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Wellness In The Workplace
August 2007
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Workplace Wellness Challenges
nuts and bolts

What Are the Nuts and Bolts of Employee Wellness?

Improving Lifestyles and Reducing Risk Factors

What exactly do employers have to do to improve lifestyles, reduce risk factors for health related, preventable conditions, and see a return on their wellness investment?
After all, less than a 1 percent reduction in risk factors can make your wellness initiative pay off. And, your fit employees aren't the problem. It's getting those employees (on average the other 65 percent) most at risk and with little interest in lifestyle change to -- change. This is what we do best, and following are a few tips and insights we want to share.

Start at the top. You've heard it before. Engagement starts at the top. Unless top management buys in to the wellness strategy, employees won't believe the program has the credibility, and won't make the commitment it requires, for it to be successful and sustainable. Health management isn't just about cost-cutting. From the start, the program needs to be seen as a valid employee benefit.

Communicate. You need to communicate that the organization really does care about its employees, and shows it through its actions. An organization that is concerned about employee health wants to see a change for the better, for the employee's sake. This means management lives it, preaches it and rewards it with participation incentives.

Take the wellness program to the employees. Communicate why there is a need for the program. Position it as a benefit and an opportunity. Support it with a plan that rewards participation. It's not an all or nothing proposition; small changes and small improvements can be made quickly, leading the way to greater, long-term accomplishment. This is part of the LoneStart premise of "Achieve and Believe."

Determine your budget. Is this a one-time or ongoing expense? Many programs require annual membership fees, food plan costs, are not "take home" programs (are offered only to employees, not families), and require gym or fitness club membership (even if paid by the company). A large number of our at risk population with the right motivation will find ways to become more physically active, but won't spend the time, or face the perceived embarrassment, to go to the gym. Food plans for some programs can typically range from $75 to $140 per week. Programs such as Weight Watchers at Work at approximately $48 per month require a minimum commitment, generally ranging from 10 to 20 weeks. And you have to ask; "Is the program designed to change behavior and nutritional choices for the long-term? Is the program focused on losing weight to appeal to vanity or losing weight to achieve sustainable wellness? Is it an expense or an investment?

Set incentives. Motivation is the key to success. Incentives help create excitement and buzz. Excitement generates involvement. Incentives don't have to be lifetime retirement with triple pay; they can be as simple as a one-time cash prize and ongoing monthly gift cards for continued participation and progress. Participation generally increases with the value of incentives offered, including benefits-integrated incentives. And, once a program is incorporated seamlessly into the company's vision and mission, it becomes a part of the company's "culture of wellness." It becomes sustainable. Read about the LoneStart Team Esteem Challenge and why teams work.

Realize that if you do nothing, things will only get worse. Today, that's the "nuts and bolts" of employee wellness.

microphone
Speaking Out From the LoneStart "Soapbox"

By now you're probably familiar with the catch phrase "presenteeism." Employees show up for work, but are not as productive due to lifestyle choices that put them at risk for an array of chronic health conditions. Statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services show that more than 60 percent of all Americans aren't active enough, and that 25 percent are not physically active at all. An estimated 65 percent are overweight, and half of those meet the federal standard for being obese.

The health of the nation and American business is at stake. Progress will come (and perception will change) with increased involvement from employers, the active participation of employees and a greater incentive-based approach by healthcare insurers. And because progress is, well, progressive, the time to start is now. You can count on the fact that there will never be "a more convenient time." So, is the health of our nation, or lack thereof, perception or reality? In fact, it's both.

There's no doubt that the perception is . . . yes we have a problem, yes we need to do something about it, but it's on the back burner right now because there are more pressing issues, and yes we'll get around to it as soon as we can.

Yet the reality is that nothing changes until we change it, until you and your employees take action. The reality is that with the current employment-based insurance system, employers pay on average 80 percent of the $600 billion bill for private healthcare coverage in the U.S. Employees pick up the remaining 20 percent. Medical costs are about 60 percent of the total employer-paid costs attributable to overweight and obesity. The remaining 40 percent is due to paid sick leave, life insurance and disability insurance.

Employers no longer have the option of choosing whether or not to become involved in what the National Institutes of Health call "the war on obesity." The reality is, they are already involved. Employers today pay a high price in healthcare costs, lost productivity and absenteeism due to disability connected to obesity. Read the downloadable PDF on Workers' Comp Claims. The good news is that medical issues caused by overweight, obesity and inactivity are preventable, and at least some of the associated costs are avoidable. By taking action to reduce obesity-related costs, including lost productivity and absenteeism, the reality of the situation will certainly change, and with it, the perception that yes, we can make this happen.
steps
One Step at a Time

From a single step to making strides, long-term wellness starts with taking that first step, and consistently making informed choices with each additional step. And, speaking of steps, a recent study by NASA found that the productivity of non-exercising office workers decreased 50 percent during the final two hours of the work day, while exercisers worked at full efficiency all day. This is a 12.5 percent difference in productivity between the two groups. The following are a few out-of-the-ordinary statistics on how the conditions of overweight and obesity affect us in everyday ways. Your employees may find these interesting and thought provoking as well.

  • The extra body weight in today's passenger vehicles results in the consumption of more than 39 million gallons of extra gasoline in the U.S. each year.
  • An overweight family may be losing 10 percent of every gallon of gas they buy, spending an additional $400 per year on gas.
  • People with a BMI of 35 to 39 are more than twice as likely to die in an automobile collision than people with BMIs of about 20. (What's Your BMI?)
  • About 1 percent, more than 283,000 children in the U.S. under the age of 7, are unable to properly fit in a child safety seat. The vast majority are 3-year-olds who weigh more than 40 pounds.
  • In the last ten years, our extra poundage has required airlines to use an extra 350 million gallons of fuel, at a cost of $275 million a year, and that's based on prices in 2000 when jet fuel cost 79 cents a gallon compared to $1.80 in February 2007.
  • In order to penetrate fat and deliver intramuscular injections, longer needles are now required for more than 50 percent of the U.S. population.
  • Movie theater seats have grown from 19 inches to 23 inches. Church pews, from 18 inches to 21 inches. Revolving doors from six feet in width to an average of eight feet.
  • Larger caskets, heavy-duty toilet seats, thicker mattresses, industrial strength office chairs with slide out arm rests to accommodate greater girth, reinforced restaurant chairs, hydraulic lifts on gurneys, and altered auto designs to include wider seats, seatbelt extenders and telescoping steering wheels are just a few of the changes brought about by the "new normal," the 65 percent of our population that is overweight or obese.
  • The Surgeon General says one in three children is expected to develop diabetes as a consequence of being overweight if current trends continue. And, our children and grandchildren may be the first generation of Americans to have worse health status and a shorter lifespan than those of their parents.
In addition to health care, associated employment and individual costs, the direct dollar costs of overweight and obesity have very human components. Every step taken to promote healthy weight and healthy lifestyle is a step in the right direction.

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If your organization is ready to take responsibility for promoting healthy lifestyles and a healthy work environment, LoneStart is an effective, low-cost and easy-to-administer employee wellness program, which functions equally well as a stand-alone initiative or as a high-impact jump-start to existing or proposed employee wellness strategies.

Contact us today to find out how the LoneStart 21-Day Wellness Initiative will change your workplace.

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A Challenge. An Opportunity. A Solution.
The LoneStart 21-Day Wellness Initiative
phone: 512.894.3440