An emerging trend in the corporate world is the implementation of corporate wellness plans. These programs seek to improve their employees’ health through nutrition classes, smoking cessation, weight loss incentives and other rewards. In return, healthier employees allow for reduced health insurance costs which promise savings for the organization.
But these programs which have grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years have also had other impacts on productivity, satisfaction and the basic understanding of the employer and employee relationship.
Companies Who Care
Though it is difficult to measure the actual impact and return on investment, corporate wellness programs are widely viewed as positive programs. Companies that take measures to secure their employee’s well being are viewed in a pretty friendly light.
Whether it is because they truly care or want to soak up a positive portrayal, Facebook is considering the use of treadmill desks and LinkedIn already conducts walking meetings around its campus rather than in a boardroom.
“90% of employers offer wellness incentives, or financial rewards or prizes to employees who work toward getting healthier,” reports the Wall Street Journal. This percentage is up dramatically from just 57% a few years earlier in 2009.
An article in the Tennessean conjectured that “this company-led wellness push also represents a major cultural shift—the idea of corporations as caretakers. Corporations, in turn, are working to balance caretaking and making money.”
The next major player to become a caretaker is the insurance companies themselves. The federal health exchange, which opened in October, will lead more people into a direct relationship with their insurer instead of going through their company. That has led some to predict that insurance companies will follow the wellness program trend, offering programs that reduce their risk.
However, many individuals believe in the purpose of corporate wellness initiatives. Employees see their companies’ health plans as a sign that they are valued. And organizations have capitalized on this as a human resource tool.
How Does a Corporate Wellness Work?
Wellness programs typically work by offering some kind of reward or incentive for employees who get involved in changing their health. However, health is not really something that you can regulate. Instead individuals have to take charge for themselves. So the trick in implementing a new corporate culture is to find ways to effectively motivate individuals.
The two most common formats are participatory programs and health-contingent programs. In a participatory setup, everyone is invited to participate in some kind of participant effort. Sometimes this is a class, an assessment or an activity. For joining, the employees receive some kind of reward or discount on their premiums.
But health-contingent programs ask employees to meet a specific goal. And only those who achieve the target receive the reward. Some of these goals include:
•Lowering blood pressure
•Losing a percentage of body weight
•Stopping smoking
These initiatives must be tailored specifically to each individual.
“The most effective incentives come from a value driven culture of health in a corporation,” says Sean Sullivan, president and CEO of the Institute for Health and Productivity Management. When companies make it obvious that they value their employees and care about their health, more than just health tends to improve. Most people become happier and more productive which is a win-win for the organization.
What About the Affordable Care Act?
Obamacare is careful to include and encourage such programs. The Affordable Care Act offers discounts of up to 30 percent of total cost for employees who participate in wellness initiatives. For individuals who stop smoking, the discount is authorized to max out at 50 percent.
However, because of the new role of federal oversight, JoAnn Volk, from the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reform explains, “benefits may differ depending on your health status.” Since the Affordable Care Act links health plan costs with the health achievement in a wellness program, those who do or do not meet their wellness goals might see corresponding differences in the price of their health plans.
Creating Wellness
Before a company goes searching for corporate wellness plan providers, there are some important keys to keep in mind when it comes to implementing a health program.
1. Starting with Leadership
Corporate initiatives will only catch on if there is the leadership engagement. “If you don’t have it from the top, it won’t work,” says Jamie Mills of Mill’s Benefit Group. Everyone knows that the best way to lead is by example. And when management participates, the rest of the company will be more likely to get on board and act as a social unit with a common goal.
2. Value Your Employees
The heart of a corporate wellness initiative is not just about reducing risk and cost. It is also about investing in the employees’ health and wellbeing. The happier and healthier the employees, the more increasingly productive they become, observes Fox Business.
3. Changes that Last
A problem at the core of company health programs is the inability to measure effects over the long-term. Employees might lose weight, but they may put it back on in the next year. So it is important for organizations to have a long-term focus and make sustainability a high priority.
4. Bring in the Whole Family
The number one motivating factor for lifestyle decisions comes from a person’s family. So when companies introduce health programs, they should consider ways to involve their employees’ families as well. This may be through discounts which benefit the employee’s entire household or through programs which invite the entire family to participate.
5. Use Employee Input
Perhaps the most important step of implementing a corporate wellness plan is to utilize your employees’ ideas and opinions. Talking to people and hearing what they desire and would find useful will help to implement a successful wellness strategy that will actually have the employees’ support and interest. This is a great way to maximize enthusiasm and engagement when reshaping corporate culture.
The world of corporate wellness is varied and extensive. With various plans and ideas, different companies seek to lower their risk and improve their employees’ experiences. And the result has created a new cultural idea of companies’ responsibility towards their employees.
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What type of wellness programs have you initiated? How was it received?
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