Employee Health and Wellness

Employee Health Promotion Programs: A Long-Term Committment

“Employee Health Promotion Programs” – what does that phrase mean to you? To many of us, it evokes an array of ambivalent thoughts — the gym membership we barely used, the nagging ankle injury from last year’s organization picnic, the backaches, the bratwurst we had for lunch, the love handles and of course, the fad diets that failed us or that we failed. Usually, Employee Health Promotion Programs is a guilt trigger that causes us to feel remorse about our bodies and the health management we know we should be doing for them.

The sad fact is that we live in a society where our survival is dependent on sitting at a desk, not hunting game, picking berries and sprinting away from wolves. We also live in such luxury, nutritionally, that we can gain weight steadily without being wealthy. Cardiovascular disease, obesity and bad nutrition cause most of the heath issues that weigh down employee attendance and erode a company’s productivity.

It’s ironic that the poorest societies in the world – the ones furthest from the conveniences of modern life – often have the fittest, most physically hardy members. And as for the animal kingdom — don’t look there for commiseration. In the wild, it is extremely rare to find an animal that suffers from our kind of wellness issues.

Prescription Medication dependency degrades Health and Wellness

It doesn’t help that United States citizens are descending into a deadly love affair with drugs — and drug testing won’t help you with these drugs.

For example, Greg Critser’s book Generation RX details how United States citizens spend about $180 billion dollars on Prescription Medications each year, with the estimated 2011 tally at a whopping $414 billion. The average number of Prescription Medications per American in 2004 stood at twelve.

Twelve! That means that your average employee is taking 14, 18, or even more than 20 medications in an attempt to improve their Health and Wellness.

Is this effective, though? Critser is not convinced that the prescription drugs help United States health. In fact, he points out a bevy of negative consequences for America’s legal prescription drug addition, which include prescription drug interactions, liver damage, and the legions of people who now depend on prescription drugs to deal with ordinary trials and stresses.

An employer has the potential to improve Health

It’s not all bad news, though. Occupational Health Screening and Biometric Testings and well-designed Employee Health Promotion Programs can help you fight the downward spiral for you and your workforce. In fact, good Employee Health Promotion Programs – like a strong walking Employee Health Promotion Programs initiative – can literally save lives and reduce the symptoms that cause staff members to turn to prescription drugs in the first place.

Employee Health Promotion Programs: The Grand Slam

Employee Health Promotion Programs are as close to a grand slam proposition as you’ll find, according to most researchers and Employee Health Promotion Program experts.

But if you have skeptics in your organization who are questioning the time and expense of beginning an Employee Health Promotion Program, you may be wary too. Aren’t employee Employee Health Promotion Programs subject to the adage “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”?

Employee Health Promotion Programs Don’t Have To Be Expensive

Fortunately, employee Employee Health Promotion Programs don’t require a big investment. Like any other corporate project, mismanagement and “death by committee” can inflate the cost of Employee Health Promotion Programs, but it’s hard to spend too much time and money on them. After all, Employee Health Promotion Programs are mostly informational in nature. Flyers, e-mails, maps, and Employee Health Promotion Program Health and Wellness Fairs can only cost so much. There’s no expensive, specialized Employee Health Promotion Program machinery.

Employee Health Promotion Program statistics on successful programs are particularly persuasive. Unlike many cost-saving measures, Employee Health Promotion Programs actually add to employee satisfaction – but they also reduce Medical Insurance premiums and employee absenteeism.

What are some common Employee Health Promotion Programs?

Employee Health Promotion Programs run the gamut, depending on your worksite demographic, from exercise for health patients to nutritional initiatives that encourage workers to replace unhealthy snack foods with healthy fare like dried fruit and shelled nuts.

Here are some examples of Employee Health Promotion Programs:

 ergonomic safety
 cardiovascular disease education and testing
 employee safety
 Health Risk Appraisals
 walking Employee Health Promotion Programs
 drug testing

Employee Health Promotion Program ROI: Fact or Fiction?

Employee Health Promotion Programs … do they provide a strong return on investment? This is a question that we are sure goes through ever company’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 companies 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 employee health and the slowing of the rate of their employee medical care expenses.

