Daily Grind Getting You Down? Make Yourself Happier And More Productive At Work With These Simple Tips
Employee Wellness is crucial for productivity. Katie Sola gives some tips and tricks for your daily routine to have a happier self. See the article below from Forbes.com.
Eat a lot more fruit and vegetables: Eight servings, to be exact
You know fruit and veg are healthy, but did you know they can make you happier than a major positive life event like a promotion or a major raise? Scientists at the University of Warwick, Great Britain and the University of Queensland, Australia followed more than 12,000 randomly selected people for two years. They found that people who switched from eating few fruit and vegetables to eating eight servings a day experienced a spike in well-being equivalent to getting a job after being unemployed.
Exercise before work
It’s common knowledge that exercise makes you happier and more productive, but to gain the greatest benefits, you should work out before or during the workday. Researchers at the University of Bristol, Great Britain, found that office workers are most productive on the days they exercise.
“Critically, workers performed significantly better on exercise days and across all three areas we measured, known as mental-interpersonal, output and time demands,” research associate Jo Coulson said in a statement.
Watch a funny video and have a snack during the workday
Scientists at the University of Warwick, Great Britain found that watching comedic clips and eating chocolate and fruit made workers happier, and boosted their productivity by 12 percent. It worked in a laboratory setting, so it may well work in your office too.
Keep your commute as short as possible
Long commutes sap your happiness more than you think.
“Every ten minutes of commuting results in ten per cent fewer social connections. Commuting is connected to social isolation, which causes unhappiness,” Robert Putnam told the New Yorker in 2007. He’s a Harvard political scientist and the author of Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.
See the full article Here.
Source:
Sola, K. (2016, July 28). Daily grind getting you down? Make yourself happier and more productive at work with these simple tips [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/levelup/2016/07/28/daily-grind-getting-you-down-make-yourself-happier-and-more-productive-at-work-with-these-simple-tips/#14c8a80b31f5
Do companies really need a culture of health in the office?
Great article by Henry Albrect on how to have an effective wellness program that truly impacts your bottom line. To many time we focus on one aspect and not the whole picture of creating an effective wellness program.
Original Post from EmployeeBenefitAdviser.com on July 28, 2016.
You’ve probably heard that a “culture of health” is the best way to see success with your wellness program.
I disagree.
A successful wellness program should align with an employer’s strategy and culture above all else. The further you get from these, the more likely your program will be “a little HR thing” — and not a vibrant part of your workplace. Frankly, and with the notable exception of healthcare companies, health isn’t a top concern for most organizations.
Align any health and well-being programs with your business goals
Investing a few million in feel-good programs is easy. But investing in anything off-strategy is always a risk. If you are in the manufacturing business, wellness strategies should reinforce readiness, safety, discipline and musculoskeletal health. In retail, they should support energy levels, having infectious positive energy that helps customers enjoy buying your products. In healthcare, mindfulness and resilience play a strong role.
Do it in a way that fits with your culture
The true definition of company culture has gotten lost along the way.
Your company culture is the backdrop for everything that happens within your organization. It determines workplace norms, values and beliefs. It rules employee behaviors and experiences.
Well-being, broadly defined, is a key element of all great company cultures. Wellness programs should fit into and reinforce your culture — but they aren’t the point of your culture.
Why? Because, above all else, your business goals should define your company culture. The two have to align.
According to a Willis Towers Watson report, 67% employers say developing a workplace culture of health is a top priority.
But company culture and strategy can’t exist separately. And health isn’t at the heart of the business goals for every organization. Retailers might prioritize customer service while tech companies thrive on innovation. Company culture needs to support the main mission and goals.
When culture and strategy align, businesses are successful, a study published in April 2015 in the Journal of Organizational Behavior suggests.
Researchers collected data from 95 car dealerships over six years and found that when companies had a culture that engaged and motivated employees, they had higher ratings of customer satisfaction and vehicle sales. When employers neglected their culture, their performance declined over time.
