Getting a handle on the ROI of any wellness program is always tough, and often the answer comes down to: “Yes, we know it is making our employees healthier, but we can’t really tell you how much we’re saving.”
That’s why I was intrigued by this story in Florida’s St. Petersburg Times about how a lot of businesses in the Tampa Bay area are not only investing in wellness but also have some ROI they can point to as well.
“The Tampa-based Employers Health Coalition,” the newspaper reported, found “that wellness programs saved money and improved productivity by 34 percent, [and] a 2007 American Heart Association survey found that employees in companies that encouraged healthy habits used fewer sick days, had greater job satisfaction and did better work.”
One company, Pepin Distributing Co., opted to cover the $1,800 to $2,000 per person cost of a program that would help encourage weight loss and prevent or reduce complications of obesity such as heart disease and diabetes.
“The plan is considerably more expensive than programs such as Weight Watchers, which some employers offer,” the newspaper noted. “But if Pepin participants gain back the weight within a year after finishing the program, they must reimburse the company in full.”
Here’s the kicker to all of this: “Pepin spends more than $2 million annually on health care for its more than 300 employees. The company expects to see a return of $3 to $4 on every $1 spent on the weight-loss program.”
I was surprised by two things here: the amount of Pepin’s investment ($2 million annually is a LOT of money) and the 3-1 or 4-1 ROI that the company reported. I don’t watch this closely, but I can’t recall seeing a return on investment like that from a wellness program anywhere.
This says to me that positive wellness programs focused on helping workers take better care of themselves can have a positive impact on both the workers and on the organization’s bottom line. And, they make more sense than some of those punitive, punishment-based programs that a few businesses have.
The bottom line, as you know from the highly charged national debate that’s going on right now, is that health care is a huge drain on a company’s bottom line. A smart and well-constructed wellness program, like the one at Tampa’s Pepin Distributing, can be just one more tool that smart-thinking managers can use to get a better handle on health costs while also doing something that will lead to healthier, more fully engaged employees.
Not that we needed it, but here’s some more fuel for the health care debate: An Aon survey of 60 health insurers “found that, on average, insurers expect to pay out 10.5 percent more in claims costs in the next year—slightly less than the 10.6 percent increase forecast last year,” according to a story in the Indianapolis Star.
I doubt that anyone at this stage is surprised by double-digit increases in health care costs, so you also shouldn’t be surprised by this: “The Indianapolis Star last week reported that according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute, 42 percent of employers surveyed said they would increase the share of the premium their workers pay in 2010. That’s up from 38 percent last year.”
One silver lining (if you could call it that) in the Aon report is the notion that “some employers also might swallow the higher costs because workers this year already have had to contend with salary freezes, reductions and layoffs,” according to Tom Lerche, Aon Consulting’s health care practice leader. “There’s one school of thought that says, ‘Our employees have borne enough, let’s minimize or not pass any costs along to the employee,’ he said.”
This unrelenting increase in health care costs is what is driving the Obama administration’s puush for health care reform, but as you probably know, that effort seems to have run into a brick wall. Remember the health care bill that Congress was going to get before the August recess that one benefits industry publication kept predicting in spite of all evidence to the contrary? Well, given the partisan bickering that never seems to end, don’t expect any health care legislation coming up for a vote anytime soon.
But as someone who remembers the Clintons’ ill-fated attempt to change America’s health care system back in 1993, this summer’s contentious debate sounds vaguely familiar. Yes, double-digit increases in health care costs should get our attention. As a nation, we desperately need to get a handle on unsustainable increases in health care as our population ages and needs more of it, but this feels like a replay of another battle from another time when another administration in Washington bungled the issue and any chance for meaningful change.
Want to know just how screwed up things are right now for America’s workforce?
Here’s one telling sign: A Florida plastic surgeon is offering free cosmetic procedures to older job seekers so they can look younger and be able to better compete for a new job.
According to an amazing-but-true story in the Miami Herald, some “1,200 of South Florida’s newly jobless … recently vied for free Botox, dermal fillers, laser liposuction and other cosmetic procedures offered by Dr. Jason Shapiro … . [T]he Fort Lauderdale internist who gave away free procedures said he was moved by the applicants’ tales of being jobless, feeling unattractive and getting overlooked by employers despite their experience.”
And lest you think this is just an oddball trend that is somehow unique to South Florida, think again. The newspaper went on to note: “Nationwide, a growing number of people are turning to cosmetic procedures to put their best face forward as they look for a job—or try to hold on to the one they have. A survey of physicians by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery showed that 75 percent of them said they had treated patients who requested facial plastic surgery to stay competitive in the workplace.”
“Youth is becoming more and more emphasized in the workplace,” Dr. Steven Pearlman, past president of the organization, told the newspaper. “The seasoned experts, once pictured in ads with lots of wrinkles, have been replaced by young go-getters with multiple degrees and the appearance of boundless energy.”
Maybe it’s just me, but wouldn’t you rather hire someone who really has actual energy and real experience, even if they are older and more wrinkled, then someone younger looking who only has “the appearance of boundless energy”?
There are a number of factors that are challenging workers right now: a terrible economy with massive job losses, a huge generation of older workers (baby boomers) who now can’t afford to leave the workplace, and a business environment where companies want a clear and unmistakable sign of a recovery before they are willing to invest in any new jobs.
But I wonder: For all the glib talk from so many organizations about constantly striving to win the “war for talent” and hire the best people possible, what does it say about our national hiring practices when highly experienced older workers feel they need to enhance their looks in order to get companies to seriously consider them for a job?
Keep this in mind the next time you hear some talent management “expert” prattle on about how tough it is to win the war for talent. It might not be as tough as you think, especially if you aren’t hung up on just getting young and cheap talent in the front door.