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 Henry Ford Health Systems, BMW of North America, 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 employee Employee Health Promotion Program:

 Employee assistance Programs
 Disease Management Programs (DM)
 Fitness and exercise Programs
 Health Risk Appraisals
 Workplace medical care Programs
 Individual wellness profiles
 Preventive Health Screening and Biometric Testings and immunizations
 Smoking-cessation Programs
 Telephone based Employee Health Promotion Programs
 Weight loss and weight management Programs
 Self-Care Programs.

Employee Health Promotion Programs are proven to improve productivity and reduce medical care costs.  For a business, that makes a difference in the bottom-line. Today, more than 81 percent of America’s businesses with 50 or more employees have some form of Employee Health Promotion Program with the most popular being exercise, tobaccos cessation classes, back care programs, and stress management. Most corporations offer Employee Health Promotion Programs simply because they think the benefit is worth the cost. Yet business leaders continue to ask themselves how to control huge annual increases in medical insurance premiums and medical care costs.

For many businesses, health costs can consume half of corporate profits or more. Some employer’s look to cost sharing, cost shifting, managed care plans, risk rating, and cash-based rebates or incentives. But these methods merely shift costs. Only Employee Health Promotion Programs stand out as the long-term answer for keeping employees well in the first place.

Employee Health Promotion Programs are an example of medical care reform that works. Results from America’s finest businesses, summarized here, are reason enough to consider providing Employee Health Promotion Programs.  This investment in your most important asset – your employees – can have a positive impact on your bottom-line.

Employee Health Promotion Program Statistics:

Providence Everett Medical Center, a member of the WELCOA, in Everett, Washington, saved an estimated 3 million or a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 3.8 over 9 years of an outcomes-based Employee Health Promotion Program. By providing financial incentives ($250 – $325) to employees who meet specific organizational and employee health initiatives the Employee Health Promotion Program continues to meet cost containment expectations in the area of medical care use, sick time, injuries, while improving health habits and self-care practices. 

During the first 4 years of the Employee Health Promotion Program there was a 28 percent average reduction in medical care utilization compared to nine other Providence hospitals that were used as a control group. 

Du Pont saw that each dollar invested in their Employee Health Promotion Program returned $1.42 over two years in reduced absenteeism costs at Du Pont Co. (Well worksite Gold in Delaware). Absences from illness unrelated to the job among 45,000 blue-collar employees dropped 14 percent at 41 industrial sites where the Employee Health Promotion Program was offered, compared with a 5.8 percent decline at 19 sites where it was not. 

The Travelers Corporation claims a $3.40 return for every dollar invested Employee Health Promotion Programs, yielding total corporate savings of $146 million in benefits costs. Sick leave was reduced 19 percent during the four-year study. In addition to improving the overall health of 36,000 employees and retirees by lowering poor health habits and increasing good ones, The Travelers realized cost savings by decreasing the number of unnecessary visits to a doctor and emergency rooms. In a similar but smaller study, members of a Travelers fitness center Employee Health Promotion Program were absent from work significantly fewer days than non-members. 

The Employee Health Promotion Program at Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company, based in Las Vegas, cost $76.24 per employee during the two years it has been in operation. Over half of the 1,600 employees took part in the Employee Health Promotion Program. Participants significantly lowered cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and weight and experienced 21 percent lower lifestyle-related claim costs than non-participant. Resulting savings: $127.89 per participant in the Employee Health Promotion Program with a benefit to cost ratio of 1.68 to 1. 

Superior Coffee and Foods, a Bensenville, Illinois-based subsidiary of Sara Lee Corporation, attributes impressive results to the success of the business’s complete Employee Health Promotion Program. Superior showed 22 percent fewer admissions to a hospital, 29 percent shorter hospital stays, and 42 percent lower expenses per admission when comparing costs for this division’s 1,200 employees with costs for other divisions. Long-term disability costs were down by 40 percent. 

