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Wellness In The Workplace
September 2006 - Vol 1, Issue 3
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Workplace Wellness Challenges
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Does Your Wellness Program Make the Grade?

In evaluating a workplace wellness program it is important to examine health outcomes and process outcomes—not just economic benefits. Health outcomes are obvious. Process outcomes include participation levels, employee awareness about the program and employee satisfaction. Unless health and process outcomes are achieved, you will not realize economic benefits. The following points illustrate a few of the major considerations and concerns to be addressed and achieved with a wellness program.

  • A common risk in thinking about work-site wellness challenges and initiatives is often seen as "impact myopia"--a tendency to look at only the most immediate effects of the wellness initiative. The initiative needs to work within and in conjunction with the organization's culture and stated direction.
  • Such factors as direct and indirect impact on productivity, health status, service utilization, employee retention and the involvement of family members should also be considered.
  • Impact upon family members is typically overlooked in tightly controlled evaluation studies.
  • The most successful work-site wellness programs are linked to core business objectives. Management participation and "buy-in" reinforce that the program is "company sponsored and endorsed."
  • Approach wellness as you approach business planning. A connection must be made between health promotion and the core business / business objectives. If the link isn't there, the wellness program is probably lacking.
  • Other subtle benefits link good programs to bottom-line performance. Once employees gain confidence in their ability to modify unhealthy lifestyles, they will feel more confident about managing their health. This, in turn, will result in more appropriate health-care utilization.
  • Health promotion in many corporations is seen as part of the broader initiative known as health and productivity management.
  • Health promotion is often a catalyst that brings people together and introduces issues that apply to all.
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An employee wellness program can have many benefits for your employees—the most important being healthier, happier lives. By providing a wellness or wellness programs, you help employees understand and face their current health status and provide information for lowering health risks. You also provide the access, opportunity and encouragement needed to participate in health improvement.

The issues of obesity and overweight are cutting your profits—cutting deeply—and are in large part preventable.

The following annual amounts are based on number of employees and national statistical averages, and represent estimated medical, prescription and lost productivity costs you can expect to incur due to conditions of obesity and overweight among employees.

10 employees $ 6,991
 25 employees $ 17,477
 50 employees $ 34,953
 75 employees $ 52,430
 100 employees $ 69,906
 200 employees $139,813
 250 employees $174,766
 500 employees $349,532
 750 employees $524,298
 1000 employees $699,064

Staggering.

We are at a point in this country where a national campaign is needed to change our fundamental lifestyle behaviors. Like it or not, accept it or not, we are all stakeholders in this effort, and together we must confront the epidemic of overweight, obesity, and inactivity—and reduce our personal and corporate risk factors for chronic illnesses. (What Are Overweight Employees Costing Your Company?)
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You’re busy. We know it. You really know it. If you’re thinking about an employee wellness program that addresses the issues of obesity and overweight, and if on your wish list, it wouldn’t be “one more thing you have to do,” let us tell you about the LoneStart Workplace Wellness Express Program. (Learn More)

It’s an inexpensive, turn-key, effective, easy to implement initiative that works as a stand-alone program or as a high-impact addition to existing employee wellness strategies. LoneStart Express can be easily customized to meet your unique workplace requirements, regardless of the number of employees you have. And the good news is that we will plan, promote, implement, support and even track the results in a spreadsheet format—so you don’t have to.

But, there’s a “but.” You knew there would be. To find out how much the LoneStart Initiative can save your company, you’ll have to do a little homework.

  1. Identify your health care costs. How much do you spend per each employee annually for healthcare and prescription coverage? Divide your actual annual payments to your health care provider by the number of your employees.
  2. Determine your projected increase. Average health care costs are increasing at about 12 percent per year.
  3. Budget for your Wellness Program. As an example, what are you currently spending on prevention? What percentage of your total medical expenditure is your wellness budget? And, what will happen to your health care expenses if you do nothing?
  4. Create a health culture to assure your program grows. Do your employees think you value their health? This is central to productivity, reducing absenteeism and health care costs. An improvement in the culture is one of the first signs your wellness program is working, and as a result, that costs will improve.

Hypothetically, if you have 50 employees, and pay an average of $5,500 per employee annually for healthcare and prescription coverage, you would expect to pay about $275,000 per year. With an annual 12 percent projected increase, you can expect to pay an extra $33,000 next year, and an extra $209,600 over the next five years, at which point you’ll be paying approximately $9,700 per employee annually. Now, say you implement the LoneStart Initiative at an average cost of $92 per employee for those 50 employees. (Prices range from $45 to $126 per employee depending on size of group.) You’ve now spent $4,600 on a wellness program. According to Cost Benefit Analysis and Report (UM/HMRC) workplace wellness programs saved employers $80 to $225 per employee per year in medical costs—and an equal amount in productivity gains (total: $160 to $450 per employee). So, for your $4,600 investment in a wellness program, you could conceivably save between $8,000 and $22,500 per year in medical costs and lost productivity.

At this point you’ve already more than paid for the program. And, it’s well documented that an employee wellness program can yield a 3-to-1 to 10-to-1 ROI. Now, you’re ahead of the game. And, your employees are healthier, more productive, and happy that you care.
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The Human Factor

There's more to a workplace wellness program than the corporate bottom line. There's the human factor, and engaging that human element is what will ultimately result in a program's success or failure. Ann Weber, PhD, of our Advisory Board, points out that it's not just a matter of "saying the words, or adopting the program" that counts, but it's the "doing" that makes the difference. And, LoneStart is about the "doing."

"It's said that seeing is believing, but in fact we in social psychology find that doing is believing. In other words, to change your behavior, your best strategy is not to think yourself to a way of acting, but to act yourself to a way of thinking. Most behavior change programs advocate a change of attitude or world view before embarking on a course of action. In fact, by choosing reachable goals (in the form of behavior changes), during a reachable timeframe like three weeks, you can change your altitude slowly but surely--and enduringly.

"Behavior can be changed and sustained, not by changing the way you think but by also changing the way you act. Don't lie in bed convincing yourself to get up and walk; rather get up and walk, one day at a time--and soon you will not have to convince yourself that you "ought" to, you'll just do it.

"Do what you can, and soon you will believe in yourself. Attitudes endure; actions stick. Use them both!"

Ann L. Weber, PhD, University of North Carolina - Asheville, LoneStart Advisory Board

If your organization is willing 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