Category — Creating a Corporate Wellness Program

The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports specifies wellness as “a multidimensional state of being describing the existence of positive health in an individual as exemplified by quality of life and a sense of wellbeing.” Wellness looks beyond the current model of treating disease and focuses on preventive behaviors and healthier lifestyles. Corporate Wellness , also frequently referred to as Corporate Wellness , serve as a complement to existing insurance-based health benefit programs and can take many forms and address a myriad different potential health conditions. They are a powerful strategy to promote positive lifestyle changes that can result in significant cost savings for employers. Examples of potential elements of a Corporate Wellness include: Health Risk Assessments / Employee Wellness Screenings – Health Risk Assessments (aka Health Risk Appraisals), evaluate the most prevalent lifestyle-related risks of an individual. HRAs frequently include screenings for Blood Pressure (BP), cholesterol, glucose levels and other health indicators. These analyses provide valuable benchmarking measures that ideally will allow staff members to prevent or lower their risk of diseases. Finding Wealth Through Wellness, As noted by Kathryn Krivy, director of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Wellness Institute in Chicago, “Medically based Health Risk Assessments are a necessity because in order to affect transformation in your employer, you need to know what the issues are, and you just don’t know until you get the data.” Physical Activity and Weight Management – One of the most popular Corporate Wellness is for employers to provide access to a fitness center, frequently on-Site. Other potential measures include offering healthier vending machines and cafeteria options, weight management support groups and fitness challenge programs. Some employers, like hospital group Baptist Health South Florida, will even pay for staff members to attend weight-loss classes such as Weight Watchers. Awareness and Education Programs – Most employers hold events discussing the benefits of nutrition, safety or physical fitness, among other subject matters. Other options are to host a health & wellness fair or conduct a disease-awareness campaign. Behavior Modification – This covers issues like smoking, wearing seat belts, and alcohol use. While many employers will provide assistance for staff members looking to modify behavior, some employers, like health care benefits administrator Weyco, Inc., mandate modifications, such as quitting smoking, as a condition of employment. Alternative Treatments – Other Corporate Wellness can include absorbing some or all of the costs for massages, stress-reduction activities like yoga or even herbal medicines.

A more progressive and systemic solution may incorporate employers beginning Corporate Wellness , which allow employers to be proactive in preventing illness and promoting healthier lifestyles for staff members. When implemented effectively, this approach can drive to reduced direct costs from claims, a reduction in Medical Care premiums and increased employee productiveness. Yet while Corporate Wellness potentially offer employers large cost savings, the success of the program is dependent upon the ability to engage staff members in them. Additionally, employers must navigate the legal and cultural challenges posed by Corporate Wellness : Organizations really should be careful that initiatives respect protected classes and the privacy of staff members. Moreover, employers must battle resistance from staff members wary of their employer regulating off-the-clock behaviors. Over the next 6-12 posts we’ll layout the case for Corporate Wellness in today’s employment environment, arguing that the cost savings and increased employee engagement outweigh potential restrictions. We will investigate the considerations a employer must make before starting a Corporate Wellness and the communication necessary to create successful engagement from staff members. Finally, we will discuss several successful Corporate Wellness and provide a list of resources that employers can use for guidance.

Over the past several years healthcare insurance premiums have risen at a steady pace. This is taking a toll on the bottom-line of employers, cutting into profits, limiting growth and forcing a reevaluation of the employee benefit system. According to a projection by McKinsey & Co., at the present rate, by 2008 health benefits will eclipse profits at the average Fortune 500 employer. Organizations, through private healthcare insurance employers, are the leading provider of medical services in America. In 2004, 59.8% of American citizens were covered by a employer-based healthcare insurance program, accounting for 88% of all private healthcare insurance. Yet the escalating costs of Medical Care, ever-increasing prescription drug prices and a steady rise in chronic diseases have brought the corporate world to a breaking point. For many employers the increasing burden has become too difficult to bear. Over the past five years healthcare insurance premiums have increased an average of 11.6% each year, more than four times the average rate of inflation and employee earnings over that time.3 Not surprisingly, this exponential growth in premiums has caused the number of employers offering Medical Care services during that time to drop from 69% to 60%.4 In addition, in 2005, healthcare insurance premiums jumped 9.2%, more than three times the rate of inflation – and that was the lowest increase in the past five years. In this environment employers need to discover innovative ways to stem the increasing costs of Medical Care coverage. Seemingly, the easiest strategies to accomplish this goal would be to lower benefits coverage or pass on agrowing burden to staff members and retirees. More than 80% of employers have chosen one or both of these cost saving measures in the past few years and almost half of all large employers are likely to increase the amount staff members pay in 2007.5 Nevertheless, these methods do nothing to mitigate the primary causes of increasing premiums, one of which is a population that requires increased healthcare. To make a long-term and substantial influence on premiums and overriding health, employers need to look beyond a antiquated reactive-based approach.

