How to Design a Corporate Wellness

1. 1. Undertake a utilization assessment – While employers can’t obtain health information on individual staff members, insurance providers will supply employers with reports that detail patterns and rates of employee use for things such as physician visits, hospital stays and prescription drug use. This information is essential for a employer to set a benchmark of its current health risk status. Data from human resources(HR) can be integrated with benefits information to provide a complete picture of employees’ health-related costs. Then, employers can determine the specific level of behavior transformation necessary to result in cost savings. The utilization assessment helps a employer identify the areas in which it ought to focus its Corporate Wellness to reap the greatest benefits.
2. 2. Build a employer case – Once a utilization assessment is in place, employers are able to quantify the Medical Care cost savings that will result from specific levels of lifestyle transformation and risk reduction. This can be done by setting goals/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 Corporate Wellness as well as the necessary internal marketing efforts that will surround the program. Says Betty-Jo Saenz, United States Medical Care Strategy lead for Motorola, “When we started our programs, our focus was on the 20% of staff members that made up 80% of the costs. We’ve discussed that, and now we’re paying attention to those who are healthy and Finding Wealth Through Wellness 8 keeping them healthy. Wherever you are on the continuum, there are opportunities.”
3. 3. Design a cross-functional wellness team – Organizations need to identify potential team members who can be champions of wellness within the employer. It is valuable that the team is representative of the demographic and functional diversity of staff members so that it can credibly address any specific needs groups may have. This team will serve as the voice and face for the Corporate Wellness within the employer. Best practice employers integrate members from human resources(HR), communications, employer development and upper management. Using the utilization analysis as a model, the wellness team 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. 4. Build buy-in from upper management – The most effective Corporate Wellness have backing from the highest levels of a employer. Support from management, both in words and in action, sends the message that Corporate Wellness are a priority for a employer. The utilization analysis can be a powerful tool to build the employer case for Corporate Wellness and convince executives that initiatives are worthy of investment and attention. Meaningful wellness-related messages are integrated into employer communications and aligned with corporate objectives.
5. 5. Design a comprehensive Employee Program Engagement plan – The most brilliantly conceived Corporate Wellness is meaningless if no staff members take part. Effective wellness communications emphasize both health and monetary benefits at the personal and employer level. According to a 2004 survey by Towers Perrin, only 28% of staff members say their employer communicates about Medical Care problems other than cost. In addition, wellness-related information ought to be a part of existing employer communications efforts and not coupled solely with benefits communications. This helps elevate the significance of Corporate Wellness and align initiatives with employer objectives.

Moreover, communications around Corporate Wellness can share personal success stories and provide employer progress updates. Successful employers not only use existing talking channels to generate discussion around activities, but also consider more interactive tools like message boards, forums, blogs and wikis. This helps personalize initiatives and allows for the sharing of best practices within the employer. Most employers engage health care experts to advise in the construction, communication and backing of the program. The use of outside authorities such as these will increase the credibility of the Corporate Wellness as well as combat skepticism from staff members who may view the employer’s motives as merely selfserving. Another strategy available to employers is to brand their Corporate Wellness . This move can increase the visibility and acceptance of the offering. Branded wellness programs are most common when employers are also promoting an external campaign around Corporate Wellness . An example of this is PepsiCo, which launched its HealthRoads Corporate Wellness 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, Corporate Wellness within employers. This establishes more immediate accountability and motivation. 6. Measure constantly and consistently – At every step of implementation, a Corporate Wellness must be able to corroborate its value to a employer. Corporate Wellness ought to be designed to allow employers to set benchmarks and evaluate behavior transformation. Assessment ought to consider not only quantitative health measures, but also qualitative measures of stress and employee engagement. Less than ten% of employers do extensive management of health care cost, employee health risk status or employee satisfaction with benefit offerings, and less than half of employers do any assessment in these areas at all.16 Assessment is only useful if a employer explicitly specifies what data would constitute success. Potential measures of success cover:

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

Motorola’s Saenz advises administrators of Corporate Wellness 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 assessment is the only way to build backing among management and staff members. Nearly half of employers feel a lack of useful data is a top barrier to their ability to manage employee health, and at least 20% of employers don’t know how effective existing Corporate Wellness are regarding various outcomes. Organizations ought to conduct utilization analyses each year and reevaluate Corporate Wellness priorities based upon changes. Additionally, progress ought to be shared with the wider business community to build backing for initiatives. Managers and executives throughout a employer are likely to backing a program that can prove increased productiveness among staff members. Effective Corporate Wellness are designed to be fl exible so they can respond to changes in both employer goals/objectives and larger health variations.