Getting Started-Where do you begin?
The key to success in wellness is to take a strategic approach. When planning a company's wellness program, the first thing one should do is look around. It is important to understand from the grassroot level as to where they stand on health & wellness matters. Here are some steps to consider when embarking on a wellness initiative.
- Assess the situation
- Senior management support-Without senior management support, a health management strategy can fall flat. Start with the health of the executive team and discover the wellness champions at the top of the organization.
- Analyze the problem- We have to look at the health care claims and analyze the trends. Which conditions are driving the medical, disability, and workers' compensation claims and which are modifiable?
- What's worked and what hasn't so far? What is the long-term impact of doing nothing?
- Do a Health Risk Assessment in depth interview with organization heads/department heads and compile their views on what's good and what's bad?
- Review claims and utilization data and identify key areas of concern. Look at current offerings and see how they can be tailored to the needs of the population.
- Find out what employees are thinking. Hold some focus groups to determine where people are with wellness. What's working? What isn't? How much interest do people have in wellness? What obstacles and barriers are employees experiencing when they try to change behavior?
- Consider both healthy and unhealthy employees. Since 85% of claims are usually attributed to 15% of claimants, it is essential to reach those with the most costly conditions while also reaching people who are at risk for developing preventable diseases in the future. Voluntary wellness programs such as lunchtime seminars miss many of the people who need them most. Consider programs that are population-wide or target intact workgroups. Incentives help but do not motivate everyone.
- Identify Bottlenecks
- Psychology of the workforce
- Resistance to Change
- Set goals for organizational health. Consider the more intangible benefits of a wellness initiative and quantify them whenever possible. Include employee turnover rates, cost of new hires, employee morale, benefit satisfaction data, and employer of choice issues in setting goals.
- Determine outcomes
Once the current situation is analyzed, imagine the impact if it continues. Some of the questions to be answered are
- How much does the company currently spend on health care expenses?
- Are the health care costs trending upward?
- Does the group have a higher-than-average submission of health care claims?
- How might that affect the business in the future?
- How many working hours are lost to sick days?
- Can we identify any of the health problems that are common in the workplace?
- Are the employees getting any exercise?
- Is there a high percentage of smokers at work?
- Is the menu filled with high-calorie junk food?
Establish ROI- Wellness initiatives are expensive and most of the savings are not realized for a number of years. Projecting a Return on Investment for wellness initiative can play a big role in soliciting top management support. The ROI does not only come from reducing the healthcare claim cost but also in various other intangible forms. This could include benefits accrued because of lesser absenteeism, lower attrition ,improved productivity. Considerable research is being done across the world to develop a standard ROI matrix for wellness initiatives. However currently we have to develop a ROI index based on the determined outcomes
- Planning
The better we plan, the easier it will be to realize the benefits of a workplace wellness initiative. The wellness program will need to fit in to the regular rhythms of the workplace, and that means getting support from managers and leaders in the company. It also means that the design of the wellness initiative fits into the company culture.
Factors to be considered
- Get support from management- Managers are leaders, and employees will generally assess the priorities of senior and mid-level management before investing time and effort in a wellness program. For this reason, support from company management is the single most important factor in the success of the wellness initiative. Senior and mid-level managers will have to participate actively and support wellness activities.
- Set Clear Goals - Desired Outcome Goals and Objectives
- 25% decreased absenteeism
- 75% Health Risk Assessment participation
- 85% flu immunization
- 75% participation in wellness program
- Reduce number of employees with multiple risk factors: obesity, smoking, lack of exercise
- Increase physical activity at work and at home
- 60% participation in "walk at work" program
- Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables
Designing the program
Here are some factors to be considered while designing the wellness initiative
Step 1: Keep it simple, positive and upbeat
Employees' perceptions of the wellness program will impact participation. We have to present a positive and upbeat image to the employees and their family members. The program should be user-friendly, sensitive, compassionate and confidential. It is important to communicate and reflect a firm company investment in the wellness initiative. To get the employees to take the program seriously, it's important to have adequate funding and support from management. Company-wide activities such as walks, runs or smoke-outs will help make the program fun for employees and can provide a welcome break from the workday. Web-based tools such as will help deliver user-friendly tools for use outside of work.
Step 2: Implement the program
The wellness program will be more effective–and fun for everyone involved—if we execute it with the same degree of planning and organization that is applied to business development tasks and projects. It is important to get the right people, budget and resources to encourage maximum participation and follow-through from employees. So it is imperative to consider the implementation strategy and techniques to reach the target audience during the design stage itself
Step 3: Communicate
The success of the program will depend a great deal on communicating the cause and effect relationships to everyone concerned. It is critical to analyze the most effective communication methods to reach the target audience and weave it while designing the program
Step 4: Program Incentives
Another key element while designing a wellness initiative is to consciously plug in incentives for garnering participation. This is inevitable as the social mindset is still not inclined towards preventive health in our society. It can be a mix of monetary and non-monetary incentives
Step 5: Evaluate
It's important to measure, evaluate and improve the wellness initiatives on an ongoing basis if it has to be a truly effective wellness initiative. The design of the wellness initiative cannot be rigid and should have room for continuous enhancements
In summary, the best way of going about doing this is to embark on a study and analyze the factors to be addressed by different organizations in the group. The outcome of the study can be used for designing the wellness initiatives.
Tips for creating effective wellness initiatives.
Source: Thomson Reuters |