Coordinating employer fitness and Corporate Wellness is not about beginning a grand scheme that is so complicated it is underutilized. Corporate Wellness are about beginning an environment that encourages fitness and healthy living. The program ought to be accessible and make sense to the people it is directed at throughout the day. The outcomes will be a plan that provides plenty of opportunity for exercise, teaches proper diet and stays current on health problems beneficial to the staff members. The outcomes will be a plan that provides plenty of opportunity for exercise, teaches proper nutrition and stays current on health problems beneficial to the staff members.

Coordinating Corporation Exercise Programs and Corporate Wellness – Making a Proposition

Coordinating employer fitness and Corporate Wellness means understanding there are many directions the program can take. For starters, it must be of interest to staff members at all levels. The company’s proposal to the employee is this: you take better care of yourselves and we will help you accomplish your goal. To be effective, the Corporate Wellness must be pervasive. In other words, it must address the needs of the top executives as well as the warehouse staff members. The variety of jobs within a employer usually indicate wide differences in stress and strain levels on the body and differences in mental and emotional stress. The program must also take into account employee habits at work and at home. A employer with a employer fitness and Corporate Wellness in place sends the message to its staff members and customers is that the employer takes health seriously. Coordinating employer fitness and Corporate Wellness involves determining the types of activities that will be most effective for the situation. Every employer will need a different plan. A employer fitness plan can include a lot more than just an exercise program and dietary planning. It can provide real opportunity to improve the entire employer environment. A Corporate Wellness can include the following:

• Health intervention for existing health ailments
• Recreational programs that engage staff members and their families
• Ergonomics to decrease work strain and resulting injuries
• Specialized programs that target staff members with physical conditions interfering with job achievement
• Addressing health and fitness problems related to an aging work force
• Beginning fitness programs specifically designed to increase employee work-specific strength

The advantages of carefully structuring employer fitness and Corporate Wellness are obvious. Staff Members get access to the physical activity program either onsite or through employer membership at the fitness center. Coordinating employer fitness and Corporate Wellness means including those components essential to great health.

• Meal structuring and sound eating choices
• Sessions instructing on the food pyramid and how the body processes nutrients
• Instruction on working out safely
• Weight loss and weight management

The benefits for the employer are endless.

• Savings on Medical Care costs
• Reduced employee sick days
• Staff Members with a sense of health fitness
• Lowerincidences of chronic illnesses
• Attracts new staff members dedicated to fitness

Coordinating Corporation Exercise Programs and Corporate Wellness – Closing the Deal

Starting and structuring employer fitness and Corporate Wellness nets big benefits for staff members and the employer. staff members are happier, feel better, are more satisfied with their work, are healthier and have more vitality. Stress is decreased which positively influences the attitudes of staff members, decreases injuries and makes staff members more positive. Closing the deal on a physical activity program means the employer and staff members sign on the dotted line of health. Do not let Medical Care care costs continue to rise. Start now structuring employer fitness and Corporate Wellness .

Corporate Wellness proposals must be designed so that they meet employer goal. Corporate Wellness for staff members are the newest attack on employee unhealthy lifestyles that are equating to high health care expenses. Corporate Wellness Proposals for starting a program must take into consideration the type of employer, the budget and the makeup of the employee population. Corporate Wellness for office employee will be different than programs for construction staff members The goal will be same, but the approach to reaching those goal will be different. For a program to be considered successful, outcomes must be measurable.

• staff members achieve better overriding conditioning
• Medical Care claims decrease
• Productiveness increases
• staff members experience less sick days
• Number of injuries declines
• Physical ailments like high Blood Pressure (BP) are reduced

In general, Corporate Wellness proposals must target the fitness problems at the employer and provide plans for change.

Corporate Wellness Proposals – Going the Distance

There are many different kinds of wellness proposals.

• One-one-one employee assessments by a professional health care provider
• Outside specialist assistance for program design and implementation only
• Ongoing program monitoring by a personal trainer
• In-house program design
• Fitness Center memberships
• Corporate Wellness
• Complete Corporate Wellness including diet and fitness
• Programs that address a specific problem like injury at the worksite

These are just a few forms Corporate Wellness proposals can take. A Wellness program can be very basic or elaborate depending on the employer budget. A program can include up to 4 components.