What about health and wellness?
Businesses can embrace well-being and invest in employee health even if it doesn’t define the company culture. And they should.
A 2015 survey published by Quantum Workplace and my company, Limeade found that respondents were 38% more engaged and 18% more likely to go the extra mile when they felt their employers cared about their well-being.
Use that power to build a wellness program that supports your authentic culture and achieves business objectives. Don’t worry about developing a culture of health. Well-being initiatives in the workplace should align with the culture — not the other way around.
Determine why you want a wellness program. What are the goals, and why are they important to the business? If you want to improve customer satisfaction, what programs can you use to make employees more chipper? If you’re focused on innovation, how can you inspire creativity?
These specific goals should guide which programs and initiatives are right for the company. Then, connect it back to your culture.
If your culture values teamwork, bring employees together in sports games and competitions around the office. If you value community involvement, give employees time to volunteer or participate in a local charity walk. Every company’s wellness initiative will look different.
Building a culture of health might be great for some hospitals, but it isn’t right for every organization. Focus on bringing your authentic culture to life through a program that aligns with your business goals. Winning in business helps you win with well-being, and vice versa.
Does your wellness program connect to business goals?
See The Full Article Here.
Source:
Albrecht, H (2016, July 28). Do companies really need a culture of health in the office? [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/opinion/do-companies-really-need-a-culture-of-health-in-the-office
New Workers Are at Highest Risk for Heat-Related Death
Did you know new employees or workers coming back from an extended break are at more risk of heat stroke? It is important to make sure these workers review safety procedures and gradually build up their tolerance to the heat. See the article by Dana Wilkie below and make sure your new workers are safe.
Original Post from SHRM.org
Who would you guess is most at risk for heat-related death while on the job?
It’s not necessarily older workers, first responders or those who toil outside all day.
Instead, the majority of recent heat-related deaths investigated by federal authorities involved workers who’d been on the job for three days or less.
That finding by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) highlights how important it is for employers to ensure that new workers—and returning employees who have been back to the job for a week or less—are prepared to protect themselves, OSHA authorities said.
With weather forecasters calling for above-average temperatures across much of the country this summer, the standard precautions—drink lots of water, take frequent breaks and spend time in the shade—may seem obvious. Yet those precautions may not be enough for new workers or employees returning to the job after extended time away. OSHA recommends allowing new or returning workers to gradually increase their workload and take more frequent breaks as they build up a tolerance for working in the heat.
Prevention
Construction workers make up about one-third of heat-related worker deaths, but employees who work outdoors across many industries—agriculture, landscaping, transportation, utilities, grounds maintenance, emergency response, and oil and gas operations—are at risk when temperatures go up. Additionally, indoor employees who do strenuous work or wear bulky, protective clothing and use heavy equipment are also at risk. High humidity increases the chances of heat-related maladies such as heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
In 2014, 2,630 workers suffered from heat illness, and 18 died from heat stroke and related causes on the job, according to OSHA.
Under the general duty clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers are responsible for protecting workers from hazards on the job, including extreme heat. To prevent heat-related illness and fatalities, OSHA offers these suggestions:
- Prepare a heat acclimatization plan and medical monitoring program. Closely supervise new employees, including those who are temporary workers or returning seasonal workers, for the first 14 days on the job—or until they acclimate to the heat. Though most heat-related worker deaths occur in the first three days on the job, more than one-third occur on the first day. If someone has not worked in hot weather for at least a week, his or her body needs time to adjust.
- Encourage workers to drink about one cup of water every 15-20 minutes, even if they say they’re not thirsty. During prolonged sweating lasting several hours, they should drink sports beverages containing electrolytes.
- Provide shaded or air-conditioned rest areas for cooling down, and encourage workers to use them.
- Provide workers with protective equipment and clothing, such as hats, light-colored clothing, water-cooled garments, air-cooled garments, ice-packet vests, wetted overgarments, and heat-reflective aprons or suits.