With health costs per employee at $6,000, nearly twice the national average, Union Pacific Railroad introduced their Employee Health Promotion Program to its 28,000 employees, mostly union and blue collar, in 19 Western and Southern states. Beginning with a modest health self-care initiative at an annual cost of $50 per person, the Employee Health Promotion Program achieved a net savings of $1.26 million. In addition, a voluntary Employee Health Promotion Program to help employees decrease health risks projected a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.57 after one year. Staff Members in a treatment group decreaseed their risk of high blood pressure (45 percent) and high cholesterol (34 percent); others moved out of the at-risk range for weight problems (30 percent); and 21 percent stopped using tobacco. 

Average health costs of high-risk Steelcase employees- those whose lifestyles include two to four health risks such as smoking, little exercise, overweight- are 75 percent higher than those of low-risk employees. But high-risk employees at this Grand Rapids, Michigan-furniture manufacturing business who improved their health habits through the company’s Employee Health Promotion Program and became low risk cut their average health claims in half thus lowering their health insurance costs by an average of $618 per year. If all high-risk employees (20 percent of the total employee population) in one location changed their lifestyles to become low risk, the projected savings could total $20 million over three years. 

Staff Members at Berk-Tec, a small manufacturing business in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, learned self-care techniques and decreaseed their business’s medical care costs in one year. By using a self-care guide, the 938 employees and their family members made smart health decisions and saved $21.67 per employee and dependent a nearly 18 percent reduction in costs. By combining reductions in doctor visits and emergency room use, the business saved $39.06 per employee a 24.3 percent decrease in costs over the previous year. 

A health claims-based study of 72,000 people insured through 285 Wisconsin school districts found a reduced demand for health services among those with access to Employee Health Promotion Programs and self-care programs. Reductions in health services results in savings for the Wisconsin Education Insurance Group of as much as $4.75 for each $1 spent, higher savings were found in the group receiving access to a 24-hour phone-based nurse advice line, a self-care reference book, and health education materials. 

CIGNA’s Healthy Babies prenatal Employee Health Promotion Program delivered an average savings of $5,000 per birth by providing expectant mothers with educational materials and rewarding early and regular prenatal care. And 80 percent of participants had normal births without complications compared with 50 percent for non-participant. 

With savings estimated to be as high as $8 million, the California Public Staff Members’ Retirement System sent its 55,000 retirees a health risk appraisal followed, in some cases, with individualized reports and letters and self-care materials to encourage change and help reduce health risks among retirees and at the same time reduce the medical care claim costs. In another study, Bank of America retirees in California who chose the full Employee Health Promotion Program and demand reduction program showed a decrease in total direct and indirect costs of 11 percent compared with a rise of 6.3 percent for those who completed only a simple health questionnaire. 

With reduced medical care claims, health costs decreased 16 percent for staff members in the City of Mesa (Arizona) who took part in the complete Employee Health Promotion Program. The city realized a return of $3.60 for every dollar invested in the wellnss program for the city staff members. 

To prevent back injuries among its staff members, a county in California targeted white- and blue-collar employees, offered classes and fitness training. As a result, there was a significant increase in employee morale, reduced worker’s comp claims, health costs and sick days related to back injuries producing a net cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.79.

Employee Health Promotion Programs: Results

Employee Health Promotion Programs provide Long-Term Results

Employee Health Promotion Programs, according to an article in Crain’s Detroit Business, come in two choices:  Employee Health Promotion Programs or Medical Insurance products that aim to lower costs if healthy habits are followed.  Both options are good, but only one will really provide long-term health benefits for your staff members and lower costs over the years.

Employee Health Promotion Programs provide Help

Insurance-based products provide staff members the opportunity, according to the article by Jay Green, to save money on their premiums if they follow certain steps, including performing an internet-based health assessment, visiting their physician, and agree to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  These plans usually involve one coach call to the employee during the first 90 days.  We wonder if these brief wellness encounters will actually change a person’s lifestyle.

It is the overall change in a person’s lifestyle, as well as disease prevention that will lead to lower medical cots in the future.

