Employee Wellness SurveyEmployee Wellness Programs – Corporate Wellness Programs

Employee Health Promotion Programs – Staff Engagement Strategies

Employee Health Promotion Programs without employee engagement are useless to a business. How do you get employees to enroll in Employee Health Promotion Programs – and stay engaged in the programs?

The brochures for these programs discuss the benefits to employees and businesses. Employee Health Promotion Program statistics show that there are tangible benefits to a business for offering such programs. Employee Health Promotion Programs actually do save lives by getting workers to take their health seriously, increase productivity, decrease absenteeism and more.

However, St. Louis, Missouri-based Maritz Inc., the world’s largest incentive business, has applied their own invigorating twist to health management by providing gift rewards to employees who participate in Employee Health Promotion Programs. The wellness incentive reward program is Maritz’s own Exclusively Yours® plan. Health management participants earn points, which can be then redeemed for merchandise, electronics, restaurant vouchers and travel, much like a frequent-flier program.

Enrollment incentive rewards in Employee Health Promotion Programs?

Undoubtably businesses that don’t work in the incentive rewards industry will be tempted to cry foul about using such a rich carrot to incentivize health program enrollments. Not every business can throw that kind of money at health management resources – and not every business has the built-in savings as a business that specializes in providing incentive reward programs.

For certain rich incentive rewards like Maritz’s will break through the glaze that appears over many employees’ eyes when they’re encouraged to do something new, different or difficult. For many employees uncomfortable with health management and exercise, “new, different and difficult” would apply to Employee Health Promotion Programs. So where does that leave businesses who are unwilling or unable to offer incentive rewards for health management program enrollment?

Successful Employee Health Promotion Programs motivate employees – before and after signup

Employee Health Promotion Program administrators should keep the long-term view in mind when trying to get employees to take that vitally important first step. Even the best incentive rewards can fail in the face of faltering organization, badly-designed Employee Health Promotion Programs and wavering support. Make sure to run good Wellness surveys before you build your Employee Health Promotion Programs so staff member input and needs are being met by your Employee Health Promotion Programs. The goal is positive outcomes, not high enrollment numbers.

Employee Health Promotion Programs cannot survive managerial apathy. If executive and managerial participation is widespread and heartfelt, employees will follow their leadership. The potential rewards and Wellness benefits are clearly worth reaping, for both your organization and your co-workers.

Wellness might be the fatal flaw in your Employee Health Promotion Program. Is Wellness part of your strategy? Does worksite wellness stop when your employees leave the office?

Wellness Continuity

If employees don’t have the tools to pursue health and wellness on a Personal level, then it becomes easy for them to “fall off the wagon” and slide back into a unealthy lifestyles. If you have a walking program, for example, it should encourage employees to build walking routes near their homes, perhaps with the cooperation of the neighborhood association or coworkers who live in the neighborhood.

Employee Health Promotion Programs: Always on Your Mind

Your Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator should have “vacation wellbeing” as part of their job scope. In other words, you don’t want a Employee Health Promotion Program to stop at the boundaries of the worksite campus. Instead, integrate Personal health and wellness with your Employee Health Promotion Programs.

This will benefit the Employee Health Promotion Programs in a couple of ways:

it reduces the chance that the staff member will come back to the office feeling unfit, overwhelmed and unable to resume their Employee Health Promotion Programs; and
it shows that their organization is just as invested in their Personal health and wellness as they are

Like a marathon, Personal health and wellness is a long-term venture and it’s difficult for anyone to do in isolation. Simply put, it’s easier to maintain your health when you know others are depending on you and watching your Personal performance. It’s easier to stick to an exercise program when you have a jogging partner who wakes you up when you oversleep, or spots you when you’re lifting weights.

Similarly, it’s easier to stick to your Employee Health Promotion Program when you know your organization is supporting you and wishing you the best.

Don’t Dictate Personal Health

Just as Wellness surveys serve a vital function in building a Employee Health Promotion Program, it’s vitally important that you involve employees in designing an off-site wellness strategy. No one enjoys being told what to do, but everyone enjoys having assistance in tacking tough problems. Make it clear that employees are in charge of their own health and wellness. Your role as their health management partner is to support, advise, counsel, offer resources and information.

