In response to the rising cost of health care incurred by companies to properly cover their employees, workplace wellness initiatives offer tools for businesses to better ensure their employees are healthy and productive in-house. These types of programs have become so prominent in a majority of workplaces that they are often visible in the community and participation is a contractual requirement as opposed to an option as their traditional capacity had encompassed. The increased demand for the presence of wellness programs as well as the diversity of those programs creates many options for orchestrating and implementing a program that is tailored to the needs of each individual workplace. Additionally, the benefits of wellness programs that have been statistically and functionally analyzed in recent years are incredibly hard to ignore.
Thanks to modern medicine, life expectancy for Americans has continually increased. How much we enjoy these additional years, however, depends greatly on how we have lived our lives. If our quality of life is to remain high so that we can fully enjoy these extra years, we must practice good eating habits, be active and refrain from using tobacco products.
Worksite wellness programs can help support these healthy behaviors. Take advantage of these benefits in your organization and start a workplace wellness program now. Don’t be overwhelmed when it comes to developing a program, though. You can start as small as you want to and increase healthy options as time and demand increases. Consider a few of these small steps:
–Having a potluck once a week where everyone brings a healthy option to share for lunch.
–Encouraging employees to take a 20 minute walk on their lunch break (as weather permits).
–Starting a ‘wellness newsletter’ where you or one of your staff includes tips on eating healthier, exercising and more.
–Offering a ‘mental health day’ or days for your employees in addition to their normal sick/vacation leave.
Small steps like this don’t cost much (if anything) and don’t take a lot of time. If you want to do something larger, read on. You don’t have to be lost when it comes to incorporating a wellness program, no matter how extensive you are imagining. There are plenty of experts out there to help! Having healthy and happy employees is one of the best ways to ensure a successful workplace. By working with professionals in the wellness area, you can ensure that you are providing the type of workplace your employees need to thrive!
VictoryQuest, LLC stands by the slogan “always quest to be your best” and is a company that is dedicated to helping individuals and teams achieve greatness. They pride themselves on having conducted extensive research, planning and implementation to figure out what works and what does not, therefore it is in the best interest of employers who want to incorporate team building into their culture to model their programs after other great teams and organizations who have already endured this process of trial and error. Additionally, as a member of the International Association of Teamwork Facilitators, they have plenty of resources that make it simple to decide the best options for each unique workplace. They stress that team building activities and outings increase the wellness of employees by redirecting the focus from what’s in it for “me” to what’s in it for “we.” While we are all motivated by self-interest, as humans we are social people that long to be a part of a community. Focused team building programs encourage the health and wellness of the whole person. VictoryQuest promotes the idea that healthier individuals lead to healthier organizations that are more productive, energetic, and more likely to achieve greatness. In order to help business partners, organizational teams, and other types of clients realize their collective potential, they have developed several solutions and opportunities to invest in your team. They have tailored several tiers of team building packages that can be conducted on site, at an independent location such as a hotel or conference center, or at Camp Gargano located just outside of Lincoln. Their website, www.victoryquest.com, also offers a wealth of resources to assist you in fostering teamwork throughout your company or organization.
Team building can also occur outside of the office, and group activities that incorporate regular physical activity not only improve one’s health but positively impact their performance. Many companies choose to capitalize on this by incorporating a membership to a fitness club into their benefit package or as a part of their wellness programs. In order to provide a facility that employees can utilize to meet their fitness goals, Lincoln Racquet Club is a fitness center that offers corporate partnerships for those looking to begin or implement wellness initiatives. These partnerships enable each company to 
provide their employees with the tools they need to incorporate fitness into their daily lives including classes, equipment, and knowledgeable staff with access to the latest fitness techniques and current health recommendations. Jerry Madison, the general manager, also notes that as far as increasing performance there is a documented connection between employees who participate in moderate physical activity on a regular basis and their increased production and quality of work. He emphasizes that working out with a group of co-workers makes the time you are investing fun as well as effective by providing motivation, endurance, support, energy, and accountability. Group exercise fosters teamwork and helps all members to achieve fitness goals while encouraging accountability by keeping all members of the group on task and motivated to stick to those goals.
