Category — Corporate Wellness

Exactly how does a wellness program affect the company?

Health promotion programs undoubtedly benefit both the businesss and staff members. Numerous studies have found a direct link, showing that healthful staff members make happy staff members, as a result increasing productivity in the workplace.

Not only are employees who exercise more apt to be productive, but they are more likely to stay with their corporation long term. This saves companies a excellent deal of money in application and turnover costs.

Healthcare costs in the United States doubled between 1990 and 2001. They are expected to double again by 2012. During this time, studies have shown that adult obesity has risen as high as 80 percent in some states. This is a startling statistic. for every 1 percent in Body Mass Index (BMI), a person’s health care costs increase by $120.

Not only is this costly for the employer but it can also be deadly, greatly raising one’s chances of heart attack or stroke. Workers at risk for these two serious medical conditions cost employers thousands of dollars more annually than their healthful coworkers.

Knowing these troubling statistics authorizes corporations to take action.  The first step is to come up with a plan on how to fight these statistics in your worksite. Most adults in this country spend the majority of their time at work.

That is why health promotion programs are so essential. Having access to an exercise facility and other healthful lifestyle options ought to be implemented in every organization. There really is no reason not to.

One study showed that implementing a health promotion program in the worksite, lowered sick time by 28%, lowered the use of health care benefits by 26%, and lowered worker’s compensation claims by 30%.

Take a good look at some of these statistics. Your organization cannot afford not to have a wellness program.

Precisely how can our business increase participation in the corporate wellness program?

Having a corporate health promotion program in place can improve morale, improve fitness and health and increase productivity in the worksite. Now that you have taken the steps necessary to begin a corporate health promotion program, how do you get your personnel interested and willing to participate?

By starting healthy consuming habits, exercise and offering incentives, your staff will not only sign up for the health promotion program, but they will stick with it.

Does your company have an onsite health and fitness center that workforce have access to? If not, offering free or discounted health and fitness center memberships to a local health and fitness center can be an effective method for getting workforce to exercise. Whether the health and fitness center is on or off-site notwithstanding, permitting workforce to use the facility during work hours, such as on their lunch break, will increase the likelihood that they will exercise.

Rewarding employees’ achievements is another way to keep them aroused and living a healthful lifestyle. Setting corporation objectives like collectively walking a certain number of miles, supports team building. Offering incentives like gift cards, certificates of achievement, and even a day off work may be effective ways to keep participation levels up.

Since there will likely be less sick days being used as a result of disease, your organization may  be able to afford to offer a day off pass as an incentive. These incentives don’t have to be expensive, just valuable to the worker.

Providing a healthful lunch once a week for workers participating in the corporate health plan, is a excellent way to promote healthful eating. Offering an incentive of healthful, delicious, free food is one way to reward workers for their efforts while supporting their new healthful lifestyle.

Having a corporate wellness program in place will provide long term benefits to both the corporation and the employees. This is one corporate plan that is definitely worth your time and money!

Why should our business host a corporate health fair?

Do you work in your organization’s human resources department? Are you looking for events to plan for your company this year? When so, it’d be a great idea to look into hosting a corporate health fair. Corporate health fairs are valuable to both the corporation and the employee because they promote overall health, awareness and prevention.

What type of vendors are at a wellness fair?

There are numerous vendors to choose from when bringing a corporate wellness fair to your business.  The most popular vendors include dentists, massage therapists, chiropractors, nutritionists and the American Red Cross. These few popular vendors are a part of a long list available to attend wellness fairs.

Precisely how do we select which providers to include in the wellness fair?

While most vendors are excellent for all workforce, there are some vendors available for organizations with a specific demographic. for example, if your corporation has a lot of pregnant women or women of child bearing age, it could be a good idea to have a vendor particularly talking about prenatal care.

When there are a lot of smokers at your organization, you might want to have the American Lung Association present. Try to select providers that meet your employees’ needs. Do not forget that hosting a corporate health fair is meant to be advantageous to them.

When should we hold a health fair?

Anytime is a great time to host a health fair. However, you could want to consider not scheduling around holidays or busy seasons so that you can maximize participation. Another great choice is having the corporate health fair on a weekend and making it family friendly. Corporate health fairs help keep everyone healthful, consequently increasing work productivity.

Not only does hosting a corporate wellness fair promote health, it also builds friendship between colleagues, bettering team building and communication in the office. It’s a win-win for both the corporation and the employee!

Health promotion programs have been shown to reduce absenteeism, staff member turnover rates, and healthcare costs. It is a key piece of a corporation’s success.  The results of these wellness programs lead to higher productivity, which in the end leads to a more profitable business.

In order for these wellness programs to run properly and produce results they must’ve a clear operating plan with an attainable and measurable goal.  The wellness programs must also encourage all staff to lead a healthy lifestyle while at work and at home.

Wellness programs have been introduced to businesses all over the country in an effort to make personnel healthier and in turn happier. Organizations which implement these health promotion programs do so to varying degrees. Some simply offer literature about how to live a healthful lifestyle and reduce stress while at work.

A number of organizations offer health testings and health risk appraisals for free during the year to help staff members understand what is going on with their health and what they can do to improve it.

At the top of the list, there are the businesses that providefree, onsite fitness centers and aerobics programs to be used at lunchtime breaks or after work. No matter what’s offered it would be a waste not to take benefit of these wellness programs.

It requires careful planning and thought to begin wellness programs. Once a wellness program is put into place it’s very vital that you reassess and analyze it several times for reach the primary goal -  healthier workforce.

All the wellness programs that are put in place must be assessed after a determined time frame to help the company understand what needs to be changed or kept in place to maintain company wellness.