Of course, don’t forget that part of Personal health and wellness responsibility is to offer good health risk assessment baselines so employees can proceed safely on the road to better fitness.

Employee Health Promotion Programs: An Attainable Goal

Was Wellness on your organization’s new year’s resolutions list? Here we are a little over midway into the third month of 2008, the time when resolutions start to falter if they haven’t lost momentum completely. Has your Worksite’s wellness resolution fallen by the wayside? If so, there are still ways to get back on track.

One Wellness tip comes to us from the YMCA of Greater Des Moines, reported from the Jersey Shore. Rod Shirk, the YMCA’s chief financial officer, participated in the organization’s first executive Employee Health Promotion Program, which registered his cholesterol as higher than normal. That prompted him to get a physical, which showed high levels of a prostate-specific antigen that often indicates prostate cancer. The outcome? His doctors caught a life-threatening illness just in time.

Thanks Employee Health Promotion Program.

So of course, Shirk is a huge proponent of Employee Health Promotion Programs. He says, “For us here at the YMCA, if we are telling people to be healthy, we had better set a good example for our employees.”

Wellness Decreases Health Care Costs

Though cases like Shirk’s dramatic cancer save are the most desirable effect of Employee Health Promotion Programs, it isn’t the initial draw for businesses. They do it to lower medical care costs, and there’s no doubt that Employee Health Promotion Programs do just that. Employee Health Promotion Program Statistics show that Employee Health Promotion Programs return anywhere from $2.30 to $10.10 per dollar spent on wellness. “Health care costs should go down as people think about changing their diets and getting more active,” Shirk says.

The Employee Health Promotion Program savings aren’t just in the Medical Insurance department. Human resource departments report that Employee Health Promotion Programs also reduce absenteeism and increase productivity.

Still, businesses have been loath to invest that elusive Wellness dollar despite the well-documented returns. A Principal Financial Group and Harris Interactive survey found that only 10% of small- to medium-size businesses have made on-site Health Screenings – like the one that saved Shirk’s life – available to their employees.

Is It Necessary to Incent Organizations to Initiate Employee Health Promotion Programs?

Wellness incentive rewards may seem like an effective way to get employees excited about Employee Health Promotion Program – but is it wise?

This helps and encourages businesses to understand the importance of maintaining a healthy workforce, not only for the welfare of its employees, but as well as the welfare of the corporate bottom line … then, yes, it could be necessary.

Tax Breaks as Wellness incentive rewards

In 2007, two senators decided to band together to create the “Healthy Workforce Act.” This act is designed to encourage businesses to keep employees healthy and prevent disease. The senators believed that having a country focused on “well care” versus “sick care” would decrease the overall costs of medical care for everyone. They decided to start with America’s workforce.

The legislation, introduced by Oregon Senator Gordon Smith and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, states that businesses would receive a Wellness incentive reward – a fifty percent tax credit – if they offer to their employees a Employee Health Promotion Program that meets the following criteria:

 1) A health awareness and education component, which could include Health risk assessments and Health Screenings.
 2) A behavioral change component – such as counseling, seminars, or self-help materials to empower employees to lead healthier lifestyles.
 3) A supportive environment component – including providing meaningful incentive rewards to participating employees, such as a reduction in medical premiums or allowing employees to engage in walking Employee Health Promotion Programs during the workday.
 4) The creation of an staff member engagement committee – which would tailor the Employee Health Promotion Program to the needs of the workforce at a particular business.

If this law gets passed, many businesses will be scrambling to offer Employee Health Promotion Programs in hopes of receiving the Wellness incentive rewards.

Worksite Obesity: The Facts

Worksite obesity has become one of the fastest growing medical care problems in America. It is well known that America is considered one of the, if not “the”, heaviest countries in the world. This is largely in part due to fast food, un-healthy snacks and a very sedentary lifestyle. However, what many people are not aware of is that the rate of obesity in our country has doubled in the last 30 years and this weighs heavily on a organization’s bottom line.

According to a new report from The Conference Board, Weights and Measures: What organizations Should Know about Obesity, obese employees cost private businesses an estimated $45 billion annually. Here are some of the report’s findings:

Obesity is associated with a 36% increase in spending on medical care, more than smoking or problem drinking.
34% of adult United States citizens fit the definition of “obese”
Obesity related health problems are costing United States businesses millions of dollars annually in medical expenditures and work loss.