• Education on health problems
• Assessment programs with follow-up assessment
• Corporation culture of health change
• Fitness and diet programs – supervised and unsupervised programs can include a myriad of health and fitness information and activities. The rewards for starting a Corporate Wellness are unlimited.

Corporate Wellness proposals provide a way for management to invest in their staff members with a promise of returns in the form of productivity and cost savings.

Wellness Proposals – Healthy Alternatives

Corporate Wellness proposals provide staff members alternatives to specific health ailments. Proposals can address particular problems in addition to overriding fitness. These problems include quitting smoking, increasing flexibility for job achievement, preventing back injuries, preventing repetitive motion strain, improving loss of functionality due to age and prenatal programs. Corporate Wellness proposals ought to have goal that include improving employee morale, increasing productiveness, reducing absenteeism, increasing employee vitality and netting Medical Care savings to the employer. Corporate Wellness costs can significantly vary and many include cost sharing between the employee and the employer to cover fitness center fees. The bottom line is that a employer can design a Corporate Wellness proposal that suits the employer budget, employee lifestyles, and employee and employer goal. In any of the Corporate Wellness proposals, healthy alternatives to current employer problems must be spelled out. Employee health is a top priority for any employer that cares about its success. Research online the different Corporate Wellness proposals that are available for employers. Then choose the one that works as if your employees’ lives depended on it, because that very well may be the case.

Corporate Wellness has become a essential component of employers. It has become apparent in a service oriented economy that staff members are living more sedentary lives than ever before. As a outcome, a myriad of health care ailments plague the crew costing the employee quality of life, while the employer faces increasing Medical Care costs. It is a situation in which no one wins. Waiting until the problem occurs is self-defeating for both the employer and the employee member. Corporate Wellness only makes great sense by discussing the topic before it happens.

Corporate Wellness – Cease and Desist Order

Corporate Wellness are like cease and desist orders. These particular orders are instructions on why staff members ought to cease living unhealthy lives and desist from eating junk food. Let’s face it - employee frequently consume unhealthy food throughout the day. Office staff members, line staff members, sales associates, and executives – they all fall prey to the temptations of donuts, vending machines food, office party snacks and so on. The bad habits continue at home. Food that is bad for your health is staples in an abundance of diets. These foods include too much white bread, cakes, alcohol, fast food picked up on the way home and unhealthy snacks like buttered popcorn and sugar rich soda drinks. Poor diet and little or no exercise outcomes in genuine chronic illnesses eventually including heart disease and strokes. Waiting until the ailments occur is expensive. Rising health care costs are taking a genuine financial toll on employers. Every dime that is invested on illness recovery could have been invested on a employer preventive health and Corporate Wellness . Prevention means beginning conditions such that illness and injury are minimized through diet and exercise and an awareness of what is a great fitness plan.

• staff members are screened for potential for serious chronic diseases such as diabetes
• staff members are taught the value of great diet and how to develop a dietary plan
• Individual job stress levels are judged
• Exercise Programs are made easily accessible to encourage participation
• Frequent classes are helpful on relevant subject matters of health and Corporate Wellness
• Corporation provides incentive programs to maximize participation

Most staff members don’t know the long-term consequences of living a life with little or no exercise. Corporate Wellness bring the information to the staff members so they can make informed decisions. The cut back in sick days, less injuries and reduced stress boosts production and decreases costs.

Corporate Wellness – Resuming New Health

Corporate Wellness can be elaborate menus of choices or simple plans that show staff members how to improve their quality of life. The programs can cover all the problems that confront staff members during their work day also. These kinds of topics include preventing injury, fitting exercise into a busy schedule, making sound fast food choices or decreasing work related stress. No matter what form the employer preventive health and physical activity program takes the rewards will be rapidly incurred. It only takes a couple of weeks for staff members to begin to feel the outcomes of a more active life. A physical activity program instructs on diet and provides the opportunity for exercises that tone, strengthen and improve flexibility. Corporate Wellness only make sense. It establishes a employer culture that speaks volumes about the significance of a healthy lifestyle. Once staff members stop their old sedentary habits, they are left with the choice of resuming new healthy attitudes and practices. Corporate Wellness are here to stay.

Corporation health and fitness are not just words to be spouted so people think the employer cares about its staff members. Health and fitness are valuable concepts that are just as essential to a employer as finance and sales. That’s because the health of its staff members is one of the major determinants of the health of the employer. Corporation staff members labor long and difficult hours and at times the price they pay becomes an unhealthy lifestyle. A concerned employer does not want its staff members to be troubled with a myriad of genuine health problems. A Corporate Wellness is a alliance of an staff members desire to fit exercise into a busy schedule and a company’s desire for a healthy work force. It’s a takeover of poor health affecting employer production.