Everybody knows today that working in corporate America could be a stressful situation. It seems that workers are expected to work longer hours and spend more time away from home. Long commutes and large amounts of work are taking its toll on U.S. office staff members. Something ought to be done; company wellness is a good way to begin to help all those stressed out staff members.

Beginning corporation health promotion programs can help develop a healthful culture. There should be an incentive program set up to drive interest to wanting to be more health conscious. Making good decisions that affect health now and in the future should be rewarded as individual’s goals are met.

There are a number of wellness program ideas that a company wellness program can help plan for. Some ideas include giving out maps of walking or jogging trails located near the workplace. It’s a good idea to post a steps collected map on the workplace wall where all staff can log their steps or miles.

Make certain to help encourage walkers, joggers,, and those who enjoy other forms of exercise to form exercise groups to meet before work, during lunch, or after work.

In a organization environment, relationship development is also an area where aligning cultural touch points are necessary. Be sure to work culture affects health practices.

Workers will either form personal relationships in a bad way, like smoking in the break room, or they will form relationships doing something more physical like going for a round of golf for relaxation and developing friendships with fellow staff members. Make sure to work ought to be done to create healthy venues to create specialist friendships and relationships.

There are so many good benefits for a corporation picking  to make corporation wellness a priority. Staff Members who participate in health promotion programs are more likely to be the best employees.

Colleague relationships in the worksite are important to creating a healthful lifestyle culture that lasts.  As an added bonus, overall job satisfaction is better when workforce are feeling well and healthful while doing their work.

Conducting an Employee Fitness Challenge at your worksite is a fun and arousing way to increase awareness among staff about the importance of starting and sustaining an exercise program.

It’s a concentrated effort in which to engage them in physical activity for a specific period that, hopefully, will help them start a healthy habit that will last a lifetime.

Notwithstanding, it is important to practice wellness year-round. This section provides a robust list of Wellness Program ideas that have been implemented within wellness programs.

All ideas presented in this section have been successful for one or both of the entities. Each activity/idea can be used as a stand-alone event, even when you do not conduct a fitness contest, or can be held joined with your Worker Fitness Contest.

You could want to choose some ideas you think will work for your workforce or think of others and begin your program to develop a better state of health.

Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that robust health promotion programs, or Health Promotion Programs, can lower healthcare and insurance costs, lower absenteeism, and improve performance and productivity.

Other benefits demonstrated in studies include improved ability to attract and retain key personnel, greater employee allegiance, and improved public image of the organization.

Health Care and Insurance Costs

A number of studies provide evidence of lower medical and insurance costs for participants in health promotion programs, particularly health promotion programs involving exercise.

For $30 per person, the Bank of America conducted a health promotion program for retirees using a risk assessment questionnaire, self-care books and other mailed materials. Insurance claims were decreased an average of $164 a year in this group while they increased $15 for the control group.

Since they were able to document meaningful changes in risk behavior, they anticipate greater savings in future years.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks participants claim $300 less per case for a one-year savings of $700,000. Savings for conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle are $722 per case.

Coca Cola stated a reduction in health care claims with a workout program alone, saving $500 per staff member per year for the employees (60%) who joined their HealthWorks fitness program.

Prudential Insurance Corporation reports that the organization’s major medical costs dropped from $574 to $312 for each participant in its wellness program.

Decreased Absenteeism

Absenteeism has been shown to be impacted by company wellness and wellness programs.  The evidence indicates a significant reduction in absenteeism and resultant dollars saved then of worker fitness programs.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks wellness program reduced absent days .8 percent to save $2 million in one year. FitWorks members also spent 3.3 days less on short-term disability for an additional savings of $4.7 million.

Focusing wellness efforts on high-risk workers can lead to better results. A national manufacturing business reports a decrease of 12.2 percent in disease days for these workers.

A two-year study by the DuPont Company of the effect of its robust wellness program on absences among staff reports that blue-collar staff at intervention sites had a 14% decline in disability days vs. 5.8% decline for controls. There were a sum of 11,726 fewer net disability days.

Increased Performance, Productivity and Morale

A number of employers with wellness programs report documented betterment in job attitude, work performance, energy level, and/or overall morale among wellness program participants–all crucial factors in enhancing productivity.

A Johnson and Johnson study found that worker attitude changes were greater at wellness intervention sites with meaningful positive attitude changes noted in the categories of organizational commitment, supervision, working conditions, job competence/security, and pay/benefits.

In a Canadian government study, the Canada Life Assurance Business experimental group realized a 4% increase in productivity after starting an worker fitness program, compared to the control group.

Further, 47% of health promotion program participants reported that they felt more alert, had better rapport with their coworkers, and generally enjoyed their work more.

Swedish investigators found that mental performance was significantly better in physically fit workforce than in non-fit workers. Fit workforce committed 27% fewer errors on tasks involving concentration and short-term memory, as compared with the performance of non-fit workers.

The Bottom Line

The following sample of company health promotion health promotion program results have been reported by individual companys -

Company -  Dollars Saved/Dollars Spent

o  Bank of America (Fries) -  $5.96/$1

o  PacBell -  $3.10/$1

o  Wisconsin School District Insurance Group -  $4.47/$1

o  Prudential Insurance -  $2.90/$1

o  Bank of America (Leigh) -  $4.73/$1

o  General Mills -  $3.50/$1

Summary

There’s compelling evidence that a sizable portion of the billions of dollars currently spent by companys on health-related costs is avoidable by means of health promotion programming.

Well-planned, extensive wellness programs (wellness programs and staff member wellness programs) have been proven to be cost-effective, specifically when the wellness programming is matched to the medical problems of the specific staff member