Company Wellness Programs

Walking Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives are some of the most popular Corporate Health Promotion Programs. They set the bar for entry fairly low – most anyone can walk around the block or their building – and walking Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives also offers staff members with a good way to break up the afternoon doldrums and interact in a casual, more social environment with other staff members. Just leaving your desk for a few minutes every day for a some fress air can be a big stress reliever – and stress is the #2 leading cause of absenteeism, according to Company Health and Wellness Program statistics.

As a first step to beginning your Corporate Health Promotion Program, we recommend that you have a designer draw up an attractive map of your business campus or vicinity. Plan out and test a few short walks of varying distances, and using a pedometer and watch, figure out how long each walk is in time and distance. Have a little fun with your walking Company Health and Wellness Program by equating each walk with a common office activity of the same duration, like a writing a one-page status report or filling out a common form. Post the map in the workplace and make sure people know about walking Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives by using your office communication channels – newsletters, announcements, company meetings. Keep it fun by building weight-loss teams, setting up races or organizing healthy picnics and athletic activities around the walking Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives route.

Following are some other walking Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives tips from Tom Weede, author of The Entrepreneur Diet: The On-the-Go Plan for Fitness, Weight Loss, and Healthy Living:
   
 Make sure to link the walking Company Health and Wellness Program to work objectives. Employees need to be reassured that these walks are part of their responsibility to be healthy and productive. They’re not personal errands that need to be compensated for by longer days at the office.
    Keep healthy snacks in the workplace.
    Reinforce the walking Company Health and Wellness Program message by regularly mentioning it during employee meetings
    Set up a health-related benefit that walking Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives participants can use for health-related expenses.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs: A Long-Term Committment

“Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives” – what does that phrase mean to you? To many of us, it evokes an array of ambivalent thoughts — the fitness center membership we barely used, the nagging ankle injury from last year’s company 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, Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives 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.

Unfortunately 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 the majority of of the heath issues that weigh down employee attendance and erode a corporation’s productivity.

It’s ironic that the poorest societies in the world – the ones furthest from the conveniences of modern life – often boast 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 Drug 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 Drugs each year, with the estimated 2011 tally at a whopping $414 billion. The average number of Prescription Drugs per United State citizens 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 drugs help U.S. health. In fact, he points out a bevy of negative consequences for America’s legal drug addition, which include drug interactions, liver damage, and the legions of people who now depend on drugs to deal with ordinary trials and stresses.

An business has the potential to improve Health

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

Company Health and Wellness Program Study Shows Millions Lost Due to Illness

Company Health and Wellness Program was shown to be a huge economic boon for corporations in a recently-released joint report by  the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Economic Forum (WEF). Nearly three million productive staff members in labor markets worldwide add up to a lot of money. The Company Health and Wellness Program research study estimates that China will lose $558 billion, India $237 billion, and Russia $303 billion in national income from 2005 to 2015 due to only three chronic diseases: heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Lack of Company Health and Wellness Program A “Huge Expense”

The U.S. Center for Disease Control also reports that chronic disease accounts for approximately 75 percent of yearly employee health care costs in the U.S., which constitutes a huge expense for corporations. And the Public Health Foundation of India estimates that its country will lose 18 million potentially productive years of life by 2030, a statistic no nation can afford, let alone a developing one.

Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives the Answer

A sustainable solution to these challenges cannot be solved by medical benefits alone. Workplace commitments to Company Health and Wellness Program are also crucial. Companies are advised to implement worksite Health Screenings for their staff members, as well as look into a comprehensive health management program. These and other precautions are good secret weapons against the economic pitfall of unhealthy staff members.

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

How many attended the corporate health and Corporate 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 Company Health and Wellness Program /seminar. 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 Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives 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 Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives

Examples of Questions about Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives
 • 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 Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives may include:
 • The best component of this Company Health and Wellness Program was…
 • The component that needed improvement was….
 • I would attend another Company Health and Wellness Program by this speaker…
 • Topics I would like to see included in other seminars or Wellness Programs…

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

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

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

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

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

• clearly communicated vision and mission
• clear and accurate job descriptions
• supportive appraisal system
• staff member empowerment through decision-making, pace of work and connection to business goals, (on-line tools that connect to goals such as Baxter Healthcare)
• two-way communication training
• ‘no lunch hour’ meeting rules unless it is a lunch ‘n’ learn
• rates of absence and attendance program
• career tracking, (on-line tools like Pfizer)
• continuing education
• job rotation, special project assignments
• time management
• creative ideas program
• change and complaint process
• email guidelines
• technology courses and assistance
• vacation useage
• shift work rotations and breaks
• conflict management skills
• handling negative attitudes workshops

Occupational Wellness Initiatives: Management Training

• scheduling
• incentive and recognition Initiatives
• workload impact
• communication and feedback skills
• conflict management skills and support skills
• priority setting
• all of which are apart of the four employment relationship factors (trust, commitment, influence, and communication – from Canadian Policy Research Network)

Occupational Wellness Initiatives: Remuneration and Benefits

• massage – try an worksite massage therapist or seated massage breaks
• orthotics
• orthodontics
• gym membership subsidies
• education subsidies
• tobacco cessation and weight control partial reimbursement incentives
• safety shoe reimbursement
• out-of-country coverage
• vision care
• alternative therapy coverage
   
Occupational Wellness Initiatives: Building Support
• fitness  breaks and stretches
• team challenges
• business sport teams such as soccer, volleyball, and hockey
• use workers who are in-house experts e.g., gardening, yoga, construction
• celebrate birthdays, anniversaries – other significant dates and achievements
• 5 minute catch-up at beginning of work week
• pot lucks and food for meetings
• green room for time outs and regrouping self
• encouraging face to face communications
• learn names

**The creation of health or harm within an business depends on how work is managed.  Workplace Culture Strategies must address high demand/low control, high effort/low reward, fairness, purpose and trust.