Employee Health Promotion Programs provide convenient health risk assessments and screening tests for things like diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure.  As the article states, these have initial start-up costs, but the savings accrue over time and staff members are more likely to stay active in an onsite employee Health Promotion Program.

Employee Health Promotion Programs Get Results

Finally, the article states that companies with an effective Employee Health Promotion Program can expect to see “500 percent lower absenteeism, 400 percent fewer disability claims, and 350 percent lower medical care costs.”  These are numbers that are very hard to argue with.

Employee Health Promotion Programs begin and end with individual health. Individuals, after all, are able to make decisions about maintaining and / or improving their health and wellbeing. Employee Employee Health Promotion Programs must therefore provide the tools and resources required to assist and motivate individuals to actively participate in the program.

Individual health is only one component of beginning employee Employee Health Promotion Programs. Below you’ll find some things to assist you in your efforts to develop a healthy atmosphere for you and your coworkers.

Encouraging Your Employer to Begin an Employee Health Promotion Program

This is the first step in beginning a Employee Health Promotion Program. In recent times more and more corporations are beginning to see the value of promoting and supporting the health of their employees. Partnership for Prevention, a nonprofit organization, has released a sourcebook called “Healthy Workforce 2010″ (http://www.wellnessproposals.com/pdfs/tool_kits/healthy_workforce_2010.pdf). This sourcebook is an excellent resource containing information on:
 • Benefits of Employee Health Promotion Programs
 • Suggestions on where to begin
 • Tools like surveys and assessment forms

These resources are for both corporations and employees to lead the development and assess the effectiveness of their new Employee Health Promotion Program. Offer it to your employer as a place to begin or read it yourself and present your ideas.

Taking Part in Employee Health Promotion Programs

Once you have an employee Employee Health Promotion Program established, participating fully in all aspects of the program is important. Many of us know that we need to more actively engage in Employee Health Promotion Programs to improve our health, yet have difficulty finding and taking the time to do so. These simple steps can jumpstart your participation in an employee Employee Health Promotion Program:
 • Examine the offerings that interest you and that you need for health  improvement.
 • Schedule time to go to the presentation or service.
 • Actively following through with recommendations from the program.
 • Make a decision now to improve your health. You will feel better today and tomorrow and the next day for actively moving towards wellness.

Here is a list of potential Employee Health Promotion Programs that might be available to you at work:
 • ergonomic evaluations and training classes
 • lactation rooms and classes
 • prenatal education program
 • quiet rooms for relaxation
 • stress management programs
 • onsite fitness centers
 • chair massage
 • nutritional information
 • onsite primary medical care services
 • child care facility or resources and referral service
 • smoking cessation programs parenting classes
 • elder care resource and referral service
 • cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose screening programs
 • flu vaccination
 • weight management programs
 • medical care consumerism programs
 • work/life programs
 • lifestyle coaching
 • mobile mammography

More information to follow in my next posting about Employee Employee Health Promotion Programs

There are a number of reasons why a Employee Health Promotion Program is beneficial.

1. Enhanced Morale – When the organizational culture begins to change as a result the Employee Health Promotion Program, you and your employees may actually begin to see and feel a new level of energy within the employer.  Ultimately, one of the most ambitious goals of any complete Employee Health Promotion Program is to attempt to influence the attitudes and actions of the employer’s most valuable resource — its employees.

2. Decreased Turnover – As we all know, employee replacement costs can be quite high for any kind of business.  The effort and expense associated with running employment ads, reading applications, checking references, interviewing qualified candidates, hiring and training a new employee can be a serious burden on any business.  In light of the challenges that high employee turnover pose, many businesses are looking to Employee Health Promotion Programs as an additional perk that can help to prevent employees from jumping ship.

3. Increased Recruitment Potential – In the midst of a very tight labor market, businesses are forced to pull out the stops in order to recruit new talent.  In some instances, Employee Health Promotion Programs can prove to be a very valuable tool in sealing the deal.

4. Decreased Absenteeism – When an employee misses work in a business setting, the entire employer is forced to absorb his/her responsibilities.  Even in the event of the occasional absence caused by things like colds and the flu, work can back-up and tensions can build.

