Executive Spotlight: Wellness Programs
Written by: Dr. Kenneth Cheng
One of the growth strategies we have implemented in 2011 is to partner with local businesses in an effort to help keep their executives and employees healthier. As a part of this engagement, we are fortunate to have several of our clients helping us along the way. The article below came from a long time client, and we thought we would share it with our business leaders as we believe it nicely introduces some ideas for implementing organizational wellness programs.
From the Cypress Strategy Group
Wellness programs, group health insurance, cost containment, productivity and employee engagement are hot topics inside companies. All of these terms are intertwined in the new frontier of the employer-employee relationship. The emergence of the employer playing a more active role in the employee total health equation is viewed by some as an infringement on employee privacy. Is it too much? Regardless of how you may feel about the issue, it’s already happening, or as we like to say, “The train has left the station.” The issue is not if, but exactly how, companies are attempting to combine health insurance cost management objectives with improved employee productivity and engagement initiatives. Read more…
At Cypress Strategy Group we know how employers are taking action and some of the alternative strategies to adopt. Done well, wellness programs have been shown to increase employee engagement, by demonstrating that the employer cares about the employee’s health, while at the same time driving down insurance costs and productivity lost due to illness. On the other hand, many programs fail to achieve these objectives and, if done wrong, can have the opposite effect.
Whatever approach you take, improving the health of your workforce is of greater importance today. As a result, employers are taking a more active role in establishing a participative relationship with their employees as it relates to their total health, which in turn raises the question of whether you should take a carrots or sticks approach. Here are the top tactics being implemented by companies according to Towerswatson 2011 health survey:
1. Require employees to complete a health risk appraisal and/or biometric screening to be eligible for financial incentives for healthy activities
2. Use of high performance networks or centers of excellence
3. Reward (or penalize) based on biometric outcomes other than tobacco use status
4. Reward (or penalize) based on tobacco use
5. Reward (or penalize) only those who complete requirements of healthy lifestyle living
6. Use hard dollar return on investment calculations to support future decisions
7. Educate employees on provider and hospital quality
8. Changing plan options
9. Increased auditing of medical claim payments
What You May Want to Consider:
• This is a good time to completely review your total rewards approach (base pay, incentives, and benefits).
• Muscle up your hr expertise or in-house or partner with a third party expert like Cypress! The stakes are high and effectively managing your human capital has never been more important.
• Consider employee benefit options at renewal that have the biggest impact on premiums. (i.e. – Narrower networks, Health Savings Accounts, and Generic Drug only medical programs).
• Measure wellness investments and expected results more specifically.
This evolution of the employer-employee relationship is going to pose a much greater burden on the hr function. Clearly, a successful strategy will consist of a combination of tactics. Improving employee productivity, controlling healthcare costs, and addressing the potentially invasive effects of actively participating in employee health are a high stakes balancing act. It appears the benefits are worth it as high performing firms are dedicating considerable time and money to achieve this elusive equilibrium.
Cypress Strategy Group, LLC, is focused on partnering with clients to help businesses rethink their approach to total rewards. Give us a call at 888.498.7770 to learn more.