In fact, you might actually find that older workers have a few things to offer—experience, depth of knowledge and a broader worldview—that are positive qualities to add to your workforce. Bottom line is, you need the best people possible for your workforce regardless of their age or looks. Smart managers are already aware of that, of course, and no amount of Botox is ever going to EVER change it.
There is so much hype and media frenzy surrounding the swine flu outbreakhttp, my favorite being a clueless PR person who was trying to make the case that things like swine flu, bird flu, terrorism and hurricanes “show why every employee should choose to be paid via Direct Deposit.” But in the midst of this hubbub, I’m reminded that there is an incredibly effective, time-tested strategy that can help any workforce deal with the swine flu problem.
It’s so marvelously simple that you may have overlooked it, but it goes like this: Encourage sick workers to stay home when they are sick.
I know that sounds like a joke, but stick with me, because my long experience as a manager has given me a unique insight into the employee mind-set. After decades of supervising people in all sorts of work settings, I am convinced that most workers—particularly the most diligent and hardworking ones—don’t like to call in sick.
Yes, I know there are some people who will stay home if the wind blows the wrong way, but such employees are in the minority, I’ve found. Most of the people in your workforce, if they are anything like those I have worked with, enjoy the job they do and resist staying home even when they are not feeling 100 percent.
As the Chicago Tribune noted in a story today, “As the number of confirmed cases of swine flu grows and concerns mount, corporate America is grappling with how best to keep healthy employees well and at work in slimmed-down workplaces, and how to keep the sick ones home.”
I’m one of those workers who used to come to work sick unless I had something that made me so ill that it put me flat on my back. I can’t tell you how many times I came to the office with bad colds, sore throats and all sorts of other minor maladies.
That’s how I used to be, but it didn’t take me too many years of supervising people before I discovered that people who work when they are sick are far less productive. More important, they infect everyone else.
As much as it might cause some temporary trouble to have somebody out on sick leave, it’s a minor inconvenience compared to what a sick person at work can do to the rest of your workforce. But as The New York Times blog Domestic Disturbances reported, it’s not that easy a call for many people. “Nearly half of all private sector workers in our country—more than 59 million people—have no paid sick time at all. The problem is particularly acute among women, low-wage workers—more than three-quarters of whom have no paid sick days—and part-timers.”
Smart sick leave policies are essential to any forward-thinking organization, and a business that chooses to ignore the fact that everyone eventually gets sick is being incredibly foolish and shortsighted.
So if you have a sick leave policy, encourage your workers to make good use of it, especially now with the threat of swine flu looming so large in many organizations. And if you are one of those organizations that doesn’t offer a sick-leave benefit, or makes it difficult people to stay home sick, well, you should rethink what you’re doing. Having people feel compelled to work when they are ill is a losing proposition for everyone.
There’s one good thing about tough economic times (if you’re willing to say there are any good things): It makes people have a greater appreciation for what they have.
Nowhere is this truer than in the world of employee benefits, because we’re seeing more and more evidence that many perks workers used to take for granted, and perhaps even felt entitled to, are now the very things that they have come to really count on and appreciate as the economy tightens up.
“In this environment, benefits are taking on a heightened importance for most workers. They are more actively involved in managing the benefits provided by their employers, says a new study conducted by MetLife,” and reported in The Arizona Republic.
“MetLife’s 7th Annual Employee Benefits Trends Study said 46 percent of workers surveyed say they are taking a greater interest in understanding the benefits they get through their employer,” the story said. “More than half say they appreciate the benefits more than ever before and 41 percent said their workplace benefits are the foundation of their financial security.”
What’s interesting to me about this MetLife study is that the company felt the need to do the survey twice—first in August and then again in November—because of “the recent volatility in the markets.”
Clearly, MetLife felt that data and opinions collected in the relative good times of last August just wouldn’t be representative of how workers feel today. And although I applaud MetLife’s decision to re-survey in November, I think the findings would probably be even more pronounced had they done taken them again—perhaps in February—after the economy REALLY took a nose dive.
You get a hint of this from the concerns workers expressed in the study.
“A third of workers are worried that their company will cut benefits in the next 12 months,” the Republic story said, “although the study shows only 15 percent of employers said they planned to make such cuts. This also indicates that company officials recognize the importance of benefits to worker morale—39 percent of employers believe that workplace morale is strongly linked to the quality of employee benefits.”
“Focusing on retirement has taken on a bigger role for many individuals. Six out of 10 employees say they have been motivated to look at the level of income they’ll need in retirement. That figure rises to 73 percent for Baby Boomers, participants born between 1946 and 1964 … [and] the biggest concern, cited by 65 percent of workers, is affording health care in retirement. The second biggest worry was a tie between outliving retirement money and having the money to care for a spouse’s long-term needs, both issues cited by six in ten participants,” the story added.
I don’t find it surprising that employees are more appreciative of their benefits, because most workers who still have jobs are concerned with keeping those jobs and all the perks and extras that come with it. That hasn’t really changed, but what has gotten people’s attention is the notion that losing a job doesn’t just mean losing a paycheck.
It also means losing health care, dental and eye coverage, paid vacation and probably access to a retirement plan. If those benefits were taken for granted in the past, they certainly aren’t anymore, at least not in this economy.
“Employees are looking more and more to the workplace for advice, education and guidance so they can make better decisions about their benefit programs … to help them craft a financial safety net for themselves,” said Bill Mullaney, president of MetLife’s institutional business.
Yes, benefits are one part of the safety net that workers depend on, in both good times and bad. It sometimes takes something like a huge economic downturn before people finally really appreciate what they have—and what they should never, ever take for granted again.
= Member Only