Keeping the bottom line up front Bottom Line Up Front in Company Health and Wellness Program will help you get and sustain Senior Management support. A Bottom Line Up Front approach will also help you more realistically measure the impact of your Corporate Health Promotion Program.

The bottom line in Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives answer two key questions:
 • How will member health be improved?
 • What’s in it for Senior Management?

The ultimate bottom line: all roads should lead to readiness.
 • Always be ready to communicate to leadership the ways that your Company Health and Wellness Program impacts readiness.
 • Think like Senior Management: what Company Health and Wellness Program outcomes will be important from a Senior Management point of view?
 • Develop line-centered language that communicates those outcomes.
 • Ask participants how they think a particular Company Health and Wellness Program enhances force readiness. This input is a valuable source of information.

Use the following steps as a Bottom Line Up Front approach to Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

Step 1: Think about the end of the Company Health and Wellness Program first and plan backwards.
 • It has been said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”
 • Before planning or implementing any part of the Corporate Health Promotion Program, be able to answer the questions: how will member health be improved? What’s in it for Senior Management?

Step 2: Establish concrete Company Health and Wellness Program outcomes.
 • Establish up front what the Company Health and Wellness Program is working towards.
  o For example: will participants lose weight? Walk more steps? Decrease injuries? Move to another stage of change?
 • Establish any processes or procedures that will be improved.
  o For example: which pharmacy operations will become more efficient? How will record-keeping be streamlined?

Step 3: Determine what will be measured to show that Company Health and Wellness Program goals were met.
 • Consider what data is really needed to show Company Health and Wellness Program effectiveness. Avoid the temptation to collect every possible piece of data. Choose a handful of important data points and stick to those.
 • Think backwards when determining what data to collect – consider how easily follow-up data can be collected when a Company Health and Wellness Program ends. Getting follow-up data is often a challenge.
 • Only collect data for health behaviors or indicators that the Company Health and Wellness Program actually affected.
  o For example: if the main Company Health and Wellness Program goal is that participants will walk more steps, then it may be better NOT to choose changes in cholesterol level as a Company Health and Wellness Program outcome (unless the Company Health and Wellness Program specifically addresses cholesterol).
 • Avoid measuring outcomes that the Company Health and Wellness Program cannot (or did not) affect.

Step 4: Determine what Company Health and Wellness Program elements must be included to move participants towards the Company Health and Wellness Program goals.
 • The concrete Company Health and Wellness Program outcomes identified in Step 2 are the compass for keeping the Company Health and Wellness Program on track. All Company Health and Wellness Program elements should lead towards that ultimate goal.

Working backwards when planning and implementing Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives is really forward thinking. Keeping the bottom line up front is a smart approach to Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

Collaboration and Effective Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives

Why should you collaborate?

Active, ongoing partnerships and cooperative efforts multiply Company Health and Wellness Program resources in order to better serve Employees and their families.

How can you build collaboration into a Corporate Health Promotion Program?

Get Ready…
 • Brainstorm a list of every potential Wellness partner you can think of. Be creative!
 • Be a politician: introduce yourself to everyone BEFORE you need their help.
 • Develop a plan to get Senior Management support from as high up the chain as possible. Make sure to include specific ways that your Company Health and Wellness Program will impact force readiness.
 • Determine how YOU can help your partners (not just what they can do for you).
 
Be Steady…
 • Solicit input from everyone that your Company Health and Wellness Program will affect. Make a special effort to talk to the employees closest to Company Health and Wellness Program implementation (those with “boots on the ground”).
 • Your most frequently asked questions should be: “What would you suggest?” and “How do you think this would work best?”
 • Identify someone who has done the same type of Company Health and Wellness Program before and ask their advice. (Hint: the Company Health and Wellness Program has a list of many Wellness POCs.)
 • Plan NOW to show Company Health and Wellness Program effectiveness. Establish who may ALREADY BE COLLECTING information that will show the Company Health and Wellness Program is working.
 
Get Set…
 • Step back and look at your Company Health and Wellness Program from a potential partner’s point of view.
 • Brainstorm questions your collaborators might have, and have the answers ready.
 • Be ready to frame your “selling points” in terms that are important to each specific partner.
 • Put the Company Health and Wellness Program benefits in language your collaborators will understand.
 • Stress to potential partners how this Company Health and Wellness Program will provide benefit to them.
 
And Go…
 • Build as many partnerships as you can BEFORE you implement a Corporate Health Promotion Program.
 • Make your partnerships a two-way street: always let your collaborators know what you can do for them – then follow-up and do what you say you would do.
 • Maintain Senior Management support by providing a regular flow of information. Invite Senior Management participation in the Company Health and Wellness Program and special events whenever possible. (Hint: they make great judges if you have a contest.)
 • Offer regular feedback to your collaborators.
 • Don’t hog the spotlight: let your collaborators share in the visibility of the Corporate Health Promotion Program.