There are a number of issues that affect how successful our businesses are. One of the biggest is how happy and healthy our employees are. If you are not providing a workplace that encourages your employees to take care of themselves, you may be setting them up for health issues, emotional issues and other problems that not only seriously affect their lives, but also affect their ability to be a productive part of your company’s team.
Working with a company that provides wellness programs is a great way to put a plan in place to keep your workforce as healthy and productive as possible. Madonna Fit for Work offers a continuum of customized wellness programs, injury prevention and injury management services designed to help improve employee health and reduce health care costs. Their wellness programs incorporate a holistic approach to wellness that helps to make wellness real for employees by relating to them in their work environment, understanding their obstacles to better health and then providing real solutions they can use daily. Wellness services include: health screenings for early detection of health risks, wellness presentations, weight loss programs, tobacco cessation programs, nutrition and wellness coaching, walking programs, stress management, fitness classes and medically based programs.
“Companies that are interested in a data-driven approach to wellness will resonate with our approach because we believe data collection is the essential foundation to build a successful and effective wellness program,” states Sande Dirks with Madonna Fit for Work. “On-site health screenings, claims data and company demographics provide insights for wellness programming. That information gives the company a baseline for measuring change. Fit for Work tracks outcomes for each wellness initiative and tracks changes in health screening data. One of the most important metrics we track for measuring success is the percentage of the companies’ employees at risk for various health factors.
Ours is not a cookie cutter approach to wellness. Madonna Fit for Work customizes its programs and promotions based on the company culture, employee demographics and health data. Whether a business is just getting started or has an established program – we help them expand the effectiveness of their program by offering a variety of formats and different options to help attract participants at different fitness levels or stages of readiness to change.
Data is the foundation of the program, but the feel of the programs offered to employees needs to be personal, positive, supportive and fun. We see a significant increase in engagement when fun and surprise events are incorporated. Successful wellness programs feel private and personal to participants, yet also foster the camaraderie of developing a healthier workplace culture. It has to meet the needs of the most sedentary employee as well as the weekend warrior. It has to help each person recognize how their day-to-day choices shape their health.
Fit for Work has been successful working in a variety of industries including manufacturing, business, hospitality, health care and non-profits. No matter the work setting or the size of the company, the key is to help employees identify their personal goals and empower them to overcome personal barriers to better health. We see the greatest impact when we work with organizations that are committed to a plan that builds their culture of wellness year by year.”
Building a comprehensive wellness program can seem like an overwhelming task. Sande Dirks advises, “To build an effective wellness program, collect composite health data so that your program initiatives are driven by your employee’s health risks. Collect trend data to help measure change in health risks and the effectiveness of your wellness program. Build employee confidence that individual health data is kept confidential in the process by partnering with a reliable third party.
For optimal results, select programs and activities that will work with your unique culture, employee demographics, employee interests and health risks. A variety of formats are needed to help you reach employees who are at different fitness levels and interests. Include a balance of low, moderate and high risk health interventions. Creative programming is needed to reach busy workers with limited time for wellness events. Program designs that allow you to take events out to employees will increase awareness and engagement.
Look at your work place environmental policies and culture to see what changes you can make that support wellness, like having a smoke-free campus, healthy food choices in the cafeteria, in vending machines and at employee events. Incentives help increase participation in wellness events. Strategies that link wellness to benefit plans (like lower premiums, deductibles or contributions to a health care account) have demonstrated the greatest impact in engaging participation. Utilize the expertise of a wellness professional to help you build a well thought out wellness plan and implement changes overtime.”
Tiger-Rock Academy has provided a new approach for many businesses who want to implement a wellness program but are unsure of the impact to their budget. Jeff Dousharm and Jason Reed developed a program where there are no costs or management fees to the business for the program itself. This has now become a national program through Tiger-Rock Martial Arts International, who was recently recognized as #1 in their category in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500. Companies can take advantage of Tiger-Rock’s wellness program that provides on-site seminars and training on everything from sustainable lifestyle to stress management and practical nutrition. Additionally, employees receive training on liability conscious use of force–ensuring safety in the workplace while at the same time protecting against liability for the company. Employees and their families also enjoy significant discounts for additional training, health and fitness programs at all of the Tiger-Rock Academy locations.
Companies as small as ten and companies with thousands of staff have all taken advantage of this program and found it to be effective to get their people involved and reap the benefits. The instructors and trainers who put on this program are experts at motivating people and making an impact through their presentations.
Preventing injury should be a key component of any office’s wellness program. Ergonomics is a large part of this. “Instruction in proper ergonomics is very important,” explains Michael Zalman with Husker Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. “Proper sitting or standing position, appropriate set up of their work station (with their chair, desk and computer screen all set at appropriate levels, for example), lifting mechanics and avoidance of repetitive motions in one direction are crucial.”
When an injury occurs, getting your employee the proper care is the first order of business. “Following a comprehensive examination, we provide clients with treatment to reduce their pain levels with use of modalities, exercises and hands-on techniques,” states Michael. “We then focus on providing them with an effective home exercise program to improve specific imbalances and weakness that we observe on each side of the body. This ensures quicker recovery. Instruction in proper ergonomics is again huge to avoid re-injury.
Rather than focusing on the injured region of the body, we will evaluate the body as a whole, including examining range of motion and strength through the pelvis, hips, trunk, extremities, and neck. This allows us to quickly and effectively identify limitations that are feeding into the presenting injury. For example, someone with shoulder discomfort may in fact have a limitation with their pelvis that is putting their shoulder in a poor, painful position. If this is overlooked, that person may never achieve full recovery.
For optimal results, the therapist and patient should work together to formulate a set of goals and a treatment program. We encourage our patients to be very active in this process. Education is critical!”
Looking for an example of a wonderful local wellness program? Look no further than Talent Plus. Read on for a description of the environment they have created for their team members:
Talent Plus has found that by offering a unique mixture of benefits they can impact the health of individual associates and the company as a whole. An internal Wellness Team focuses on associate wellness through a series of programs and friendly competitions. The team enjoys a high participation rate among associates and has seen multiple benefits as a result of their programs. A unique benefit not offered among many Lincoln companies is an onsite corporate chef on staff who provides healthy meals for breakfast and lunch. Talent Plus supplements the kitchen costs so that associates pay a nominal charge to enjoy healthy meal options. Meals are made fresh daily and offered along with a salad bar containing raw fruits and vegetables. The Lincoln campus is also smoke free environment.
The internal Wellness Team leads programs broken into periods of about seven weeks in order to ensure the highest engagement. The programs include items such as yearly wellness screenings in partnership with the Nebraska Heart Institute, vaccine clinics, exercise competitions and education opportunities surrounding wellness addressing the physical, mental, spiritual and financial wellness of associates.
Talent Plus also successfully launched a new vacation policy in early 2011 re-tooling the standard two or three weeks of paid vacation policies common at most companies. After looking for fitting alternatives to the standard set number of paid days off, a non-policy, policy was adopted. There is no limit to the number of days off for either vacation or sickness but rather a focus on trust and performance. As a further measure of trust the days off are not tracked. Managers do still manage and approve time off in order to ensure coverage for their team but associates are trusted to not abuse the privilege.