Since most people have sedentary jobs that are repetitive in nature, developing a daily routine that incorporates some level of exercise is very important but can be challenging. For example, if you sit at a desk all day, chances are good that you have chronic low back and neck pain. With a proper workout program, you can start to strengthen those muscles which in turn will reduce those aches and pains. Also, exercising increases your energy levels and reduces stress. You can start your day by exercising in the morning before heading out to work for an added energy boost to carry you through your work day, or try exercising after work to de-stress your body from a long day at the office.
Capital City Boot Camps offers a full range of exercise options as well as complimentary lunch and learn talks that are a high-energy and fun way to educate yourself on what will work best to incorporate exercise into your daily grind. Some of their most popular talks are “The Lies and Myths of Weight Loss,” “4-Minute Fat Loss at Work,” and “Crunchless Abs” but they are also able to tailor a talk for each companies’ specific needs.
Mike Bevard, the owner of Capital City Boot Camps, also speaks to the importance of working out with co-workers. He emphasizes that this is “a great way to build teamwork, camaraderie and lasting friendships at the workplace. This can correlate into a more positive and productive atmosphere at work.” For this reason, CCBC offers a 15% corporate discount to employees of participating companies that train at the two Lincoln locations and also have an on-site corporate fitness boot camp program for businesses looking to bring group training sessions to their employees for added convenience. Since they are a company that emphasizes employee wellness, Bevard requires all of his employees to maintain a healthy lifestyle and exercise regimen so as coaches they are able to lead by example to help inspire their clients.
In addition to exercise, Chiropractic care can offer solutions to enable employees to function at a high level while maintaining comfort and good health. At Mosier/Timperley Chiropractic Clinic, their mission is to educate on the disturbances that limit the body to function at optimal levels, empower with the truth of the body’s self-healing power, and to equip individuals to live a lifestyle for which they were created. Dr. Corey Dousharm offers several tips on keeping your body functioning optimally in your workplace. “Whether you are on your feet all day or seated at a computer, proper spinal care and alignment can help make work more comfortable and enjoyable. Regular Chiropractic care and correct body positioning when at a desk are very beneficial. By making sure that the spine and pelvis are aligned, standing or walking for hours on a sales floor can become less strained or uncomfortable. When seated at a desk, make sure that you are seated upright with adequate support at your lower back. Knees should be at a 90* angle, wrists should be supported at the keyboard and eyes should be at the same level as the computer screen. Many times we start to get lazy, and our posture begins to slouch and the head begins to drift forward. This position puts more strain on the neck and upper back, leading to very common issues such as headaches, neck/back pain/stiffness, and carpal tunnel.”
There are many options available for health care providers, and some are recommended through employers but otherwise it is up to the individual to seek out options and coverage to keep themselves healthy and maintain a high level of productivity at their job. Urgent Care Clinic of Lincoln sees a large number of worker’s compensation patients, but the staff is also happy to discuss personal or corporate health care coverage and provide basic medical services. With rising insurance costs, some employers have looked at contracting employee health care, and Urgent Care often partners with businesses to review what they currently have and educate them on basic health insurance topics. This gives businesses a better idea of how they can use what they currently have, or if they should pursue options that better fit their needs. After that type of consultation, employers are better equipped to make an informed decision on whether to privatize their insurance, and can come to a decision that is mutually beneficial to the company as well as its employees.
Urgent Care is a fully equipped facility with onsite labs and radiology capabilities. All of their services are enhanced by digital capabilities, including electronic medical records and prescription forwarding services, x-ray technology that allows films to be loaded onto a CD for the patient to take with them to referral appointments, and fully digital laboratory that offers rapid, accurate results. They serve their clients while on the job and off, providing wait times as well as the registration process online. This enables the clinic staff to get the employee in, seen, treated and back to work more efficiently than another clinic that may simply provide a more convenient location. Dr. Donald Rice, the Physician-Owner of Urgent Care, pointed out that they are seeing a growing population of non-insured clients. He noted that “the biggest problem we see with individuals who are uninsured is that many of them are surprisingly not lacking financial support. They simply opt to go without and hope for the best. That’s a decision they have to make, but if they chose to go without insurance, it is a good idea to be saving and budgeting for an emergency. Sadly, most don’t. We try to help by offering discounts for cash payments, but patients need to understand the tremendous importance of saving up for their health care if they choose to go without insurance.”
