With incentives, employee wellness programs can be fun and rewarding. They motivate employees to want to join in. Some incentives can include paid days off work, discounts on insurance, bonuses, money and more. One incentive may appeal more to one employee wellness program participant, but it seems safe to say every participant has their eye on one of the rewards. Especially with the holiday season, many of the participants of CRMC’s Employee Wellness program found the paid time off, money prizes and bash back off health insurance to be very appealing. Some say that the employee wellness program is an extra push that helps them meet their health goals, and that’s certainly a big reward.

This is a yearly event for CRMC, and they note that some find it comforting to have it happen each year. Some participants go up and down with their goals, while others improve a bit each year. Simply participating in the program provides employees encouragement to be healthier and stick to it.

The article points out how investing in the lives of employees can be a good thing, as they are one of the many assets of an organization. Implementing an employee wellness program can help improve morale and health. It can also lower health insurance costs and improve a company’s bottom line.

If you’re interested in starting up an employee wellness program at your place of business, contact Employee Wellness USA to find out your next steps and get a free wellness proposal.

The article points out the three major benefits of employee wellness. Cost savings is the first benefit, and the NEHRA says employee wellness can simply lead to an improved bottom line, with companies experiencing savings a variety of ways. The next major benefit of an employee wellness program is fewer missed days of work. With obesity able to cause or worsen things like cancer, heart disease, mental illness and stroke, the NEHRA says it’s costing workplaces in lost productivity — to the tune of $1.1 trillion. A lot of this cost, says the NEHRA, can be avoided. Lastly, the story notes that the third major benefit of employee wellness is happier employees. A happy, healthy worker is less likely to seek out a new job, plus they feel better about work.

Those employers who are interested in implementing employee wellness programs and seeing healthier employees in 2009 are encouraged to take action to make it happen. The NEHRA has a few tips for doing this, like providing a monthly newspaper or recipe, starting a walking group and bringing fitness to them. They also advise creating a monthly theme, where guest speakers and seminars could happen that would relate to that theme.

2009 will be here before you know it, so waste no time if you’re thinking about implementing an employee wellness program at your business. Employee wellness programs not only improve a business’ bottom line, but they can improve employee morale, boost productivity and help corporations save money. At the same time, there are benefits to the employees. It’s really a win-win situation for everybody.

To get a free wellness proposal for your company and find out more, don’t hesitate to contact Employee Wellness USA. An investment in employee wellness is one that can truly pay off.

According to the article, around 85 percent of United States businesses have wellness programs. Companies are working to make their wellness programs more effective by offering incentives, for example. Employers realize that good wellness programs can help save them money. Not to mention, wellness programs can improve productivity and help cut down on absenteeism.

Spotlighted in the article was the wellness programs put in place by the Kansas Health Policy Authority were designed to promote healthy lifestyles and personal responsibility and therefore control costs. Because of their initiative, the Kansas Health Policy Authority was awarded for their innovative strategies from the Institute for Health and Productivity.

One of the things included in the wellness program was incentives for smokers to quit smoking and for non-smokers to continue being non-smokers. Another part of the plan included an outreach for people who suffer from chronic health conditions.

This wellness program is available to nearly 76,000 people and was expanded this year to include things like health screenings and health coaching. They offered an incentive — a $50 gift card — to participate in a health screening and wound up with over 15,000 people taking them up on that offer. After people participated in the health screening, the hope was that they’d take that information to a health coach in order to get some support behind them.

Another wellness program mentioned in the article is going on at Lawrence Paper Co., a company with 280 employees. An on-site clinic is part of their wellness program, and it can provide things like lab work, shots, wellness checks and prescriptions two days per week. This has helped save employees time and money, and the company has seen their health care costs lowered already.

Start a Wellness Program at Your Business

Start a wellness program at your business — it’s a win-win situation for everyone. Employees get improved health and higher morale, and employers see lower health care costs and higher productivity. Contact Employee Wellness USA today to find out more and to get an evaluation of your company.

It’s no secret that employee wellness programs lead to a better workplace when they’re implemented correctly. Business are always looking for ways to improve productivity and the bottom line. Also, experts have pointed out that employee wellness programs keep health insurance premiums reasonable for corporations.

In the article, they talk about how suggesting to employees that they need to exercise can “nudge against privacy concerns,” so they instead have to figure out how to get people to want to be healthy. Easier said than done, sure, but it’s worth trying.

