financial disaster”

• 22% say they were “worse off than last year, with less take-home income and more debt”

• 40% say their employer is “insensitive to their employees’ financial needs,” and

• only 6% said they felt comfortable with their current financial situation and ability to manage their debts.

The majority of personal-finance related employee assistance program use arises from concerns over debt management, household refinancing and/or failed investments.

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Permitting workers to bring camera phones to work can carry hidden legal risks.  

But should you tackle this issue aggressively or trust your workers to do the right thing?  Every company wants to develop an environment where workers feel trusted by management. But there’s also the need to stay protected legally, and it isn’t always easy to balance the two.

The cell phone issue is especially delicate since most personnel carry them nowadays, and improper use at work is a non-issue for the vast majority. But there are always several bad apples in every bunch.

Growing number of complaints

There has been an explosion of lawsuits – and complaints to upper management – about staff taking inappropriate photos at work with their cell phone cameras.

Most cases revolve around embarassing or expliclit photos of coworkers (sometimes but not always posted on the Internet or e-mailed to others in the office). Nonetheless, a handful of lawsuits have arisen from employees taking photos of confidential documents or other internal information.

As most benefits and HR veterans would tell you, the most valuable benefit an organization can offer its workforce is a worksite where they feel trusted and valued. Contrarily, it only takes one “joke” gone too far to stir up a hornet’s nest of trouble.  And no company is immune from this risk.

Three options

One step every employer ought to take is circulating a memo or having a face-to-face meeting with workforce about the need to restrict camera phone use at work, says labor lawyer William Hannum.

This is the time to answer questions and make clear that the policy is a matter of a legal concern, not a case of Big Brother watching over employees’ shoulders. for added legal protection, you may want to create a formal camera phone policy to be written worker handbooks.

Some employers have gone so far as to take the step of banning camera phone (or personal cell phone) use at work and prohibiting people  from posting personal photos or videos from corporation computers.

Nevertheless, these policies are challenging to enforce and run the risk of alienating the majority of employees who use the devices responsibly.

As an alternative, a few firms that haven’t banned camera phones have had workforce sign a policy that gives managers permission to review photos or videos on the phone if there’s a complaint. If you go down either of these routes, remember –

• The policy should be enforced consistently

• your policy must explain specific steps for filing and reviewing  a complaint, and

• The policy should obviously describe the disciplinary steps for violations.

The enforcement aspect is in particular tricky. In cases where the phones are corporation property, businesss clearly have the right to control non-work use – which includes requiring workers to turn over the contents stored on the phone in cases of suspected abuse. Staff Members have no legal expectation of privacy in such cases.  

However, there’s a slippery slope when the phone is an employee’s property.  As a rule of thumb, employers generally have the right to inspect the contents as they pertain to alleged inappropriate behavior within the worksite.

Where it gets tricky is dealing with behavior that takes places on the employee’s private time, but overlaps with the worksite (e.g., workforce go out socializing at a bar after work, and potentially embarassing camera phone photos get spread around the worksite). Legal professionals caution businesss to tread very carefully in these cases.

Where does your business stand?

Does your company have – or is considering a policy on staff member camera phones? Do you think such policies are workable or even appropriate?

In my conversations with attendees at the SHRM conference in Chicago, HR and benefits managers appear to be divided on the issue.

In a value-based plan, the idea is to reward employees for seeking treatments that promote wellness.

The more clinically viable the treatment, the less an employee pays out of pocket for it.

Example –  Women over 40 and younger staff members with a family history of breast cancer pay less for a annually mammogram than staff members for whom the test isn’t as necessary.

Value-based plans often work better than high-deductible plans when used in combination with standard wellness program features like health risk assessments.

Five target areas

According to the May 2008 issue of Simply Well, there are four quality-of-care criteria that have emerged as key benchmarks of the quality of care – healthcare management, preventive screenings and treatments, member service and access to care.

Areas of care that are of particular concern –

• Employees’ dependents receiving appropriate and timely childhood/adolescent immunizations

• Breast cancer screenings for female health plan enrollees, ages 52 to 64

• Diabetic staff receiving hemoglobin A1C and LDL-C testing

• Members receiving proper referrals and treatment for mental health issues (e.g., primary care physician refers a patient to a expert to ensure proper prescription and management of an anti-depressant medication)

• Pregnant workers receivig time and appropriate prenatal and postpartum care, and prevention of antibiotic treatment in adults with acute bronchitis.

The quality of care for many of the aforementioned issues can suffer when personnel foot too much of the bill out of their own pockets.

The hope for value-based plans is that workers get some cost relief and obtain treatments that will reduce costs in the long run.