Corporate Wellness – Benefits

Bearer bonds are owned by whoever has them in hand. Their value to the individual who carries them is realized by ownership. Health operates under the same concept. An employee and the employer must take ownership of the Corporate Wellness concept. A employer has many choices as to how it starts a health and Corporate Wellness .

• A consultant employer writes a employer specific fitness plan
• A Corporate Wellness consultant and the employer jointly create a fitness plan
• An internet based fitness consultant can be utilized
• A personal trainer at a fitness center develops a employer program
• Corporation can create its own plan without assistance from outside professionals.

A Corporate Wellness may center around a program at a health center. It can also be based at the worksite itself, making it easily accessible to staff members. Utilizing a consultant provides means the employer gets knowledge based assistance in evaluating staff members. Each employee gets an evaluation of basic health status. Customized fitness plans are instituted and progress is monitored. A qualified consultant can be available at the health center, or visit onsite as schedules. Some employers hire a certified personal trainer to labor directly with staff members on an ongoing basis at the worksite. Other employers pay for the services of a trainer at the nearest health center. The employer health and Corporate Wellness vary. A employer may institute a fitness plan that includes staff members and their families by paying for family membership at the health center. The benefits of this plan is that the whole family can use the fitness center, which encourages participation. Most employers pay for the entire cost of the Corporate Wellness at a fitness center. Some employers pay a portion while the employee must pay the difference. Others only pay part and the employee pays the balance. Some employer fitness plans are multi-layered and provide a wide range of exercise classes and seminars on diet. There are group activities and daily tips for improving health. Some plans are very simple in that most of the internal Corporate Wellness is mostly information. All exercise is done outside the employer at the fitness center. It doesn’t matter what form the plan takes. The point is that a Corporate Wellness is valuable for the success of the employer and the health of the staff members. Taking care of its most valuable assets, the staff members, only makes sense.

Corporate Wellness - Like Stock Options?

Organizations provide stock options, whereby staff members can buy stock in the employer. It is another form of ownership. Staff Members have many choices when it comes to fitness. Their health needs, genetics, work environment and current physical condition all play into the structure of the Corporate Wellness . It is up to the employer to provide a program that involves all staff members so that maximum rewards are realized on both sides. In other words, staff members have plenty of choices and the employer realizes real dollar savings through a healthier crew.

Corporation Exercise Program– Group Effort

Organizations are expected to be socially responsible in today’s world. It used to be staff members had few amenities, because the employer didn’t see any profit to the employer. Times have changed drastically. Organizations now know that the health of its employee workforce is indicative of the health of the employer itself. The employer physical activity program was introduced to encourage healthy employee lifestyles, even while at work.

Half The Time

Stress is a huge factor in how we handle a heavy workload. Stress impacts our physical and mental wellbeing. It even produces a chemical that is processed into fat by our bodies. A employer physical activity program uses exercise and health information to teach staff members how to stay personally in-shape. When in-shape, the body and mind is much better able to handle stress. Stress has an abundance of side effects. It can cause inattention, sickness and high Blood Pressure (BP). These effects in turn cost the employer an abundance of money in absenteeism, poor productiveness and higher health care costs. A employer physical activity program makes fitness a priority in the employer among its staff members. In return, a physical activity program provides many rewards to the employer.

• Greater productiveness because of changes in health
• Greater employee concentration due to minimization of stress effects
• General greater morale
• Reduced absenteeism

You frequently hear people who are under an abundance of stress say, “I don’t know why I did that” when they make a mistake. The truth is they probably really don’t know that their concentration is misdirected because of stress.

I Want to Participate

A employer physical activity program can take many forms.

• Exercise Program can be set up at the employer’s facility and managed by an employee
• Corporation physical activity program can have a employer membership with a nearby fitness center
• Exercise Program can be under contract with a certified personal trainer who comes to the employer’s facility and coordinates the program, including employee assessments
• Exercise Program can be managed by an employee onsite using the services of a web based physical activity program

A employer physical activity program can be modified in almost any way necessary to accommodate the employer and its staff members. Usually, in any program, seminars are offered periodically also to inform staff members of current health problems and trends. As a minimum, a employer program normally will provide the following:

• Aerobics for cardiovascular conditioning
• Abdomen strength building
• General muscle toning
• Exercises for greater flexibility

More elaborate programs will provide employee classes, classes and fitness center equipment. Corporation programs can be adapted to any employer and any budget.

