How to Organize a Worksite Wellness

1. 1. Undertake a utilization assessment – While corporations can’t obtain medical information on individual employees, insurance providers will supply corporations with reports that detail patterns and rates of employee use for things such as physician visits, hospital stays and prescription use. This information is critical for a organization to set a benchmark of its current health risk status. Data from human resources(HR) can be integrated with benefits information to support a complete picture of employees’ health-related costs. Then, corporations can determine the specific level of behavior change necessary to result in cost savings. The utilization assessment helps a organization identify the areas in which it must focus its Worksite Wellness to reap the greatest benefits.
2. 2. Build a organization case – Once a utilization assessment is in place, corporations are able to quantify the Medical Care cost savings that will result from specific levels of lifestyle change and risk reduction. This can be done by setting goals and 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 Worksite 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 percent of employees 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. 3. Organize a cross-functional wellness group – Employers need to identify potential group participants who can be champions of wellness within the organization. It is important that the group is representative of the demographic and functional diversity of employees so that it can credibly address any specific needs groups may have. This group will serve as the voice and face for the Worksite Wellness within the organization. Best practice corporations integrate participants from human resources(HR), communications, organization development and upper management. Using the utilization analysis as a guide, the wellness group must evaluate what programs would be most effective within each particular corporate culture, aligning health-risk priorities with initiatives that employees will be receptive to.
4. 4. Build buy-in from upper management – The most effective Worksite Wellness have backing from the highest levels of a organization. Backing from management, both in words and in action, sends the message that Worksite Wellness are a priority for a organization. The utilization analysis can be a powerful tool to build the organization case for Worksite Wellness and convince executives that initiatives are worthy of investment and attention. Meaningful wellness-related messages are integrated into organization talks and aligned with corporate objectives.
5. 5. Organize a all-inclusive Employee Engagement plan – The most brilliantly conceived Worksite Wellness is meaningless if no employees take part. Effective wellness talks emphasize both health and monetary benefits at the personal and organization level. According to a 2004 survey by Towers Perrin, only 28 percent of employees say their organization communicates about Medical Care problems other than cost. In addition, wellness-related information must be a part of existing organization talks efforts and not coupled solely with benefits talks. This helps elevate the significance of Worksite Wellness and align initiatives with organization objectives.

Furthermore, talks around Worksite Wellness can share personal success stories and support organization progress updates. Successful corporations 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 permits for the sharing of best practices within the organization. Many corporations engage medical professionals to advise in the construction, communication and backing of the program. The use of outside authorities such as these will broaden the credibility of the Worksite Wellness as well as combat skepticism from employees who may view the organization’s motives as merely selfserving. Another strategy available to corporations is to brand their Worksite Wellness . This move can broaden the visibility and acceptance of the offering. Branded wellness programs are most common when corporations are also promoting an external campaign around Worksite Wellness . An example of this is PepsiCo, which launched its HealthRoads Worksite 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, Worksite Wellness within corporations. This creates more immediate accountability and motivation.

6. 6. Measure constantly and consistently – At every step of implementation, a Worksite Wellness must be able to show its value to a organization. Worksite Wellness must be designed to allow corporations to set benchmarks and evaluate behavior change. Assessment ought to consider not only quantitative health measures, but also qualitative measures of stress and employee engagement. Less than ten percent of corporations do extensive management of healthcare cost, employee health risk status or employee satisfaction with benefit offerings, and less than half of corporations do any measurement in these areas at all.16

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

• Participation rates
• Increased employee engagement
• Reduction of risk status
• Reduction of direct health costs
• Decreased absenteeism
• Fewer disability claims

Motorola’s Saenz advises administrators of Worksite Wellness to track as many measures as possible from the start, even if management only needs 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 employees. 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 percent of corporations don’t know how effective existing Worksite Wellness are regarding various outcomes. Employers must lead utilization analyses annually and reevaluate Worksite Wellness priorities based upon changes. In Addition, progress must be shared with the wider business community to build backing for initiatives. Managers and executives throughout a organization are likely to backing a program that can prove increased work rate among employees. Effective Worksite Wellness are designed to be fl exible so they can respond to changes in both organization goals and objectives and larger health variations.