Employee Health is an
Asset: Tips for Motivating Employees to Better Health
More and more employers of all sizes recognize that there
is a direct line between healthy, engaged workers and the company’s
bottom line. Healthy workers are more productive, have fewer Workers’
Compensation claims, and have lower health care costs.
There is little doubt that the lifestyles of many Americans are a threat
to productivity. According to researchers at John Hopkins Bloomberg School
of Public Health Center for Human Nutrition, 66% of adults were overweight
or obese in 2003 and 2004 and by 2015, 75% of adults will fit that profile.
A Duke University Medical Center analysis found that obese workers filed
twice the number of Workers’ Compensation claims, had seven times
higher medical costs from claims, and lost 13 more days of work a year from
work-related injuries or illness than did non-obese workers.
Recognizing the economic costs of poor health, many employers are implementing
wellness programs to encourage employees to adopt more healthful lifestyles.
Yet these programs will only be successful if employees participate in them
and remain committed over the long term. Here are some tips for encouraging
participation:
1. Identify the behavior that needs to be changed. While smaller companies
may feel they do not have the resources for a comprehensive program, they
can benefit by helping employees change behavior with simple, well-managed
programs. Focusing on issues that will improve the work life will benefit
both employers and employees.
2. Make access easy, ideally within the workplace. Remote programs are often
dependent on self-motivation that fades with the passage of time.
3. Make the program as personal as possible. A customized process will be
more effective in engaging workers over the long-term.
4. Build trust and commitment with education and health risk appraisals.
5. Start at the time of hire. Incorporate health and fitness promotion,
as well as injury prevention, into your initial training.
6. Offer an incentive – monetary or non-monetary, but significant
enough to make a difference to employees. Financial incentives such as cash
or gift certificates or varying the amount of premium contributions/deductibles
for health insurance are popular. Penalties are sometimes combined with
incentives. Such programs need to comply with federal and state laws and
must be tied to behavior and not health status.
7. Monitor the results and communicate the aggregate results to employees
– participation level, goal achievement, etc. – to engage more
employees over time.
8. Adopt a culture of health in the workplace. It was not that long ago
that the mantra was to adopt a culture of safety in the workplace and employers
were rewarded for their efforts with a significant decrease in the number
of work-related injuries. A culture of health conveys an interest in the
overall well-being of employees and will contribute to reduced absenteeism,
improved productivity and morale. |