Why Will This Work

We spend an abundance of time at work. It’s easy for staff members to skip working out, blaming it on lack of time. Using professional fitness services like those found here takes away the excuses that are costing the employer money.

Corporation Exercise Programs and Wellness – A Clear Message Corporation culture varies from employer to employer. Some employers are strict and formal while others are more laid back. But one thing most have learned is that the health of their staff members impacts the health of the employer itself. Because of this, many employers have started employer fitness and Corporate Wellness . By doing so, the company’s owners send a clear message to their staff members that fitness is a priority and ought to be taken seriously. Just by the fact that the employer is willing to spend money to start and maintain a Corporate Wellness indicates by itself that fitness equates to dollars and Corporate Wellness equates to healthy staff members.

No Smoking

A corporate fitness and Corporate Wellness can be as simple as a ‘no smoking’ policy to a menu of health and fitness services. Usually, the programs fall right in the middle. There are many fitness centers that provide Corporate Wellness . A employer has a variety of choices when it comes to deciding on how to deliver a Wellness plan.

• Hire an outside fitness trainer to deliver an employee program to an existing facility
• Utilize a professional in the original design of a new facility
• Design a Corporate Wellness manager responsible for coordinating the employer fitness program
• Use an online fitness trainer as a consultant

The first step in beginning any employer fitness and Corporate Wellness is to evaluate the condition of the staff members. The kind of work a employer does will drive the focus of the program. For example, a warehouse operation may be interested in starting employee strength to avert back and neck injuries. A building of office staff members with sedentary jobs will need aerobic conditioning. A employer program is customized to meet the needs of its staff members. Web-based fitness trainers are professionals at designing programs for different sized groups. They can adjust exercises and diets to any situation. They can also save a employer money by starting a plan that is streamlined yet effective.

Result Oriented

A employer fitness and Corporate Wellness has direct adavantages, not just for the staff members, but for the employer as well.

• Reduced Medical Care claims as employee health advances
• Reduced cases of obesity
• Less use of sick time
• Staff Members able to deal with stress better
• Stronger staff members less likely to be injured

It is not unusual to discover a fitness center in an office building anymore. Easy access to workout equipment and a fitness trainer encourages staff members to follow a program. By using an trainer, a employer can provide something for everyone – pregnant women, older staff members, walkers, active adults, mothers, overweight people, fathers and others.

Corporation Exercise Programs – A Merger Corporation fitness sounds like buzz words, but it has become an valuable concept in the work place. Staff Members in the employer world are willing to labor long and difficult hours. In exchange they expect the employer to be willing to make accommodations. A employer fitness plan is a comprehensive program that mergers employer and employee health needs.

Taking Stock

Organizations have a social responsibility. They take care of the environment, donate money to worthy causes and take part in school programs. But for many employers, the social awareness begins with their very own staff members. The staff members who are fit make better staff members. Research studies have shown that up to 75% of illness is related to lifestyle. So for a employer physical activity program to work it must teach staff members fitness as a comprehensive lifelong plan. Since we spend at least 1/3 of our day at work, it only makes sense to make fitness available at the worksite.

• Screen for problems that could drive to major health ailments in the future, such as Blood Pressure (BP) and glucose levels
• Train staff members on diet
• Analyze stress levels as a function of employment
• Make exercise equipment or classes available
• Provide adequate time for involvement in fitness programs
• Provide disease deterence programs such as immunization
• Provide incentive programs for program participation

On A Mission

There are many ways a employer can start a employer fitness plan. A professional employer can be hired to write a complete fitness plan. Or a professional can advocate a employer start a plan the employer developed. The professional assistance can be internet based, at the worksite, or at a health center. When a professional fitness employer is hired, staff members are judged based on their workload. Individual exercise plans are put into place and progress is monitored. Some employers hire a certified personal trainer to work directly with staff members on an ongoing basis at the worksite. Other employers pay for the services of a trainer at the nearest health center. To read what personal fitness can do for your employer visit this page. There are many choices a employer can choose from. Organizations frequently establish fitness plans that include employee families. For example, if the employer purchased a employer fitness center membership, families of staff members are given use of the facilities also. This promotes family unity in addition to fitness. Some employers pay for fitness plans in their entirety. Others only pay part and the employee pays the balance. There are elaborate plans that provide classes and group exercises and seminars. There are simpler plans that provide access to basic fitness facilities. But no matter what form the employer fitness plan takes, as a minimum, the program will instruct on nutrition and provide opportunity for exercises that tone, strengthen and improve flexibility. A employer that takes care of its staff members finds that the staff members will take care of the employer.