Worksite Obesity: How businesses Can Help

With the increase in obesity and organization costs associated with it, it is more and more imperative to establish a way to assist employees with their healthy living choices. Employee Health Promotion Programs can help businesses help their employees. By providing assistance with Health Screening, Health risk assessments and by conducting Employee Health Promotion Program surveys; Employee Health Promotion Programs allow the organization non-invasive ways to communicate their concerns about their staff member’s health.

We suggest establishing a Walking Employee Health Promotion Program to assist your employees in meeting their weight-loss goals. Walking Wellness is a program designed to get your employees away from their desk and get them outside for a little exercise. Keep it fun by having contests, setting up weight-loss teams and having organized healthy picnics.

What is a Employee Health Promotion Program Proposal?

You probably have seen the term many times and wondered what exactly does it mean. A Employee Health Promotion Program Proposal is a proposal put together by a wellness consultant that makes suggestions for what type of Employee Health Promotion Programs you should choose, what tools you will need to accomplish your corporation’s wellness goals, and costs associated with it.

Employee Health Promotion Program Proposals Assist Human Resource Departments

A Employee Health Promotion Program Proposal is a great thing to have in hand when HR Departments go to upper management to request funding for a Employee Health Promotion Program. It will offer necessary stats and trends, background information, and costs that will enable the HR Department to fully present their case. Upper management will appreciate the preparedness and the research that has gone into your wellness request.

Employee Health Promotion Program Proposals Lead to Better Employee Health Promotion Programs

A well thought out Employee Health Promotion Program Proposal can lead to a better Employee Health Promotion Program, because the building blocks will already be in place. Employee Health Promotion Program Proposals will guarantee that your corporation gets the proper Employee Health Promotion Program established. Employee Health Promotion Programs can vary greatly, but when your employees ask, you can tell them that they generally include the following:

 Walking programs which offers employees with incentive rewards to take their walking breaks at their worksite.
 Company teams, onsite yoga classes and massage therapists at the worksite.
 Nutrition advice, weight-loss and healthy cooking classes, stress management sessions, and either a Employee Health Promotion Program resources column in the staff member newsletter or a wellness newsletter.
 Stairwell initiatives to show how stair-walking can improve health.

Wellness Challenges Are Popping Up Everywhere

Wellness Challenges are definitely hot right now and they are encouraging more and more people to get healthy and live better. Whether it is a city or a school or a social group or even a whole state, competitive spirits are being ignited by the challenge to be the healthiest team. The Wellness Challenges are usually about a six months to a year in length and they are made up of several teams, these teams all get points for physical activity, selecting healthy foods, and just making better life and health choices overall.

The best part about Wellness Challenges is even though there really is only way “real” winner; everyone that participates in the challenge is a life winner.

Wellness Challenges offers incentive reward to Get Healthy

Establishing a Wellness Challenges in your office is a great way to get employees to participate in your established Employee Health Promotion Program. Have employees form teams and receive points for everything from attending a corporate Health and Wellness Fair to getting a health risk assessment to starting an exercise regimen. At the end of the year, the teams will win prizes based on the number of points they have accumulated.

Wellness Challenges Improve Corporate Health

Not only will Wellness Challenges improve the health of your employees, it will improve the overall health of the corporation by providing benefits such as reduced injuries, reduced frequency of worker’s comp, reduced medical care costs, better staff member attendance, and better corporate morale.

Like we said earlier, everyone is a winner in a Wellness Challenges!

The 61st annual World Health Assembly is taking place this week in Geneva, Switzerland and at this assembly; the World Health Organization (WHO) is presenting its report titled “Preventing Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) in the Workplace through Diet and Physical Activity.”

The report calls for Employee Health Promotion Programs to be promoted and implemented worldwide.

Importance of Employee Health Promotion Programs

The report states that Non-Communicable Disease related deaths have surpassed transferable disease related deaths and have become the leading global killers. Examples of Non-Communicable Disease’s are heart disease, diabetes and stroke. In 2005, 60% of worldwide projected deaths were caused by non-communicable diseases. They are predicting that this health trend will continue through at least 2030.

Diet, caloric intake, lack of physical activity and tobacco use are the major risk factors in the cause of Non-Communicable Disease’s. Now more than ever, the understanding of the importance of health and wellness is crucial.

