Employee Health Promotion

1. Senior management involvement in the Employee Health Promotion Program- Evidence of enthusiastic commitment and involvement of senior management helps employees understand their employers’ serious commitment to health. Employees need to perceive that their senior management, supervisors, and coworkers have positive attitudes toward health since these factors have all been associated with improved employee health status. Management-related factors have been shown to contribute more to success than the content of the intervention.

2. Participatory planning – A Employee Health Promotion Program should be undertaken in partnership with the workforce. Employees from all levels of staff should be actively engaged in the health and management aspects of the project as well as all on-going processes of any Employee Health Promotion Program. Planning must also include processes for maintaining communication with all staff and building their commitment to the process. Creating Employee Health Promotion Program steering committees to guide interventions during the planning and delivery of workplace health promotion programming improves worker awareness, participation, and satisfaction. Employee committees may identify perceived employee interests regarding educational programming, determine work site-specific characteristics that may affect the intervention or influence participation, and suggest the best methods for promotion and delivery of Employee Health Promotion Programs and activities. Ways to maximize employee input and involvement might include interest surveys, focus groups, and peer counsellors.

3. Primary focus on employees’ needs – A Employee Health Promotion Program should meet the needs of all employees, regardless of their current level of health and recognize the needs, preferences, and attitudes of different groups of participants. Program designers should consider the major health risks in the target population, the specific risks within the particular group of employees, and the organization’s needs. In other words, interventions should be tailor-made to the characteristics and needs of the recipients. This means that varied programs must be offered at different levels. Participation and commitment may be increased if a group of workers has the opportunity to address a specific modifiable risk factor of their choice.

4. Optimal use of on-site resources – Planning and implementation of Employee Health Promotion Programs should optimize use of on-site personnel, physical resources, and organizational capabilities. For example, whenever possible, initiatives should use on-site health and safety, management, work organization, communication, HR, and other specialists. Well-qualified external leadership may be introduced when in-house expertise is lacking.

5. Integration – An overall workplace health policy should be developed. The policies governing employee health must align with the corporate mission, vision, and values, supporting both short- and long-term objectives. These consistent policies must affirm the value of employee health and a commitment to engage employees in health enhancement. Employee Health Promotion Program Strategies should be integrated into a company’s regular management practices and eventually should be formally incorporated into the company’s corporate plan with adequate resources attached to them.

6. Recognition that a person’s health is determined by an interdependent set of factors – Any Employee Health Promotion Program must address multiple components of an individual’s life:
• the workplace physical and psychosocial environment;
• their personal resources such as social support, sense of empowerment, etc.; and
• their lifestyle practices influencing health.

7. Tailoring to the special features of each workplace environment – Employee Health Promotion Programs must be responsive to the unique needs of each workplace’s procedures, organization and culture. Integrating health behaviors and program participation into the existing corporate culture will normalize program participation.

8. Employee Health Promotion Program Evaluation – Project management should flow through needs analysis, determining priorities, planning, implementation, continuous monitoring, and assessment. Evaluation must include a clearly-defined range of process measures and outcomes as well as mechanisms for monitoring the impact of non-intervention workplace changes such as plant closure, major workplace re-organization, and new technology on staff health.

9. Long-term commitment – To sustain the benefits of the Employee Health Promotion Program, the worksite must continue the initiative over time, reinforcing risk-reduction behaviours and adapting the programs to ongoing personal, social, economic, and workplace changes.

Introduction to Employee Health Promotion Programs

Risky health behaviors by employees cost a company. Changing those behaviors can save the employer money and raise the employee’s productivity.

Because work gives an employee a stable setting and support system, Employee Health Promotion Programs can have a great impact on reducing high-risk behaviors. This impact results in decrease health claims cost, less absenteeism, and less short-term disability.

Employee Health Promotion Programs may include:

Awareness Rasing Programs: Health and wellness newsletters, health topics covered in payroll stuffers, healthy emails.

Health Risk Assessment: Employee health screenings, wellness fairs, health risk appraisals.

Educational Programs: Lunch & Learn wellness presentations, guest speakers at staff meetings.

Skill Building: Healthy cooking demostrations, activity challenges, CPR instruction opportunites, stress management classes, weight management classes.

Interventions: Massage, smoking cessation, and skills to help you get the most out of your doctor visit.

Physical environment: Healthy items in the vending machines and cafeterias, clean air practices, ergonomics, bike racks, flex time, welllit stairways.

Evaluation: Employee needs assessment, baseline Employee Health Promotion Program assessment measures, ongoing Employee Health Promotion Program assessment of overall effectiveness.

Why Provide Employee Health Promotion Programs

The typical employer spends about $8,000 a year on an employee’s health care. This includes health insurance, disability and worker’s compensation. As these costs climb, health insurance is expected to rise at least 10% per year.

A 1999 study showed that businesses using Employee Health Promotion Programs had a ROI from $1.49 – $13 in benefits per dollar spent. The amount depended on the nature of the Employee Health Promotion Programs used. (S. Aldana, American Journal of Wellness, 2001; 15:296-320)

One study showed that a “stop smoking” component to Employee Health Promotion Programs may save between $404 -$40,829 per employee, depending on the age and sex of the employee.

The Employee Health Promotion Programs at Traveler’s Company included a self-care book, a newsletter, single-topic brochures, and videotapes. The Employee Health Promotion Programs saved the company $7.8 million in employee benefi t costs, decreased doctor visits, and it lowered absenteeism by 1.2 days per employee per year. The estimated Employee Health Promotion Programs ROI was $3.40 per dollar spent.

In 1998, the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) reported a study of 46,026 employees from six large employers for three years. Employees with an inactive lifestyle had 10% higher costs; employees with depression had 70% higher costs.

Benefits of Employee Health Promotion Programs

Increased Productivity – The Canada Life Assurance Company realized a 4% increase in productivity after establishing an employee fitness program.

Increased Job Satisfaction – According to employee opinion surveys conducted by the Silverstone Group about thier Employee Health Promotion Programs, employees’ morale increased, which helped support a more creative work setting.

Improved Recruitment & Retention – In the midst of a tight labor market, Employee Health Promotion Programs could be a vital tool to draw new recruits.

Decreased Absenteeism – Canada Life Assurance Company’s absenteeism dropped 42% among employees in the Employee Health Promotion Programs.

Decreased Workers Comp & Disability – In one year, Boeing Company’s number of back injuries decreased by 34%. Six million dollars was saved by tracking injuries as they occurred.

Managed Health Care Costs – Golden, Colorado Adolf Coors Company’s Employee Health Promotion Programs returned $6.19 for every dollar spent.