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Wellness In The Workplace
July 2008
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Need to boost participation in your wellness program?

A recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers study predicts medical costs will increase 9.9 percent in 2008 and an additional 9.6 percent in 2009; more than double the inflation rate. We know workplace wellness programs are in demand, and for good reason, and we know they work (CLICK HERE) so we're devoting this issue of "Wellness in the Workplace" to strategies and ideas to boost participation in your wellness program.

Break Through the Barrier
A New Spin on Wellness

What will it take to break through the wellness resistance barrier? (See Wellness is Free Stuff on our LoneStart Blog for related information.)

If you have a wellness program in place, is it working? Do you need to "repackage" it to broaden its appeal? Do you need a new program? What will give your program the widest appeal? Who are you trying to reach? Will the employees who need it most take advantage of what you offer? For maximum participation, we think it's as much about the "how" as the "what."

The Kaiser Family Foundation points out that health insurance premiums have risen 78 percent since 2001, while inflation and workers' earnings have increased only 17 percent and 19 percent respectively. Put more bluntly: are rising health care costs gobbling up your employees' take home pay? (See Why Workplace Wellness)

So here's the spin. As an employer you make the decisions regarding the type and size of investment you need to make to establish a "wellness infrastructure" within your organization. Fitness centers, health coaches and even on-site clinics top the high side of the equation. Yet health investments on this scale aren't necessarily more, and in some instances aren't as effective as smaller, less costly and more team-oriented programs.

The key is you want your program to be effective. You want to boost participation. And, you want ongoing participation.

  • This means taking a broader view, generating excitement, and letting your employees know "what's in it for me."
  • To boost participation and effectiveness, it means promoting "health and productivity management" throughout your organization. And, to do this, management must be involved in the program in a support role.
  • It also means promoting the idea that employees must become more responsible for proactively engaging in their own health and wellness decisions.
  • More than an on-site fitness center, more than a "diet or exercise" program, it means offering a program with wide-appeal to everyone, regardless of their current health status.
  • Even "fit" employees can make better day-to-day lifestyle choices. Health, and wellness, is cumulative.
  • Consider too, that more than half of employer health care costs are attributable to dependents, so your wellness program should include spouses and children.
  • Incentives are effective motivators, and can take the form of cash, reductions in monthly premiums, a contribution to a health savings account or health reimbursement plan, gift certificates, prizes, and recognition.

The objective of your program should be to keep already healthy employees healthy, and move those in higher risk categories into lower risk categories. Offering a program won't do this unless your employees are sufficiently motivated to take advantage of what you offer, and will then make the commitment to follow-through.
Scott Wellness Challenge
Making Wellness Fun

Let The Games Begin

In mid-January two Pioneer Health Network hospitals, Scott County and Stevens County Hospitals, not only implemented the LoneStart Team Esteem Wellness Challenge at their facilities, but at the same time, challenged each other to a head-to-head competition.

Karma Huck, COO at Scott County Hospital says, "This was an opportunity for us to not only make an investment in our most important resource, the employees and staff of our hospital, but to reinforce our role as the wellness resource in our community."

Linda Stalcup, Administrator at Stevens County Hospital, says the LoneStart Wellness Initiative "promotes what we're all about - taking a proactive approach to health and wellness. It's more than just losing weight or exercising, it's making a permanent change in lifestyle. And, we're having fun with it."

Huck says at the beginning of the 63-day wellness challenge period, Scott County Hospital hoped to enhance their bottom line by reducing absenteeism and injury while at the same time improving productivity and morale and creating a culture of wellness in the workplace that would spill over into associates' home lives and families and improve job satisfaction through a company sponsored personal health and wellness plan. It was a lot to accomplish.

The winning hospital was to receive a "victory" trophy and party from its competitor - and the gloves came off. The results were close. Very, very close.

When the dust cleared, approximately 50 percent of Scott's employees had participated in the Challenge, losing a total of 307.8 pounds with an average BMI reduction of .83 points, and a high point reduction of 3.82 points. Stevens' participating employees lost approximately 246 pounds.

Huck says the greatest benefit was seeing the results and excitement generated by the participants. She says since the challenge ended in mid-March, the group is still dedicated, and new wellness challenges continue. Through surveys and associate input, the hospital is developing a series of wellness challenges to keep the momentum going. "We know how important wellness is, and how creating a culture of wellness will make it part of our long-term future. But we know too, that if it's not fun and doesn't engage our associates, it won't last. We know this works and we're making wellness a permanent part of our mission and culture."
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How to Make Wellness Work For You

Wellness programs can significantly drive down healthcare costs for organizations, simply because it's lifestyle issues that have the greatest influence on one's health. But, if the program's not attractive to your employees, it won't work. If they don't participate, employees won't realize the benefits-and neither will you. Core components of an effective wellness program include education, behavior change, strategies leading to better and more positive choices, and ultimately, the creation of a culture of wellness in the work environment. How?

  • Build wellness into your business strategy - Integrate health and wellness into your organization's overall mission, vision and values. Well employees are central to how you do business or provide service.
  • Make wellness personal - Each of your employees has a choice to make. Challenge them to make positive nutritional choices and find ways to work more physical activity into their lives. You can't drag your employees kicking and screaming toward wellness, but you can motivate them to want to be there, and it's true that given the opportunity and choice, people want to be well.
  • Make wellness fun - Here's our "corp speak" pitch. Teams and competition create a healthy and supportive environment. Participants will work harder not to let a team member down than they will work to not let themselves down. Cash incentives, gift cards, recognition and acknowledgement of what has been accomplished reward positive effort and results.
  • Create a culture of wellness throughout your organization - If you have a cafeteria, ask your food-service company to install a salad bar. Limit high fat offerings. Implement a recipe exchange and sponsor a company-wide cookbook with healthy recipes and tips. Encourage participants to take materials home and get spouses and families involved. If yours' is a large facility such as a hospital or manufacturing facility, post "mile markers" to key places. Recognize employees who reach their "good-health" goals.
  • Keep it going - This is one of the biggies. Include information about your wellness program in your intro packets for new employees. Promote it on your website. Continue to hold monthly "wellness" meetings for employees encouraging them to share what works and what doesn't. And for more "corp speak" we're in the process of developing an "After The Challenge Ends" program that will do just this, and will be included with the LoneStart Wellness Initiative program at no added cost for LoneStart clients. More on this in an upcoming article.

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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 Wellness Initiative will change your workplace.

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