Employee Health Promotion Programs are Effective Tools

The report states that Employee Health Promotion Programs are found to be effective in improving health-related risk factors, such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes. The report also states that Employee Health Promotion Programs will improve the health of employees, improve the corporate image, improve staff member morale, reduce staff member absences and sick leave, increase staff member productivity, and reduce corporate medical care costs.

Employee Health Promotion Programs Monitoring

Finally, the report mentions that to have a successful Employee Health Promotion Program, monitoring and evaluation through Health risk assessments and health outcomes are essential and should be included in the Employee Health Promotion Program implementation. The evaluations ensure that the Employee Health Promotion Program developed meets the proper needs of the employees. Staff Members should be reevaluated on an on-going basis to make sure the Employee Health Promotion Program is still working, or to see if there are any adjustments that need to be made.

Employee Health Promotion Program ROI: Fact or Fiction?

Employee Health Promotion Programs … do they offer a strong return on investment? This is a question that we are sure goes through ever organization’s mind. HR Magazine addresses the Employee Health Promotion Program ROI topic in their June 2008 issue.

Employee Health Promotion Program ROI: The Bottom Line

According to the article, titled “Finding Wellness’ Return on Investment,” determining Employee Health Promotion Program ROI is not an easy thing to do for businesses because it involves a lot of different variables and time.

However, the businesses that have taken the time to determine the Employee Health Promotion Program ROI of their Employee Health Promotion Programs have found that it is quite significant. Not to mention, the Wellness program’s effect on the improvement of staff member health and the slowing of the rate of their staff member medical care costs.

Employee Health Promotion Program ROI Alliance

Employee Health Promotion Program ROI is such an important part of today’s corporate culture, that several large businesses have come together to form the Alliance for Wellness ROI, Inc. According to the HR Magazine article, The Alliance for Wellness ROI was specifically created to address the lack of consistency in proving the value of Employee Health Promotion Programs.

The alliance, formed by BMW of North America, Henry Ford Health System, Kraft Foods Global, Schlumberger Limited and MasterCare Worldwide, strongly believes in showing the value of Employee Health Promotion Programs and want to develop a standard for how Employee Health Promotion Programs are measured.

Employee Health Promotion Programs Components

According the alliance, the following components should make up an corporate-provided staff member Employee Health Promotion Program:

 Employee assistance Programs (EAPs)
 Disease Management Program
 Fitness and exercise Programs
 Health risk assessments
 Onsite medical care Programs
 Personal wellness profiles
 Preventive Health Screenings and immunizations
 Smoking-cessation Programs
 Telephone based Employee Health Promotion Programs
 Weight Management and Weight Loss Programs
 Self-Care Programs.

Wellness During the Summer

Wellness is important year-round; however if your employees haven’t gotten on the Wellness bandwagon, then now is the perfect time to get them there.

Summer is an ideal time of year to get back into shape and improve overall Wellness.  The weather is beautiful, employees can get outside and they are motivated by the thought of having to wear clothes with less coverage.  Fitness, or lack of fitness, is apparent in the summer.

Wellness in the Summer has Advantages

There are many advantages to starting a Employee Health Promotion Program in the Summer.  Employees are more likely to get outside and walk or participate in group activities during the summer than they are in the cooler months of the fall and winter.  The summer months are also a great time to establish a Wellness challenge with your employees and celebrate the completion of the challenge with a participant picnic or cookout.  Finally, it always seems easier to eat healthy during the summer with all the fresh vegetables and fruits that are available during this time.

Employee Health Promotion Program Kick-off

We recommend following these steps when starting a Employee Health Promotion Program in your office.

 Pick a wellness coordinator for the Employee Health Promotion Program who is willing and able to see it through.
 Ensure that you have the support of corporate leadership.
 Create a Wellness committee
 Use a Employee Health Promotion Program survey to uncover the obstacles and goals of your Employee Health Promotion Program
 Provide Health risk assessments
 Analyze the Employee Health Promotion Program and changes as needed
 Do not forget to stress that the Employee Health Promotion Program is for the workers.  Employee Health Promotion Programs have been found to prevent obesity, cancer, heart disease and hypertension.  participating in a Employee Health Promotion Program that offers all that should be an easy decision for the corporation and for the employees.