Was Company Health & Wellness on your corporation’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 Company Health & 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 Company Health & Wellness Initiative, 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.

All thanks to a single health management program.

So of course, Shirk is a huge proponent of Company Health & Wellness Initiatives. 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 staff members.”

Company Health & Wellness Decreases Health Care Costs

Though cases like Shirk’s dramatic cancer save are the most desirable effect of Company Health & Wellness Initiatives, it isn’t the initial draw for Worksites. They do it to lower medical care costs, and there’s no doubt that Company Health & Wellness Initiatives do just that. Health Promotion Statistics show that Company Health & Wellness Initiatives 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 Company Health & Wellness savings aren’t just in the Medical Insurance department. Human resource departments report that Company Health & Wellness Initiatives also reduce absenteeism and increase productivity.

Still, corporations have been loath to invest that elusive Company Health & 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 staff members.

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

Summer is an ideal season to get back into shape and improve overall Health & Wellness. The weather is beautiful, staff members 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.

Health & Wellness in the Summer has Advantages

There are many advantages to starting a Company Health & Wellness Initiative 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 Health & Wellness challenge with your staff members 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.

Company Health & Wellness Initiative Kick-off

We recommend following these steps to getting a Company Health & Wellness Initiative started in your office.

Pick a wellness coordinator for the Company Health & Wellness Initiative who is willing and able to see it through.
Make sure that you have the support of the corporate leadership.
Formulate a Health & Wellness committee of leaders
Perform an Employee Health Promotion survey to uncover the obstacles and goals of your Company Health & Wellness Initiative
Establish a good starting point through health risk assessments
Build the Company Health & Wellness Initiative that fits your goals
Constantly analyze the Company Health & Wellness Initiative and make improvements and adjustments as needed

Company Health & Wellness Initiatives offers Benefits

Remember to stress to staff members that the Company Health & Wellness Initiative is for them.  Company Health & Wellness Initiatives have been found to prevent obesity, cancer, heart disease and hypertension.  Taking part in in a Company Health & Wellness Initiative that offers all that should be an easy decision for the corporation and for the staff members.