Why is workplace wellness so hard?

Employee health and well-being is a critical challenge for American companies. We know that poor employee health and well-being is a primary factor in the spiraling cost of health insurance. Add absenteeism, “presenteeism,” lack of engagement and productivity, on-the-job injuries, poor morale and turnover and it’s easy to see that this is corporate America’s single biggest challenge. Yet most American CEOs do not yet see it as rising to their level of attention. I didn’t either.

The companies that successfully address the deteriorating health and well-being of their employees will have a huge competitive advantage, and not just from reduced health insurance and workers’ compensation costs. Studies (Gallup and others) show that enthusiastic, productive and engaged employees are the driver for tremendous competitive and financial success.

However, American employers’ attitude toward the health and well-being of their workforce can be best described as one of “malaise,” a vague and helpless feeling that the status quo is intractable and must be tolerated. And though well-intentioned, the wellness industry has opened itself to criticism that wellness investments are a waste of resources. The stark truth is that the wellness industry has accomplished remarkably little in the areas of return on investment (which I define as reducing employee claims expense by more than the cost of the wellness programs) and long-term lifestyle behavior change.

The problem up to this point is a lack of focused, strategic leadership that prioritizes workplace health and well-being while navigating a confluence of these present-day challenges:

- Advertisement -

n A health care delivery industry in crisis and on the brink of reform.

n Providing health care coverage at already excessive costs that are increasing at unsustainable rates.

n Reducing the coverage afforded to employees by increasing employee shares, deductibles and copayments.

n Businesses considering whether, in light of federal law, they can get out of health insurance altogether.

n An American public and workforce that are living remarkably unhealthy lifestyles (less than 3 percent of Americans achieve all three of the seemingly easy basic requirements of healthy diet, moderate exercise and no smoking.

n The business world’s No. 1 challenge: attracting and retaining a strong, engaged and productive workforce.

n A workforce of millennials with very different views and needs that must be met.

n A workplace wellness industry in disarray, providing unsatisfactory and unmeasured results, and being savaged by commentators.

n A workplace wellness industry that appears to be giving up on ROI.

n An increasing involvement of government in every aspect of health and its care.

Typically, a workplace wellness initiative would be developed by HR and floated to senior management for approval with the usual justifications of reducing coverage costs and a healthier workforce. Someone in C-Suite, often NOT the CEO, might approve such a proposal and its budget.

And then the matter goes back to HR and becomes largely indistinguishable from any other employee benefit plan.

After a few years of lukewarm enthusiasm and modest involvement, someone in C-Suite might ask about the return on the program’s investment. Unfortunately, few companies even measure returns. After all, something must be done about health care costs, and wellness programs, whatever their returns, just seem like the right thing to do.

Once you really focus on this, you should have an “aha” moment. Workplace health and well-being should be the top strategic objective of any company. Done right, workplace wellness must be strategically planned, staffed and financed like any other critical strategic objective. The outcomes that matter must be measured. Leadership, from top, to mid-level to front line, must be engaged, enthusiastic and held accountable.

But most important, this must be owned by the CEO. The CEO must make it clear that employee well-being is the No. 1 company objective. It must become a defining characteristic of the company’s culture and environment.

Employees and their families must come to understand that the company invests in their well-being because it truly IS about the employees. THAT will reap untold dividends. •

James E. Purcell is the former CEO of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island. He is also an attorney and operates a national consulting practice on workplace wellness.

No posts to display