Employers – Do You Know Enough About Corporate Wellness?

Corporate wellness and wellbeing is a hot topic with employers at the moment, with around 67 percent of all employers offering some sort of wellness programme. These programmes are based around the idea that employees can receive breaks on their health insurance if they undertake certain tasks to increase their health, such as giving up smoking, changing their diet, losing weight or increasing their exercise. They also have to have health tests to find out about their current state of health and receive personalised wellness programmes to help them improve.

 

A recent survey showed that around 18 percent of employers are now offering a financial incentive to those who achieve a certain health standard, and around 15 percent offer a lower health premium to those who do not smoke.

 

Savings vary hugely from employer to employer, but the programmes themselves are on the increase, as there is a growing body of evidence showing that when employers use these wellness programmes, the costs of medical expenses and employee absenteeism for illness are greatly reduced. One study even showed that the average employer has seen a reduction in medical costs of $3.27 for every dollar spent on a wellness programme and a reduction of $2.73 in absenteeism for every dollar spent on the wellness programmes.

 

If you are an employer and you are thinking of putting into place a wellness programme, or improving an established one, it is important to carefully evaluate the design of the programme and consider carefully what the goals should be. This reduces the risk of discrimination claims and also makes it more likely that the whole workforce will want to and be able to participate in the wellness programme. Employers should also read up on the law in their area, relating to sickness, health in the workplace and absenteeism.

 

Categories: Corporate, corporate wellness, dollar spent, employers, health, Programme, Programmes, Wellness, Wellness Programme, Wellness programmes

Trend Setters: What’s Shaping Your Wellness Programme?

Businesses of all sizes are being impacted by the trend of corporate wellness programmes, integrating strategies to help create an overall wellbeing-enhancing experience in the workplace. Corporate wellness programmes also use incentives to increase participation and awareness. Let’s take a look at five trends that are helping shape health and wellness at the workplace:

 

1. Lifestyle Management: Finding time to workout or visit the doctor can be problematic in today’s hectic world. You need to rush home, make dinner, help your kids with their homework, clean the house, make time for your relationship and somehow get to bed at a decent hour; where’s the time for wellness? This is why more and more corporate wellness programmes are focusing on lifestyle management, and including efforts such as biometric screenings, flu shots and cholesterol screenings in the workplace to help you make time for your health. Such measures can help you prevent the risks for common, yet dangerous, health problems including diabetes, stroke and coronary disease – without having to leave the office!

 

2. Weight Loss: More companies are now offering free yoga, Zumba classes or individual workouts onsite or at a nearby facility to make fitness opportunities more accessible for those looking to lose or manage their weight. Doing your diet plan alongside your colleagues brings with it a sense of camaraderie, with your workmates encouraging you to keep going along to workout sessions. Moreover, companies that offer weight loss programmes tend to have vending machine options with fresh, healthy snacks, as well as fruit and veggies at meetings instead of unhealthy treats. With such a variety of healthy food options and fitness classes available, you have the opportunity to try several options to find the best fit for your lifestyle.

 

3. Redesigning the Workspace: In order to encourage you to become healthier, many businesses are rethinking the design and layout of the office. This may incorporate a variety of design options, such as fitting out desks with exercise balls or standing or treadmill workstations instead of chairs. Some employers offer anti-fatigue mats for employees to stand on while they work, while others give employees ergonomic telephone headsets and keyboards. Then you have wireless personal trainers such as BodyBugg and FitBit, which accurately tracking calories burned, steps taken, walking distance, etc to help keep employees in the mindset of fitness.

 

4.  Smoking Cessation: It’s often a wise investment for companies to introduce smoking cessation programmes, which is why so many businesses do exactly that. Many wellness experts view such programmes as a necessity that provides a direct correlation with good health, helping employers to foster a healthier workforce. As an employee, you need motivation, social support, an understanding of what to expect and a personal game plan to increase your chances of quitting smoking, and many companies offer all of this and more. In fact, some companies execute smoke-free campuses, and even go so far as to avoid hiring smokers.

 

5. Stress Management: While programmes focusing on physical fitness have been proven to decrease stress and increase energy, mental fitness programmes are increasingly being recognised as equally important. The point of a stress management programme is to allow employees to dedicate a short time every day to mental fitness through volunteering, journal writing or even daydreaming. This, in turn, helps you to feel rejuvenated and more confident, which shows in your work and overall lifestyle. One of the strongest efforts being used to manage daily pressures is meditation, which many companies use as a daily tool to help employees cope with stress.