Health insurance as we know it is rapidly evolving, especially with the presence of Obamacare. Dr. Rice also emphasizes that we do not necessarily have a national healthcare crisis, but much more of an insurance crisis and predicts that businesses will be significantly impacted by this program. Dr. Rice feels that “even though The Affordable Healthcare Act is presented as ‘optional,’ with higher taxes and our continuing insurance debacle many businesses that previously had provided insurance policies and assistance will be forced to drop their employees onto Obamacare. The biggest cost cuts will be executed against providers who account for the smallest percentage of health care costs. This is why I think it is more important to educate employers about what they have, what they are spending, and to decide whether it will be beneficial to them to privatize their health care costs.”
One of the greatest contributing factors to higher health insurance premiums for businesses and their employees is smoking and tobacco use. Jeff Soukup, Program Manager for the Tobacco Free Nebraska Program, stresses that there are many easy ways to prevent this from being a problem for your business, your employees, or your clients and customers. According to statistics provided by Tobacco Free Nebraska, the annual cost for smoking related health care in Nebraska alone is $592 million dollars. Businesses pay an average of $2,189 in workers’ compensation costs for smokers, compared with $176 for non-smokers, and smokers are more likely to be absent from their jobs on average 2.74 days per year more than their non-smoking counterparts. Additionally, cigarette butts are the most littered item in the United States, and they are not only unsightly but toxic. Allowing employees or customers to smoke on-site may take away from the presentation of your business before a customer even walks through your door. In addition to the fact that many people don’t want to walk through littered cigarette butts or a cloud of smoke to enter your place of business, it is unpleasant to be around the smell of smoke in general and allowing your employees to smoke on-site could be damaging to your property as a fire hazard. For example, in 2011 127 cigarette-related fires were recorded in Nebraska, resulting in total property loss of $4,185,480. The more we know about the damaging effects of smoking to everyone involved, the more it becomes a call-to-action to have policies in place that prevent 
smoking on-site to protect your business and offer programming to help current employees quit smoking and other tobacco use. Since 2009, it has been mandatory for indoor workplaces in Nebraska to be smoke-free. However, exposure to secondhand smoke can occur anywhere—indoors and outdoors. By establishing a tobacco-free campus policy, you’re telling your employees and customers that you care about their health and welfare. A tobacco-free campus policy also reduces your liability because disability claims based on secondhand smoke exposure are eliminated. There are many resources offered by Tobacco Free Nebraska that businesses can incorporate into their wellness programming. The easiest way to start is to promote the free and confidential Nebraska Tobacco Quitline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669), or their website at QuitNow.ne.gov as a resource for employees. The Quitline offers a Web Coach application with motivational tools, social support, and information about quitting. Soukup offers several other solutions to encouraging employees who use tobacco to quit, including increasing health insurance premiums for those who smoke or use other tobacco products, offering nicotine replacement therapies (gum, patches, etc.) as a health insurance benefit, or including resources provided by Tobacco Free Nebraska into your workplace newsletter posting in an area that is visible to employees. For more information on how you can make your business tobacco-free, visit the website http://TobaccoHurtsBusiness.ne.gov.
Company Care is a full-service worker’s compensation clinic that has been operating for more than 20 years and has created a foundation of quality by focusing solely on all aspects of worker’s compensation claims. They are affiliated with Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center and a part of The Physician Network clinics. Dr. David Durand has been a physician with Company Care since 2004 and has a wealth of experience in work-related injury care and injury prevention in the workplace. He stresses the importance of educating employees on injury prevention and feels that it is of the utmost importance to urge employees to report any injury immediately. Dr. Durand has seen businesses benefit from implementing wellness programming that starts with orientation about when and how to report injuries and reminds employees about this information quarterly for best results. As with any preventative care, safety-first is optimal, and any safety programming can be partnered with injury prevention for education and awareness initiatives.
