Dr. Val Kinjerski
 
Dr. Val Kinjerski's Newsletter
 
March, 2010
 
Creating Healthy Workplaces
 
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In This Issue
Rethinking Your Work Book
CEUs
Workplace Stress
Need for Wellness in the Workplace
The Business Case for Wellness
Comprehensive Strategies
Case Study
How is your company doing?
 
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Healthy employees are absent less often, have higher morale, are more productive, and have lower healthcare costs. The result: happier employees, a better bottom line for the business and a higher level of customer satisfaction.  These positive effects also extend to employees' families, their communities, and the healthcare system.
 
Addressing employee health and well being has always been a strategy to contain costs. Now it has become a key strategy for attracting and retaining employees. Towers Watson consultants predict that keeping their workforce healthy, productive and engaged will be the most critical issue for employers over the next few years.
 
Proactive organizations are aware of the benefits of health and productivity programs to both employees and employers, and they are going beyond the typical employee safety programs and healthy lifestyles promotion strategies. They are now looking at the organizational culture - leadership, meaningful work, morale, relationships, social support, and balance between job demands and resources - all of which have a dramatic impact on employee health and sense of well being and spirit at work. 

 
I hope that you enjoy this newsletter. 
 
Val
How much more stress can employees take?  
 
Workplace stress-related illnesses are on the rise and pose significant costs - absenteeism, presenteeism, higher insurance claims, lost efficiency and lost productivity.
 
A 2007 public opinion survey commissioned by the American Psychological Association found that

�        74% of workers say that work is a significant source of stress
�        55% report being less productive as a result of stress
�        40% of employees do not use all their allotted vacation time annually
�        20% report having missed work as a result of stress
 
I don't think that anyone would disagree that organizations today have excessive levels of stress. And the current economic situation has added to that with employees' increased uncertainty about job expectations, benefit and pay, and job security.
 
Are you surprised that the top three sources of stress in both Canada and the United States (Towers Watson 2009/2010) are:

�        excessive work hours (75%),
�        lack of work/life balance (65%), and
�        job loss (64%)?
 
Layoffs, reduced resources and fear have clearly taken their toll on employees who are often challenged to do more with less.
The Need for Wellness in the Workplace
 
A quick glance at recent headlines tells the story.
 
 
1.  Health costs linked to overwork and stress.
2.  Employers fail to respond to work-related stress concerns.
3.  Job strain can contribute to heart attacks.
4.  Downsizing bad for health.
5.  Workaholism evenly distributed across socio-economic spectrum.
6.  Thirty-five to fifty per cent of disability insurance claims are stress-related.
7.  At any one time between 8 and 10 per cent of the workforce is off work on stress leave.
8.  Pessimism associated with heart health.
9.  Electronic dependence divorces us from family and society.
10.Employees struggling with work-life balance
 
With headlines like this, it is understandable that companies in the Towers Watson study reported a significant increase in health program utilization. However, a 50% increase in the use of employee assistance programs, 40% higher use of the health care plan, and  a 35% increase in disability claims has resulted in many companies feeling pressured to reduce benefits, particularly health care costs.
 
Leading-edge employers have different ideas. They are shifting their thinking from the cost of benefits to how to create value by investing in employee health and effectiveness. Health and productivity programs - which create value for employees and employers - are seen by these companies as a competitive advantage. As other organizations catch on, we can expect to see the onset of new programs in the next few years.
The Business Case for Wellness in the Workplace
  
In a meta-analysis of the literature on costs and savings associated with wellness programs, Katherine Baicker and colleagues from Harvard found that medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs and that absenteeism costs fall by about $2.73 for every dollar spent.
 
The companies with the most effective health and productivity programs (in the Towers Watson study) report a financial advantage. Look at the outcomes:

o  11% higher revenue per employee
o   lower medical trends by 1.2 percentage points
o   1.8 fewer days absent per employee per year and
o   28% higher shareholder returns 
At first glance, it might seem that 1.8 days less absenteeism per year isn't much. But if your company has 100 employees, 1.8 days translates to 180 workdays lost per year. That is 36 weeks. Where else can you get that kind return on your investment?
 
Towers Watson also found that high health and productivity effectiveness companies are also more likely to have:
o   lower health care costs
o   lower levels of presenteeism
o   fewer lost days due to disabilities and
o   lower levels of turnover relative to their industry peers.
How do they get these results? The most effective health and productivity organizations didn't focus only on the physical and mental health of employees. Emphasis was also placed on the organizational conditions which contribute to employee spirit at work and productivity such as:
o   recognition and rewards
o   organizational leadership and
o   effective communication.
What are progressive companies doing?
 