 Even worse is a long-term absence caused by a major health event that requires hospitalization and/or rehabilitation.  By preventing certain types of illness caused by poor lifestyle habits, Employee Health Promotion Programs can play an important role in lowering absenteeism.

5. Healthcare Cost Containment – Most businesses don’t create a Employee Health Promotion Program with cost containment in mind.  However, cost containment for certain health problems should be considered a viable goal by many businesses.

6. Enhanced Staff Member Health Status – One of the greatest advantages of a well-designed Employee Health Promotion Program is the promise of improved health.  There is a growing body of evidence that suggests well-designed Employee Health Promotion Programs can successfully impact such behaviors as smoking, high-risk alcohol use, seatbelt use and more.

It is important to measure the effectiveness of all Employee Health Promotion Programs. There are several very simple ways to measure Employee Health Promotion Programs:

How many attended the corporate health and Employee Health Promotion Program, and was there participation or a visible level of interest?

Use a short and simple pen and paper assessment that people fill out at the end of the Employee Health Promotion Program /presentation. Statements that are rated on a scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree) will give valuable information. Ask about:
 • The value of the Employee Health Promotion Programs to the individual
 • The style of the presenter
 • The presenter’s knowledge of the topic
 • The level of knowledge gained by the employee
 • Other areas that would be of interest for future Employee Health Promotion Programs

Examples of Questions about Employee Health Promotion Programs
 • This program provided me with information and/or skills I will use.
 • The presenter was knowledgeable about the subject matter.
 • There was adequate time for questions.
 • The methods used to present the information were effective.

Open-ended questions about Employee Health Promotion Programs may include:
 • The best component of this Employee Health Promotion Program was…
 • The component that needed improvement was….
 • I would attend another Employee Health Promotion Program by this speaker…
 • Topics I would like to see included in other presentations or Wellness Programs…

This would be a process assessment that reviews how well the Employee Health Promotion Programs were started. It is also important to look at health outcomes and cost outcomes of Employee Health Promotion Programs.

More in-depth information about the cost-effectiveness of Employee Health Promotion Programs can be found by analyzing data before and after Employee Health Promotion Programs concerning medical care claims, workers’ comp claims, sick time, productivity levels, etc. Health outcomes for Employee Health Promotion Programs can be measured by looking at health claims and sick time.

It is also important to look at the impact of Employee Health Promotion Programs on family members. For example, smoking by pregnant mothers may lead to the birth of a severely impaired child. This could cost an employer or health plan hundreds of thousands of dollars, an expense that could have been avoided with well-designed Employee Health Promotion Programs.

You can also compare the cost per employee of running the Employee Health Promotion Programs to the savings per employee. One assessment of Employee Health Promotion Programs involving 20,000 to 25,000 employees at New York City-based Citibank showed a return of $6.70 for every dollar the business invested in Employee Health Promotion Programs. The findings were based on a study of health costs and absenteeism.1

An ongoing assessment of your Employee Health Promotion Programs should be performed each year and additional periodic evaluations of Employee Health Promotion Programs should be conducted on an ad hoc basis. An ad hoc assessment of your Employee Health Promotion Programs might be initiated by a variety of triggers. For example, at the end of flu season, a business might want to measure its flu shot program.

Employee retention is a challenge. Employee Health Promotion Programs can help. providing perks such as incentives to exercise, healthy food, and stress management and weight loss programs at work is a way to maintain your employees satisfied.

Attracting new staff members are also a challenge, and anything you can do to “stand out” from other employees is to your advantage. Remember, salary isn’t everything. Often, the possibility of flex hours or a discount at the local gym may be the deciding factor for a future employee. Once again, Employee Health Promotion Programs to the rescue!

How Are Employee Health Promotion Programs Administered?

Whether running small Employee Health Promotion Programs in-house or using outside corporate wellness businesses to oversee the whole thing, program promotion is vital. You may have a great speaker come in to talk about a very “hot topic,” but if no one knew about it, it was a waste of the speaker’s time and your money.

