Wellness Program Incentives

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

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

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

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

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

Additionally, communications around Worksite Wellness Programs can share personal success stories and support organization progress updates. Successful corporations not only use existing communications channels to generate discussion around activities, but also consider more interactive tools like message boards, forums, blogs and wikis. This helps personalize initiatives and permits for the sharing of best practices within the organization.

Most businesses engage health care experts to advise in the construction, communication and substructure of the program. The use of outside authorities such as these will broaden the credibility of the Company Wellness Programs as well as combat skepticism from staff members who may view the business’s motives as merely selfserving.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Frequent measurement is the only way to build support among management and staff members. Nearly half of businesses feel a lack of useful data is a top barrier to their ability to manage employee health, and at least 20% of businesses don’t know how effective existing Employee Wellness Programs are regarding various outcomes. Organizations ought to lead utilization analyses each year and reevaluate Employee Wellness Program priorities based upon changes. In Addition, progress ought to be shared with the wider business community to build support for initiatives. Managers and executives throughout a company are likely to support a program that can prove increased productiveness among staff members. Effective Employee Wellness Programs are designed to be fl exible so they can respond to changes in both company objectives and larger health variations.