 
Proactive employers have adopted a broad definition of workplace wellness. Acknowledging workplaces as a key determinant of health, these employers go beyond the traditional occupational health and safety initiatives and health promotion programs. They consider how the culture of the organization impacts employee wellbeing and thus, productivity.
 
Comprehensive workplace health initiatives focus on three areas:
 
1.       Creating a safe and physically healthy work environment. The emphasis is on preventing injuries or illness and eliminating hazards. Examples are workplace design and ergonomics, safety guidelines, air quality and elimination of hazards.
 
2.       Promoting and supporting healthy lifestyles. These are the traditional health promotion activities at work which address lifestyle practices of employees. Examples are: stress management programs, smoking cessation programs, fitness programs or subsidies, and healthy food choices in workplace cafeterias.
 
3.       Creating a healthy organizational culture that fosters employee wellbeing, engagement and spirit at work. These are the management practices and strategies that focus on culture, leadership, relationships, and working conditions. Key factors include attitudes, values, respect, inclusion, recognition, meaningful work, communication and work-life balance or what some refer to as work-life fit.
 
Proactive organizations know that they can maximize their business performance by improving their work environment and investing in health programs for their employees.
Case Study: The Dow Chemical Company         
(Summarized from the Towers Watson "Staying at Work Report" 2009/2010.)
 
Dow's CEO, Andrew Liveris, believes in investing in human performance. He believes that championing programs and measuring their impact help sustain health programs as an important business issue. So, Dow's information is collected and shared broadly. Environmental influences are monitored through a Healthy Workplace Index which includes a stress risk assessment.
 "The Dow Health Strategy is an investment. We truly focus on efforts that will improve health outcomes, realizing fully that these will then lead to the economic benefits of both reduced health care costs and improved employee engagement and performance. Our efforts are felt at the individual level as well as at the operational and corporate level," says Gary Billotti, leader for health and human performance. 
 
It works! Dow has achieved some impressive results:
 
  • In 2008, Dow saved more than 7,000 workdays that otherwise would have been lost due to injuries and illnesses, realizing a savings of more than $3 million in the United States alone. 
  • Between 2004 and 2008, Dow reduced its percentage of employees at high risk (due to tobacco use, physical inactivity and obesity) by 15 percent and increased the number of employees at low risk by 18 percent. 
  • For active employees, health care costs increased by 2.4 percent in 2008 as compared to a national benchmarked average of approximately 6.3 percent, saving an estimated $11 million on U.S. health care costs.
How is your organization doing?
 
The National Quality Institute (NQI) provides twelve questions for organizations to see how they measure up to the NQI Healthy Workplace Criteria. These questions provide a great starting point for organizations interested in becoming healthier.
 
    1. Is a strategic approach in place for developing and sustaining a healthy workplace and is it based on employee needs?
    2. Do your leaders demonstrate, through their comments and action, a commitment to the management of a healthy workplace?
    3. Is there an overall health policy in place stating your organization's intent to protect and promote the health of all employees by providing as healthy an environment as possible?
    4. Do you have a formal assessment process to determine employee needs, attitudes and preferences in regard to healthy workplace programs?
    5. Are the workplace health assessment results analyzed and are improvement goals set out in a Healthy Workplace Plan?
    6. Does the Healthy Workplace Plan lead to improvement of all the key elements of a healthy workplace - the Physical Environment, Health Practices and the Social Environment and Personal Resources?
    7. Do you have a mechanism in place to review relevant occupational health and safety legislation and are you in compliance with such legislation/regulations? 
    8. Do you have methods in place that make it easy for people to provide ongoing input on healthy workplace and organizational issues and to seek assistance?
    9. Do you measure employee satisfaction levels (and I would add employee engagement and spirit at work) in order to improve the workplace? 
    10. Do you identify the contributions of your employees and provide appropriate recognition and rewards?
    11. Are there good levels and trends in employee satisfaction (and I would add employee engagement and spirit at work) and morale? 
    12. Do you train your employees in healthy workplace principles and methods?
Where to from here?
 
 
Effective health programs extend beyond the physical and mental health of employees and occupational health and safety. They focus on creating organizational cultures and conditions that inspire a highly engaged and effective workforce.  Companies that develop and promote comprehensive strategies that include health programs and engagement initiatives can expect to reap the rewards through more engaged employees, lower costs, improved productivity and financial performance.
 
Is your organization ready to create and develop a comprehensive health and engagement strategy? Contact us today for a free consultation.
 
 
Val Kinjerski, PhD
Kaizen Solutions for Human Services
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