Corporate Employee Health Promotion Program setup and promotion go hand and hand. Depending on the size of your business, it may be handled by one person or an entire corporate wellness team. You may even have an employee who is interested in physical fitness and would love to organize some educational wellness presentations and activities.

Other employees may have areas of interest and would be willing to set up some educational programs. Especially for smaller corporations, once you have chosen your events and activities, it is best to set up a calendar with a schedule of events. Then publish the entire calendar as well as announcing each individual event as it comes up.

Access to Employee Health Promotion Programs

To make access easy, offer a wide range of Employee Health Promotion Programs and activities that can fit into everyone’s schedule. For example, some employees may find it difficult to get to a presentation at work or make a commitment for 8 weeks of the Weight Watchers at Work program. However, they will take advantage of a reduced rate at the gym and will borrow tapes from the health and wellness library.

If you have shifts, remember to schedule events for the after 5:00 group. Nothing will undermine Employee Health Promotion Programs more quickly than promoting great activities that are only convenient for first shift employees.

What Are Employee Health Promotion Programs?

Employee Health Promotion Programs are designed to promote and support employee health and wellness through education and awareness programs primarily based at the worksite. The program is a win-win in that employees benefit from learning and staying well, and the employer has increased loyalty and less absenteeism.

As corporations become more aware of the importance of employee health on productivity, there is increased interest in encouraging and supporting healthy lifestyle choices. Employer costs for Employee Health Promotion Programs may rapidly be offset with fewer work-related injuries, improved attendance, less turnover, and increased morale.

Types of Employee Health Promotion Programs

Employee Health Promotion Programs: Lunch and Learn Wellness Presentations

The easiest Employee Health Promotion Programs are one’s where the employer arranges to have quarterly seminars during lunchtime on topics such as stress management, nutrition, and exercise. A local mental health clinic, hospital, or the Employee Assistance Program (Employee Assistance Program) may provide these. This type of corporate health and Employee Health Promotion Program is usually arranged through HR, the health department, or the safety manager. Participation is generally voluntary.

Before deciding on topics for wellness presentations, it is a good idea to do some type of employee polling to see what topics people are interested in. This may be as simple as an e-mail to all staff asking for suggestions or as formal as having an outside group come in to conduct interviews and design a complete corporate health and Employee Health Promotion Program.

Employee Health Promotion Programs: Health Risk Assessments

An employer can provide complete Health Risk Assessments for employees. Health Risk Assessments are detailed questionnaires that covers all areas of behavior (seatbelt use, smoking, alcohol use, frequency of exercise, family history of disease and illness, etc.). This is usually done in conjunction with employee health screening for things like cholesterol and blood sugar screening.

Once the Health Risk Assessments are scored, the results are shared with employees along with suggestions for changes. The employer is able to get aggregate statistics that will show trends that he or she may want to address. For example, if a lot of people have high blood pressure, the employer may consider an educational seminar, biweekly onsite blood pressure readings, and low-salt, low-fat selections in the cafeteria or snack machines as interventions to include in the corporate health and Employee Health Promotion Program.

If the Health Risk Assessments show that there is a “trend” toward not wearing seatbelts, perhaps having the State police come in and give a presentation about what occurs in an accident when you don’t have a seatbelt on would change some behavior.

Employee Health Promotion Programs: smoking Cessation

smoking cessation programs are very popular components of Employee Health Promotion Programs. Often, the local chapter of the American Cancer Society or American Lung Association will come in to run a group. Another option is for employees to attend a smoking cessation group in the community. Costs for the smoking cessation group can be offset by the employer after employees complete the program.

Employee Health Promotion Programs: Stress Management

Stress is a major area of concern for corporations. Stressed out employees get sick more frequently, make more errors, and generally do not perform up to capacity. As a result, Employee Health Promotion Programs frequently take steps to address employee stress. There are many ways to address stress within your Employee Health Promotion Programs, and the beauty of these ideas is that everyone can benefit from them.

Certainly, stress management seminars are educational and informative and should be included in any corporate health and Employee Health Promotion Program.