One company, for example, added an online wellness program to their insurance, which allowed participants to redeem points they accumulated for prizes like TVs and magazine subscriptions. This system paid off more than they probably ever imagined when one woman got a physical and a mammogram and found out she had breast cancer. Since it was caught so early, she is expected to recover.

Another thing employee wellness programs can help with is absenteeism. Though, as the article points out, presenteeism can be just as bad as absenteeism when employees show up for work when they’re sick. Some do it because of their work ethic, while others may do it because they just can’t afford to miss the day. But presenteeism affects the bottom line just as absenteeism does.

To help with this problem, one recycling company started offering a half-day medical clinic every other week, where employees could drop in to get minor problems like a sore throat checked out by a doctor. This was beneficial since employees didn’t have to take a half-day or full day off of work to go to the doctor. The company says this measure has helped to control their insurance costs as well as help with productivity.

Benefits of healthy workers include decreased days of calling in sick and higher productivity and efficiency, and healthy workers can even keep health insurance premiums at bay.

Still, to get the benefits of healthy workers, these employee wellness programs need to be implemented successfully. And what’s very important, noted the experts at the seminar, is that there be incentives that make participation appealing to the employees. While this may sound expensive, it actually doesn’t have to be, said the experts. Incentives can be something as simple as a gift card or a T-shirt.

Other ways to make an employee wellness program successful in order to see the benefits of healthy workers include:

• Offering an ergonomically efficient workplace that reduces the risk of employee injuries
• Encouraging workers to take the stairs by painting the steps
• Creating an environment that encourages exercising while taking a break
• Tracking workers’ steps with a pedometer, then raffling off prizes monthly for people who take a certain amount of steps

An expert on the panel remarked that employee wellness programs typically help keep health insurance premiums reasonable. Another expert suggested to keep in mind that you should try to make employee wellness programs fun, and change up what you’re doing in order to find what works.

The benefits of healthy workers are undeniably valuable to businesses as well as employees. If you’d like to start offering an employee wellness program at your business, contact EmployeeWellnessUSA today to get started with an evaluation of your business. You will also get a free wellness proposal to assist you in your approval efforts.

From providing an in-office gym with treadmills and weight equipment, to encouraging enrollment in weight-loss programs, companies are seeing improvements in worker wellness. For instance, the amount of times employees call in sick has gone down. Ultimately, the businesses implementing worker wellness programs are trying to improve their bottom line. Stressed-out, tired, sick employees can hurt their bottom line. But successful worker wellness programs can help keep workers healthy and happy.

The article mentions the metrics involved in running a successful worker wellness program. There are seven total benchmarks, according to the Wellness Councils of America. Those seven are:

• Cohesive wellness teams
• Senior-level support
• Data to drive a results-oriented wellness initiative
• An operating plan each year
• An environment that’s both supportive and health-promoting
• Appropriate interventions
• Program outcomes that are carefully evaluated

For worker wellness programs, the Wellness Councils of America recommend keeping in mind these seven benchmarks to help make the program successful. The goal, of course, is to have workers be the best they can be.

Many businesses are drawn to worker wellness programs because they provide a return on an investment. You can bet worker wellness programs are attractive to businesses, especially when they improve worker performance and cut down on workers calling in sick as well as disability and workers’ compensation claims. Additionally, having a worker wellness program is a way for an employer to show workers that they are genuinely concerned about their health.

The article concludes that an essential part of a successful worker wellness program is that there’s support from the management along with supportive — not aggressive — communication.

Worker Wellness Programs: Get Started

Interested in starting up a worker wellness program at your business? Get started by finding out more from Employee Wellness USA. We have years of experience developing worker wellness programs for major corporations, and we even offer free wellness proposals.

Companies are realizing the benefits that come along with an employee wellness investment as they take note of how employee health care costs are a risk to the growth and profitability of a business. The article points out how investing in employee wellness may be a moderate up-front expense, but it is no doubt an investment with a demostrable ROI.

Employee wellness and corporate wellness programs deliver results. Great for both employees and employers, employee wellness programs can offer lower employee absenteeism and lead to fewer injuries and provide better productivity. It can also result in fewer worker’s compensation claims and disability claims. What’s more is that employee wellness programs can increase morale and improve employee retention. Workers will appreciate getting employee wellness as a part of their overall compensation package.

Though the financial crisis has many companies evaluating their budgets, they could overlook a simple way to cut costs: an employee wellness investment. With so many advantages for employees and employers, it’s really a win-win situation for everybody.

