Health Handouts : How to Develop a Corporate Wellness Program

1. Undertake a utilization assessment – While companies can’t obtain health information on individual employees, insurance providers will supply companies with reports that detail patterns and rates of employee use for things such as physician visits, hospital stays and prescription use. This information is essential for a business to set a benchmark of its current health risk status. Data from human resources can be integrated with benefits information to supply a complete picture of employees’ health-related costs. Then, companies can determine the specific level of behavior transformation necessary to result in cost savings. The utilization assessment helps a business identify the areas in which it should focus its Employee Wellness Program to reap the greatest benefits.

2. Build a corporation case – Once a utilization assessment is in place, employers 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 objectives 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 Employee Wellness 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 percent of staff members that made up 80 percent of the costs. We’ve discussed 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. Develop a cross-functional wellness group – Companies need to identify potential group participants who can be champions of wellness within the employer. It is significant that the group is representative of the demographic and functional diversity of staff members so that it can credibly address any specific needs groups may have. This group will serve as the voice and face for the Workplace Health Promotion Program within the employer. Best practice companies integrate participants from human resources, communications, employer development and senior staff. Using the utilization analysis as a model, the wellness group ought to evaluate what programs would be most effective within each particular corporate culture, aligning health-risk priorities with initiatives that staff members will be receptive to.

4. Build buy-in from management – The most effective Corporate Health Promotion Programs have backing from the highest levels of a business. Backing from management, both in words and in action, sends the message that Corporate Health Promotion Programs are a priority for a business. The utilization analysis can be a powerful tool to build the business case for Corporate Health Promotion Programs and convince executives that initiatives are worthy of investment and attention. Meaningful wellness-related messages are integrated into business discussions and aligned with corporate objectives.

5. Establish a complete Employee Program Engagement plan – The most brilliantly conceived Employee Health Promotion Program is meaningless if no employees participate. Effective wellness discussions emphasize both health and monetary benefits at the personal and business level. According to a 2004 survey by Towers Perrin, only 28 percent of employees say their business communicates about Healthcare topics other than cost. In addition, wellness-related information should be a part of existing business discussions efforts and not coupled solely with benefits discussions. This helps elevate the priority of Employee Health Promotion Programs and align initiatives with business objectives.

Moreover, communications around Workplace Health Promotion Programs can share personal success stories and provide corporation progress updates. Successful employers 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 authorizes for the sharing of best practices within the corporation.

Many businesses engage healthcare professionals to advise in the construction, communication and support of the program. The use of outside authorities such as these will expand the credibility of the Workplace Wellness Programs as well as combat skepticism from workers who may view the business’s motives as merely selfserving.

Another strategy available to companies is to brand their Company Wellness Program. This move can broaden the visibility and acceptance of the offering. Branded wellness programs are most common when companies are also promoting an external campaign around Company Wellness Programs. An example of this is PepsiCo, which launched its HealthRoads Company Wellness 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 take part in, Company Health Promotion Programs within companies. This produces more immediate accountability and motivation.

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

Assessment is only useful if a corporation explicitly defines what data would constitute success. Potential measures of success include:

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

Motorola’s Saenz advises administrators of Employee Health Promotion Programs to track as many measures as possible from the start, even if management only requires 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 backing among management and workers. Nearly half of corporations feel a lack of useful data is a top barrier to their ability to manage employee health, and at least 20% of corporations do not know how effective existing Employee Health Promotion Programs are regarding various outcomes. Employers should administer utilization analyses annually and reevaluate Employee Health Promotion Program priorities based upon changes. In Addition, progress should be shared with the wider business community to build backing for initiatives. Managers and executives throughout a business are likely to backing a program that can prove increased productiveness among workers. Effective Employee Health Promotion Programs are designed to be fl exible so they can respond to changes in both business objectives and goals and larger health variations.