- Be familiar with heat illness signs and symptoms, and make sure employees are, too. Some heat exhaustion signs are dizziness, headache, cramps, sweaty skin, nausea and vomiting, weakness, and a fast heartbeat. Heat stroke symptoms include: red, hot, dry skin; convulsions; fainting; and confusion. In general, any time a worker has fainted or demonstrates confusion, this represents an emergency situation.
- Tell workers to notify a supervisor or to call 911 if they or their co-workers show signs of heat illness. Implement a buddy system where workers observe each other for early signs and symptoms of heat intolerance. Have someone stay with a worker who is suffering from the heat until help arrives.
- Encourage supervisors and workers to download OSHA’s Heat Safety Tool on their iPhone or Android device. [https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/heat_index/heat_app.html] This app calculates the heat index, a measurement of how hot it is when taking humidity into account. The app also has recommendations for preventing heat illness based on the estimated risk level where one is working.
Dana Wilkie is an online editor/manager for SHRM.
Read original article here.
Wilkie, D. (2016, June 6). New workers are at highest risk for heat-related death [Web log post]. Retrived from https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/employee-relations/Pages/New-Workers-Are-at-Highest-Risk-for-Heat-Related-Death.aspx
Use It or Lose It: Are your employee's taking advantage of their PTO?
Are your workers taking advantage of their PTO? It is important for you employee's to de-stress and take a break to continue to be sucessful. Ensure your employees are taking the time off they need to keep a happy and healthy workfoce.
According to a Forbes article, only 25% of Americans take their paid vacation. The article also gives insight as to how not taking vacation can impact your overall effeciency in the workplace.
It’s not healthy to keep working without a break. Vacation recharges our internal batteries, gives us perspective on what we do and fuels creativity and energy. Vacation also promotes creative thinking, expands our cultural horizons and sharpens cognition, especially if we can travel to another country. “Traveling shifts us from the solipsistic way we operate every day,” Joan Kane, a Manhattan psychologist, told me a when I did a story on vacations a few years ago. “It promotes a sense of well-being and gets you thinking in different ways. It can be life-altering.”
In the article The common workplace practice that’s costing employers billions by Cort Olsen, gives more understanding of why employees do not always take the time offered.
Having diligent, hardworking employees is every employer’s dream, but it can come at a cost. Studies have shown that employees who sacrifice their vacation time to maintain their work flow could be costing an employer more than it would to have one or two employees out of the office for a couple of weeks’ vacation time.
According to the U.S. Travel Association, employees who choose not to use their paid time off could potentially cost an employer close to $52.4 billion annually due to lost revenue, employee termination or resignation, and hiring and training replacements.
“When you look at a manager or someone in a leader capacity, we run into situations where managers don’t want to be out of the office or away from the team because they feel like they need to be available,” Sciortino says. “Some people who are not in a leadership position may be the only one who does a certain task, so they know if they are not there then the work is not going to get done.”
To combat this problem, employers need to train employees to be backups for other employees who are responsible for a specific task in the event that person is out of the office for a period of time, she says.
“From an employer’s perspective, we want our teams to take PTO, because turnover is costly,” Sciortino says. “You can lose employees because they are feeling burnt, and obviously rehiring and retraining people for positions frequently can be costly on their organization.”
Another costly issue employers face when employees do not use their vacation time is paying out that unused time. Claire Bissot, managing director for CBIZ, says she is against any employer that allows employees to be paid out for not using their vacation time at the end of the year.
Read the full article from Forbes.com here.
See the full article from Employee Benefit Adviser here.