Categories: corporate wellness, corporate wellness programmes, lifestyle management, mental fitness, Programmes, smoking cessation, stress management, Weight Loss, Wellness, Wellness programmes

What Everyone Ought to Know About Corporate Wellness

Throughout the country, corporate wellness and wellbeing programmes are becoming more widespread. The buzz is catching on and the news is spreading that these programmes lead to healthier employees, cuts in healthcare costs and an overall happier and healthier working environment. The programmes themselves vary widely from simply offering healthcare information to employees, to fitness education, to subsidised healthy lunches to a company gym. Some employees are even offered financial rewards for reaching certain health standards.

 

If you are an employer who is thinking of implementing or improving a wellness programme in your workplace, then the results really speak for themselves. It is a simple matter of fact that healthy employees work more productively, but it has also been shown that employees who are involved in wellness programmes are more likely to be hard workers because they feel valued by their employers.

 

The financial incentives for running a wellness programme have also been well proved. Healthier workers have lower levels of absenteeism, which tends to cost the company money. They also need less time off for medical appointments, and have lower costs of health care. On top of that, retention rates tend to be higher and employee job satisfaction is increased, reducing the costs associated with a high staff turnover.

 

The health problems that employees are helped with through a wellness programme can vary hugely. For some it is a case of increasing their levels of exercise and physical activity. For many it is a case of losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight. Smoking cessation is always a big one, and some employers offer a lower level of health insurance premium to those who do not smoke. Some employees have problems with sleep, and this can be helped through some of the channels that wellness programmes open up.

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Could Workplace Wellness Programmes Be Harming Your Health?

For some companies, it’s perfectly legal for your employer to require you to answer intrusive health questions in order to ascertain just how healthy you are, in relation to the workplace wellness schemes they’re running. Wellness programmes are a multi-billion pound industry that seems to have sprung up overnight, with over 90 per cent of all large employers reportedly offering one for their employees. It’s nice for an employer to take an interest in your health, exercise and smoking, but if the programme is badly designed it could actually be detrimental to your health. Workplace wellness, it seems, is not only a privacy hazard but also a hazard to your health and career to boot. It’s fair to say that many people may be willing to tolerate a certain level of privacy loss in favour of boosting our health, but that’s not always the case. So what are they doing to your health and lifestyle? Here are three reasons why your workplace wellness scheme could be bad for you.

Dismaying and Alienating Employees

Bad wellness programmes give the notion that your boss thinks you’re an idiot. It doesn’t boost morale and it sends your motivation plummeting. For example, some employers tell employees who smoke that tobacco isn’t healthy, sending the message that anyone who smokes hasn’t been educated enough to read the many health warnings about smoking and its risks. The reality is that public health is a complex venture and while it’s easy to condescend, good wellness programmes focus on encouraging you to make better choices. If your programme isn’t doing that, you need to question why you have it in place.

Bad Programs Don’t Save Money

Wellness marketers make claims that quite literally don’t add up, such as claiming savings exceeding 100 per cent which is a mathematical impossibility, or suggesting that an employer can save more money than they spent in the first place. There’s a compelling case that claims that bad wellness programmes don’t save money because the programmes themselves cost so much money in the first place. Add in the added cost of screenings and educations, and the other services which aren’t free either, and you have a costly venture. The benefits of a wellness programme is that it help your employees to improve their health, morale and motivation, but if it winds up costing you so much money for nothing, it really doesn’t serve the purpose you’d hope for.

Potential Harm To Employee Health

Even if wellness programmes cost a bit more money in the short run, it’s considered a given that they will improve your health in the long run. But this isn’t always the case and it could be misleading. Many of us are reluctant to question the design of a company wellness programme because it sounds like we’re challenging something we know nothing about and which sounds like something so wholesome. But in reality, these programmes don’t always focus on the things they should, such as employee performance and exercise. Poorly-designed wellness programmes can violate the very essence of good management – focusing on people’s private lives doesn’t do anyone any favours and can do more harm than good. These programmes apply equal measure of coercion and disparagement towards the people who the programme is meant to help. This simply discredits the employer benefits programmes and undermines employee loyalty and trust. If employers are going to invest in a scheme, it needs to be in promotion of the wellbeing of their employees.

Categories: Corporate, health, money, Programmes, programmes don, save money, Wellness, Wellness Programme, Wellness programmes, Workplace Wellness