The partners of insurance firm Eichlitz, Dennis, Wray Westheimer Agency donned workout gear in February and gathered employees to the strains of Survivor's Eye of the Tiger over the office PA system. Since starting their Biggest Loser-style competition, about 70 of the 95 employees have lost a cumulative 350 pounds, and partner Jenni Whitaker said thinking about wellness has quickly become part of the company culture.
For years, high-calorie breakfast tacos were the norm on every third Friday of the month.
I walked in on third Friday the other day and there was Special K and fruit, Whitaker said.
While workplace wellness programs have the come and gone for decades, observers say employers are offering more incentives and getting serious about getting their workers healthy.
Health-care expenditures in the U.
S. now top $1 trillion a year; companies are struggling to keep up with insurance premiums; and Baby Boomers are not in good health, said David Hunnicutt, president of Wellness Councils of America.
Diana Chaloux of Destined 2 Be Fit worked with the employees of EDW W on the wellness program.
That relationship has garnered interest from small and midsized businesses in San Antonio that are becoming more aware that they need to do something to control costs and work absences. We're kind of the missing link, providing information, structure and support to workplace wellness programs for businesses not large enough to have in-house wellness resources, Chaloux said.
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Making wellness part of the prehiring and welcoming of new employees sets the stage for workers to self-manage their health. It sets the tone for a culture of individual accountability in health, and reinforces that employees are expected to be knowledgeable and active in managing their personal health, according to a ComPsych report.
Dr.
Peter Wald, a USAA vice president and enterprise medical director, said USAA has included extensive wellness information at orientation, including tours pointing out healthy choices in the food courts and the in-house fitness centers, where new employees get a one-month free membership.
But Wald said the message has to be constant. We feel like we have to do all those things to get employees involved, Wald said of orientation and wellness messages at work and home.
We use every sneaky, devious trick we can to get people to do things that are good for them.
For example, the soda vending machines at USAA sell sugary drinks for $1.05 and diet drinks for 80 cents.
Nutrition information on menu items is posted prominently in the food service area. And the more healthful selections are closer to eye level.
Weight-loss competitions can be fun for employees, but they are best if they last at least 12 weeks, the amount of time it takes to make something a habit.
Weight Watchers at Work programs are an even more effective tactic because they are ongoing, Wald said.
Rachel Boyle, a massage therapist at the Watermark Spa on the River Walk, won a weight-loss competition hosted by the Watermark and the nearby Omni La Mansion by cooking at home more and working out with a trainer as much as twice a day. She hates to exercise.
Irving-based Omni Hotels started its fitness initiative earlier this year after Gov. Rick Perry challenged businesses to get fit. That effort, combined with a heart scare for Boyle's mid-30s husband and an approaching trip to Hawaii, got her moving.
She won $250 and a T-shirt, but how did she look in the swimsuit on the beaches of Hawaii? Much better than I thought, Boyle said.
Southwest Business Corp.
rolled out its Commit 2B Fit program in conjunction with Christus Santa Rosa Health Care last year, and employees are showing signs of making better health choices thanks to constant health education in the office, company-paid health club memberships and financial support for smoking cessation. The company no longer hires smokers as new employees.
Every business has so many challenges and complexities, and they don't take time to keep up with wellness programs, said SWBC Chief Operating Officer David Horne.
But we know the financial payback is going to be huge down the line.
Employers can expect an annual return of about $600 for every $100 invested in employee wellness programs, according to Meritain Health, which just introduced the Healthy Merits corporate wellness program for companies with self-funding insurance. Shifting an employee from a high health-risk category to a low risk can save an employer more than $3,000 per year, the company said.
At Omni, first-quarter health claims are down 15 percent compared with the first quarter last year. Joy Rothschild, senior vice president of Omni's human resources, said she can't show a direct correlation to the fledgling wellness program, but said this is the first time claims have decreased this significantly.
Hunnicutt of the Wellness Councils said incentives are the key to roping employees into participating.
If you offer trinkets and T-shirts, you'll get 10 (percent) to 15 percent participation. Movie tickets and merchandise will get you 30 (percent) to 35 percent, and $25 to $50 cash will get 40 percent to 60 percent, Hunnicutt said. But the Holy Grail of programs is to link it to plan benefit design.
For example, employers can raise the amount of the insurance premium workers pay by $500 a year, and then waive the additional fees if they agree to a health risk assessment. About 5 percent of your employees won't participate no matter what you offer them, but their extra $500 will pay for running your wellness plan, Hunnicutt said.
-- San Antonio employers are now going to great lengths to get their workers well as U.S. health expenditures top $1 trillion and workforce ages.
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