Start Investing in Employee Wellness

Start investing in employee wellness today by calling one of our healthcare management representatives. From there, you can get started with an evaluation of your company along with a free wellness proposal to help you in your approval efforts. An employee wellness investment is one that can really pay off.

Wellness incentives pay off and they pay off well, according to an article that appeared in Industry Week.
“Companies that are using a health management program are saving $2,850 per employee,” stated the article.  That amount is definitely a wellness incentive for the company.

Wellness Incentives Encourage Employee Health

Companies that are choosing to offer wellness incentives are seeing the benefits to their bottom-line, as well as the ability to keep healthcare costs down for their employees.  Thus wellness programs and incentives offer a win-win situation for any corporation.

According to the article by Adrienne Selko, companies like Nature Sunshine, who doesn’t charge their employees for health insurance and benefits and would like to keep it that way, are asking employees to join their wellness program if they want to continue not paying for their health benefits.

With 95% of their employees enrolled in their corporate wellness program, Nature Sunshine estimates that they have saved $5.5 million in the five years they have had the program.  Not to mention, Nature Sunshine’s employee’s health has improved drastically with a 61% improvement in scores on their health assessments.

Wellness Incentives are Win-Win

Corporate wellness programs have several advantages aside from reduced healthcare expenses for the company and the employee.  Corporate wellness programs also lower employee absenteeism, lead to fewer injuries and fewer worker’s compensation and disability claims, provide better productivity, increases morale and improves employee retention, as well as gives the ability to offer wellness as part of an employee’s overall compensation package.

Wellness Incentives for Happy Employees

The article provided an example of a wonderful employee wellness program that was instilled by Gallatin Steel.  First off, it starts with a Health Risk Assessment and a 50% deduction in health insurance premiums for any employee that takes the health risk assessment.  Next, the company built and offers free to their employees, a jogging track and a 24/7 fitness center that is staffed with a personal trainer.   Finally, the employees are offered a $1,000 per year reimbursable healthy lifestyle stipend to spend on trainers, vitamins, weight loss programs, etc.

Wellness Incentives can Start Today

To begin offering your employees wellness incentives and to establish a corporate wellness program at your company, pick up the phone and call one of our healthcare management representatives.  They can get you started with an evaluation of your company and a free wellness proposal to assist you in you approval efforts.

It really is that simple … really.

There is a great article in the Kansas City Post this week about how corporate wellness positively impacts a corporations bottom line.

The article points out that corporations are coming around to the realization that a healthier workforce is a more productive workforce. Corporations are beginning to understand that by investing in the health of their workforce, they are actually investing in themselves. According to The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, corporations see a return of 3 to 6 times their investment in health and wellness programs.

Because of this, corporate wellness incentives, such as health and wellness program incentives and disease management incentives are up significantly this year.

Does your employer offer employee wellness benefits? If not, you should discuss these recent statistics showing how a small investment in worker health could actually turn a profit. Employers love hearing about how to make more profit!

If you need help convincing your employer, give us a call. With years of experience working developing employee wellness programs for major corporations, we can offer help guiding corporations to the most beneficial programs available both for the employees and the corporations themselves. We even offer free wellness proposals, so they have nothing to lose!

Wellness programs, according to an article in Crain’s Detroit Business, come in two choices:  workplace wellness programs or health insurance products that aim at lower costs if healthy habits are followed.  Both options are a good choice, but only one will really provide long-term health benefits for your employees and lower costs over the years.

Wellness Programs Offer Assistance

Insurance-based products offer employees the opportunity, according to the article by Jay Green, to save money on their premiums if they follow certain steps, including performing an online health assessment, visiting their physician, and agree to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  These plans usually involve one coach call to the employee during the first 90 days.  We wonder if these brief wellness encounters will actually change a person’s lifestyle.

It is the overall change in a person’s lifestyle, as well as disease prevention that will lead to lower health costs in the future.

Onsite workplace wellness programs, like the ones that EmployeeWellnessUSA works with you to establish in your place of business, offers convenient health risk assessments and screening tests for things like diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure.  As the article states, these have initial start-up costs, but the savings accrue over time and employees are more likely to stay active in an onsite employee wellness program.

Wellness Programs Get Results

Finally, the article states that companies with an effective employee wellness program can expect to see “500 percent lower absenteeism, 400 percent fewer disability claims, and 350 percent lower health care costs.”  These are numbers that are very hard to argue with.

If you are ready to start seeing those numbers in your company, contact one of our wellness experts today.  They are there to answer all of your questions, as well as provide you with a free wellness proposal.