Employee Health Promotion Programs and Work/Life Programs

Many corporations offer a work/life program that offers assistance with things from finding day care for a child or elderly parent and information on obscure college scholarship funds to information on which PC to buy and where to find someone to walk your dog. These programs fit into Employee Health Promotion Programs because they help your employees handle many of the things that are taking up work time and increasing stress.

Employee Health Promotion Programs and Employee Assistance Programs

An Employee Assistance Programs are integral parts of effective Employee Health Promotion Programs. By helping employees address personal/mental health problems and concerns, an Employee Assistance Program can go a long way toward improving overall health and productivity. Representatives from your Employee Assistance Program can also work closely with you to design Employee Health Promotion Programs that are integrated and effective.

Time Management and Employee Health Promotion Programs

Time is one of our most precious commodities, and anything you can do as an employer to help your employees manage their time is going to be welcome. Although not traditionally thought to be a component of Employee Health Promotion Programs, providing flextime and telecommuting are two ways to decrease stress and increase productivity.

These programs take thought and planning and are not appropriate for all employees or all positions; however, in many worksites, they are underused. Either your HR manager or an outside consultant can help you design a program. If you belong to a business group or Chamber of Commerce, you may find assistance there. Also, talk to colleagues who are doing this in their businesses to see how it is working.

The Culture of Wellness

Staff Member wellness has to be a component of your company culture, not just something you throw in as an afterthought. It isn’t a Band-Aid, but rather a thoughtful piece of your business strategy. For example, if productivity is down due to smoking breaks, providing smoking cessation classes can help. But it’s also important to establish a no smoking policy.

When employees feel valued, they are more loyal and tend to work harder. They take pride in their work and talk about what a great company they work for. A healthy workforce is a productive workforce.

The worksite setting is a powerful, but frequently overlooked, component in managing employee health.  Here we will identify some of the best-practices in beginning a Employee Health Promotion Program that supports your organization’s employee health strategy and allows employees to take charge of their own health.  For example, a Employee Health Promotion Program that includes a tobacco-free worksite policy improves the likelihood that employees will try to quit smoking and will quit using tobacco successfully. Similarly, a Employee Health Promotion Program that includes discounting healthy foods in your cafeteria and vending machines helps increase employees’ consumption of healthy foods which supports your investment in disease management programs for employees with diabetes, heart disease or hypertension. The following will guide you through the ten key steps in beginning a Employee Health Promotion Program and worksite setting that promotes employee health.

In an era of ever-increasing medical care costs and fervent competition, corporations have a vested interest in the health of their employees.  Research has found that, on average, employees with healthy behaviors (such as not using tobacco or being active for 30 minutes a day) incur lower medical care expenses, are absent from work less frequently, and are more productive when at work (higher presenteeism) than employees with unhealthy behaviors.
Employee Health Promotion Program: Gaining Upper Management Support

Employee Health Promotion Program support from the uppermost level of upper management is essential to your success in beginning a culture of wellness within your worksite. Look for Employee Health Promotion Program support from a leader who is respected by and can influence other leaders. (It’s not necessary that he or she be the fittest executive within your organization just that they directly support the Employee Health Promotion Program.) You will be relying on this culture-of-health champion to advocate for changes that you recommend and to ensure the organization allocates adequate Employee Health Promotion Program resources (staff, time, and money) to maintain and improve the worksite policies, physical setting, and social norms.
Gain Employee Health Promotion Program Staff and Budget

Starting and maintaining a Employee Health Promotion Program within your employer needs to be someone’s priority. However, unless your employer is quite large, you likely don’t need to hire a full-time staff person for the Employee Health Promotion Program.  There are a number of ways to find an individual with the required skills to guide and support your employer’s Employee Health Promotion Program.
 