Sources:
Adams, S. (2014, April 7). Only 25% of americans take their paid vacation [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/04/04/only-25-of-americans-take-their-paid-vacation/#ea0d8c22c5cf
Olsen, C. (2016, June 7). The common workplace practice that's costing employers billions [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/news/the-common-workplace-practice-thats-costing-employers-billions
Many Patients Don't Get Much Out of EHRs
Original post benefitspro.com
Most Americans appear to view electronic health records (EHR) as a welcome convenience, but not as a game-changing medical advance. That’s what one can glean from a recent survey of patients conducted by HealthMine.
The poll of 500 insured adults found that 60 percent have access to an electronic health record, but only 22 percent of those with an EHR say they use it to guide their medical decisions. The great majority of patients say they rely on the technology as a way to “stay informed.”
Other results:
- 71 percent of those with EHRs say they access the records when needed
- 15 percent say it’s hard to understand the information presented
- 14 percent never access their EHR
Of course, not all EHRs are created equal. Some patients report only having access to a limited amount of information, and others say they are not able to see that same information as their doctor:
- 69 percent can see lab work/blood tests
- 60 percent see their prescriptions
- 55 percent view their billing information
- 47 percent see notes from their physician
Bryce Williams, CEO of HealthMine, suggested that many patients have not yet fully grasped the value of EHRs. Educating people on how to benefit from them could be an important part of wellness programs, he said.
"Electronic health records are still in the early phases of consumer adoption. They have the potential to engage consumers more directly in managing their health," he said. "Wellness programs can help bridge the gap between EHR adoption and understanding by making the information both meaningful and actionable for patients."
What Percentage of Your Life Will You Spend Exercising?
Original post benefitspro.com
How much of your life will you spend exercising?
Reebok and Censuswide, a global consulting firm, studied exercise habits of people in nine different countries and came to the conclusion that the average person spends 0.69 percent of their life working out.
Or, as the shoe company chose to frame it: Of the 25,915 days the average human lives, only 180 will be spent on fitness. “25,915” is the name of Reebok’s new brand campaign focused on encouraging exercise.
To be sure, “fitness” is not the same as physical activity. Manual laborers throughout the world burn calories effectively without ever getting a gym membership. Reebok acknowledges that fact, pointing out that the average person still walks or runs the equivalent of the Earth’s circumference nearly twice in their lifetime.
But in an increasingly mechanized world in which more and more workers spend their days in offices, it is more important than ever for people to make a conscious effort to get exercise.
"As a brand dedicated to promoting and supporting health and fitness around the world, we felt compelled to shine a light on the disparities between what we may aspire to achieve and what we're willing to do about it," said Yan Martin, vice president of brand management at Reebok. "It gives us a renewed urgency to get out there and live fuller, healthier lives. If we all traded in 30 minutes of phone time for a jog, we could actually help change the dynamics of global wellness."
To highlight the point, Reebok calculated that 41 percent of the average person’s life is spent engaging with technology. That amounts to 10,625 days in a lifetime.
In addition, the average person will spend 29.75 percent of his life sitting down, 6.8 percent socializing with a loved one, and 0.45 percent having sex.
Wellness Programs Benefit Employers, Employees
Original post benefitspro.com
Offering employee wellness programs isn’t just an exercise in altruism for employers. It pays off where most companies would value it most: the bottom line.
According to Forbes, companies are jumping on the wellness program bandwagon right and left, to varying degrees. In fact, Society for Human Resource Management statistics indicate that in 2015, 80 percent of employers offered preventive wellness resources and educational information, with 70 percent providing full strategic wellness programs.
But while companies are happy that such programs pay off in healthier employees — 59 percent of employers offering such programs believe they’ve resulted in improved worker health — those programs also pay off in ways that have more to do with the balance sheet than the scales.
The cost of wellness programs is nothing to be sneezed at, but on the other hand, employees involved in them often shift their diets to healthier foods, quit smoking, have a better mental outlook on life, and watch the pounds come off through diet and exercise. That means they’re less likely to have to take so much advantage of company-provided health plans, if they’re reducing or eliminating some of the risk factors that could send them to the doctor more often.