Depending on the size of your business and the amount and severity of injuries recorded, Dr. Durand recommends having a designated staff member to manage and analyze all work-related injury claims, which avoids the confusion that arises from too many parties being involved in each stage of the care and claim processes. This person should be one that is familiar with the company and the types of injuries that are the most prevalent, maintain a pro-active and vigilant approach to handling cases, be approachable and fair when dealing with employees, and not be afraid of asking difficult questions of any parties or companies involved. Dr. Durand also recommends supplementing this position with someone to critically evaluate the management of the worker’s compensation claims. He notes that “worker’s compensation is a business cost, and all companies are or should be interested in controlling cost. Every injury you prevent is a ‘win-win’ for everybody.” These costs are not just limited to monetary losses, but also can be related to productivity and morale. To minimize monetary loss incurred by work-related injuries, Dr. Durand recommends that any employee handling injury claims for their company should always “dig deeper into why the injury happened in the first place, compile all information available to see the big picture, and then develop cost-effective solutions.” One of those solutions is aligning yourself with an occupational health clinic like Company Care that understands and specializes in occupational medicine and helps you manage those injuries more effectively. Another solution is implementing a pre-employment screening process to offer employers a baseline for each employee that they hire. Drug testing is a component that should be included for pre-employment as well as post-accident, reasonable suspicion and random testing. Dr. Durand states “with a few exceptions, all companies have an employee drug problem, whether they know it or not,” and noted that he has seen drug tests, especially on the post-accident side, come up positive on a more regular basis in recent years. Company Care offers employee drug testing as a part of their full menu of services, which also includes work injury care (x-rays and suturing), physicals for pre-employment, DOT and OSHA related, respirator clearance, vision/audio, back screening, immunizations, wellness screenings, on-site screenings and a variety of other services.
Companies are more aware today than ever before just how important it is to provide for the long-term health and wellness benefits for their people. Tiger Rock Academy currently works with businesses all over Lincoln and Omaha by providing resources for companies to have a true wellness program at ZERO cost to the company. A major challenge for any company in the beginning stages of planning their wellness programming is to find partners that are the best fit to assist with the creation, delivery and maintenance of a successful wellness program. Implementation can also be challenging, and though providing a wellness program is great, without the right execution and strategies it just sits on the shelf and collects dust. Tiger Rock solves these problems for companies by providing not only materials, but on-site help, seminars and information. Tiger Rock’s staff and instructors also help the company to motivate their people to get involved and achieve the goals set for the program. Seminars offered include sustainable lifestyle, nutrition, stress relief, and strategies to simply be healthy. Tiger Rock also offers a great number of programs at their seven locations surrounding the Lincoln and Omaha communities. These programs include yoga, kickboxing, traditional martial arts and safety seminars for the whole family. Tiger Rock has provided these services, lessons and wellness programs for over 18 years in our communities, and will continue to partner with companies for many more wellness initiatives in the future.
The Nebraska Safety Council offers several training programs that supplement workplace health and safety initiatives, and some of these include First Aid and CPR, blood borne pathogen training, respiratory protection, and chemical safety training. These types of programs all work to support wellness through a safety lens.
Tonya Vyhlidal, WorkWell Program Director, offered her expertise on integrating company safety programs with wellness programs. “Safety, like wellness, is about prevention and promotion of doing the right things for people. We have safety programs in place to ensure the overall well-being of our employee’s on and off the job. Wellness is no different in this aspect. We pursue prevention through various 
wellness program efforts to support the individual in being healthy, happy, and productive all the while supporting them in providing an environment that foster’s the health, happiness, and productiveness of its workforce. Several Safety and Wellness policies and programs overlap but are not always easily recognized. Some examples of these include: policies for flu pandemics or chronic diseases, tobacco free campus policies, DOT regulations that support the absence of drugs and alcohol, return to work programs that encourage the worker to return to work after sustaining an injury so that they may get back to work with social, psychological, and physical support, and finally even biometric screening and Health Risk Appraisals. Understanding your employees’ physical, social and psychological risk factors helps you build and prepare high quality/high value wellness and safety programs. We offer Worksite Wellness 101 training where we help organizations prepare for building their wellness program through leadership support, data evaluation, company policy and procedure, and business integration.”
The Nebraska Safety Council will host their annual Conference and Trade show this year and will feature a wellness track as a part of the conference, which will include presentations specific to wellness industry trends as well as the benefits to integrating wellness and safety programs into your workplace.