Starting facilities and Employee Health Promotion Program policies, such as those allowing employees to be physically active during the workday, does not need to be expensive, but it does require adequate and sustained financing.  If possible, include the creation of a worksite setting that supports the Employee Health Promotion Program as a permanent component of the operating budget; that helps to ensure it’s an ongoing priority for your employer.
Staff Member Involvement in the Employee Health Promotion Program

Developing a cross section of staff members to advise your employer’s Employee Health Promotion Program ensures that improvements in worksite facilities, policies and practices address the true needs and barriers of all groups of staff members.   In addition, these employees can support as the front-line Employee Health Promotion Program supporters of policies and practices with their peers.
Develop a Employee Health Promotion Program Vision and “Brand”

A Employee Health Promotion Program vision and a brand are powerful first steps in bringing a Employee Health Promotion Program from an idea to a reality. What would you like your worksite environment to look like five years from now? A succinct Employee Health Promotion Program vision statement summarizes for all (employees and leaders alike) the reasons for beginning a Employee Health Promotion Program. It also reminds everyone of the link between employee health and your employer’s ability to achieve its overall mission.  

Branding your employer’s Employee Health Promotion Program sends a message to employees that the employer’s commitment and support of healthy behaviors is important and is here to stay. Select a Employee Health Promotion Program name and logo that resonate with employees. Then use that brand on all Employee Health Promotion Program communications with employees about the policies, facilities and programs your employer offers to promote healthy behaviors.
Assess Your Existing Employee Health Promotion Program Situation

Exactly how your employer creates a Employee Health Promotion Program that promotes healthy eating, physical activity, and reduces tobacco use will depend on the unique characteristics of your employer and employee population. 

Assess how the current worksite facilities, policies, and unwritten norms support — or discourage — healthy behaviors.

Gather information on the health and health-related behaviors of your employee population.  The most common method is by using a validated health risk assessment. If you don’t have data specific to your employees, you can estimate the prevalence of different health risks and behaviors within your employee population using state or national data.  Note: Information on staff members’ health interests alone is not sufficient; but can be a useful supplement to health risk data and might help you set priorities.
Establish Employee Health Promotion Program Priorities and Goals

Use what you’ve learned about employee health and about your current worksite setting to determine your employer’s Employee Health Promotion Program priorities. From those Employee Health Promotion Program priorities, define clear and measurable Employee Health Promotion Program goals for improving employee health and your employer’s culture. Well written goals will provide the basis for planning and for measuring your progress.
Select Employee Health Promotion Program Strategies

Focus your employer’s Employee Health Promotion Program resources (time, energy and money) on procedures that are most likely to produce results:  a rise in healthy eating, a rise in physical activity, and a reduction in tobacco use. There’s no need to guess at what might work. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reviewed thousands of studies and has identified the Employee Health Promotion Program approaches most likely to result in significant, lasting, and widespread improvements in health behaviors. Those Employee Health Promotion Program procedures are included in the physical activity, tobacco, and healthy eating sections of this website.

The formula for Employee Health Promotion Program success is to make the healthier choices the easier choices.
Implement Employee Health Promotion Program Strategies

Once you’ve chosen your Employee Health Promotion Program Strategies, it can be useful to arrange the work on a timeline.  The “right” amount of time for implementing each Employee Health Promotion Program strategy depends on the staff time, budget, and business demands of your employer.  Work plans maintain your efforts moving and help to ensure that plans to create a Employee Health Promotion Program stay on track even if there are changes in staffing or other challenges.
Communicate and Educate About the Employee Health Promotion Program

Ensure employees are aware of the Employee Health Promotion Program opportunities you’ve provided.   Planning your Employee Health Promotion Program communications allows you to communicate regularly with employees without overwhelming them at any one time.
Monitor and Report Your Employee Health Promotion Program Results

At the same time that you plan your Employee Health Promotion Program Strategies, think about how you’ll measure success.  It’s much easier to gather information – or to create systems for collecting information — before you implement a Employee Health Promotion Program strategy rather than as an afterthought.   Keep in mind that you’re likely to see improvements in employee morale and/or behaviors before you see decreases in absenteeism or medical care claims.

Report both your Employee Health Promotion Program successes in building a healthy worksite environment (such as complete implementation of a policy that provides employees time for walking during the workday), and Employee Health Promotion Program successes in getting staff members to take charge of their health (a rise in the number of employees who contacted the stop-smoking program, or a rise in the number of fruit-cups purchased from the cafeteria following a promotion and price-cut).