It is common for employees to increase alertness in the morning or avoid a mid-afternoon crash by keeping an energy drink on-hand. Anne Cook, VEMMA Brand Partner, says that “when it comes to wellness in the workplace, Vemma’s Verve with ‘Insanely Healthy Energy’ is a must! Each 8.3-oz. beverage contains 2 oz. of the core Vemma formula, so you get the benefit of being able to drink your daily vitamins, plus 80 mg of Guarana Seed Extract (a natural caffeine source). Verve is a healthy alternative to popular energy drinks like Monster, Rock Star, Red Bull and other carbonated beverages with caffeine (like soda). Next time you need a “pick me up” before or during you work day without the “crash”, try a Verve instead!” Verve now comes in three varieties: Zero Sugar, Natural Low Sugar and the new “Bold” with 120 mg of caffeine (equivalent to 1 ½ cups of coffee).
Talent Plus’ employee benefits strive to address the entire person. By offering a unique mixture of traditional and more progressive benefits, the organization has found they are able to impact the engagement, well-being and bottom line of the company as a whole, in addition to the individual.
One benefit receiving additional focus this year is the internal Talent Plus Wellness Committee. This committee is led by Joshlyn Magnan and is comprised of associates who are passionate about wellness. They strive to make Talent Plus a leader in facilitating good health among associates as well as the community. Talent Plus wants to be known for its commitment to creating healthy lifestyles through listening to people’s needs, building supportive relationships, and employing a holistic approach to health.
The committee focuses their efforts around four pillars: Physical Health, Financial Health, Social Health and Mental/Emotional Health. A variety of activities are available for associates throughout the year including Walking Wednesday, where associates take a 30-minute walk following lunch, chair massages to reduce stress, Wellness Wednesday tips which are emailed out each week and cover topics related to the four pillars, Wellness Lunch and Learns and Associate Learning Academy courses which relate to the four wellness pillars, and they have partnered with the Social Responsibility Committee to participate in multiple fundraising walks in the community. In addition, Talent Plus employs an on-site chef who prepares healthy options for breakfast, lunch and a snack each workday. The cost is supplemented by Talent Plus so that associates only pay a nominal charge to enjoy healthy meal options on-site, which encourages associates to eat healthy meals, build relationships around the lunch tables, and reduce lost productivity time. The Talent Plus Wellness Committee stands by their mission statement that “we will facilitate healthier lifestyles for Talent Plus associates, families and friends – helping each person achieve their mental, emotional and physical health goals.”
Providing for employees who are returning to the workplace after having a baby is another important aspect of a ‘well’ workplace. Employers may not know how to handle a situation like this as they might be embarrassed to address the issue of breast feeding or feel it is ‘none of their business’. “Going back to work after having a baby can often be a source of stress for mothers, as well as their families and even their employers,” states Stacey Roach with MilkWorks. “It’s helpful for employers and mothers to discuss their plans and policies for breastfeeding prior to maternity leave. It’s also important that both be aware of the Fair Labor Standards Act related to breastfeeding, which requires employers to provide time and space for nursing moms to pump while they’re at work.”
If you are dealing with this situation, MilkWorks can be an excellent resource both for you and your employee. “MilkWorks offers classes, breast pumps, supplies and support for moms returning to work,” explains Stacey. “Our Parent Information Center is available on our website, www.milkworks.org, and on site. We can provide guidance to moms working with their employers on a plan for breastfeeding after returning to work.
Mothers and babies are not the only ones who benefit from breastfeeding. Employers that provide time and space for women to pump experience significant cost savings, as well as other benefits like lower rates of absenteeism, higher rates of employee retention, lower health care costs and higher employee productivity.”
Providing workplace wellness options or programs for your employees can help them be healthier, happier and better-adjusted. However, it will do one thing for sure: it will show your employees that you care about them not only as workers but also as people. Knowing they are cared about in and of itself is a huge morale booster for employees and will be worth any efforts or money you put into a wellness program, even if no other benefits occur.
Having healthy, happy employees is one of the best ways to ensure a successful workplace. By working with professionals in the wellness area, you can ensure that you are providing the type of workplace your employees need to thrive!