Healthy employees might exercise more and weigh less, but they’re also more engaged, and thus more productive. Better health can also keep them on the job longer, with better results and better job satisfaction. They’re less stressed, miss fewer days at work and don’t look for a new job as often; all those things add up to an 8 percent improvement in productivity.
All of that can translate, for most programs, to dollars and cents: a return on investment of approximately 3:1. It can, however, go as high as 6:1, thanks to reduced health care costs that result when workers are eating better, exercising more, and forestalling some of the conditions that can result in mega health care bills — and equally mega premiums.
Americans Don't Do Much to Avoid Hearing Loss
Original post benefitspro.com
Have you ever even heard of healthy hearing habits?
If not, you’re probably not alone. Relatively few Americans appear to pay much attention to their ears, according to a recent survey conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of EPIC Hearing Healthcare.
The survey found that only a quarter of U.S. adults have had their hearing checked in the past two years.
In contrast, nearly two-thirds of Americans make a trip to the dentist at least annually. Three-quarters wear some type of corrective lens — either glasses or contact lenses — to address poor eyesight.
The survey also revealed that very few understand the risks to hearing presented by a number of different conditions and behaviors, including diabetes (22 percent) and smoking (14 percent).
Granted, it’s hard to believe that evidence showing how smoking harms hearing would be the game-changer that gets people to quit their habit, considering that people are more than aware of the other substantial health risks linked to tobacco use.
But overall hearing health would likely improve if the topic was more often emphasized by physicians and other health experts. According to EPIC, only 8 percent of employer-based wellness programs include hearing health.
But according to EPIC, only one in five people who would benefit from hearing aids actually have them. Even worse, people who don’t discuss hearing issues with their doctors often do not adopt habits to prevent hearing loss.
Hearing loss is often a problem that snowballs, explains EPIC. Dr. William Luxford, medical director of House Clinic. He says that people who begin to lose their hearing engage in behavior that exacerbates the problem, such as turning up the volume on their TV.
“A lot of people aren’t aware how important preventive care is for their hearing health,” he says. “Regular, comprehensive hearing exams by an audiologist are the best way to establish a baseline for your hearing and ensure any hearing loss is caught early so further damage can be prevented or minimized and hearing can be improved as quickly as possible.”
Study Suggests Plan Transparency Doesn’t Reduce Costs
Original post benefitspro.com
“Transparency” and “choice” are keywords associated with health plan consumers these days. But there’s no guarantee those key words will lead to the keyword phrase “lower health plan costs.”
One survey of the employees of two large employers reports that, given transparency and choice, plan members did not reduce their costs, and even increased them a bit.
As reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a Harvard-led study of plan member choices showed that when employees spent more time reviewing plan options, they did not necessarily choose a cheaper plan. The study compared two groups of employees — one with a plan that included a price transparency/comparison tool, and another that did not.
The end result: The group with the transparency tool at its disposal spent slightly more (about $59 per member) on a plan in 2012 than in 2011. The control group with no tool spent about $18 more.
However, the study included a big caveat: “Only a small percentage of eligible employees” used the tool.
Such studies can offer some value to the overall discussion of reducing health costs. However, this study’s small focus (employees of two companies), when it took place (before comparison tools had truly entered the health plan lexicon), and the relatively few folks who used it, probably suggests that perhaps it could be used as the starting point for a broader study based upon more recent data.
5 Crucial Wellness Strategies for Self-Funded Companies
Original post careatc.com
Instead of paying pricey premiums to insurers, self-insured companies pay claims filed by employees and health care providers directly and assume most of the financial risk of providing health benefits to employees. To mitigate significant losses, self-funded companies often sign up for a special “stop loss” insurance, hedging against very large or unexpected claims. The result? A stronger position to stabilize health care costs in the long-term. No wonder self-funded plans are on the rise with nearly 81% of employees at large companies covered.
Despite the rise in self-insured companies, employers are uncertain as to whether they’ll even be able to afford coverage in the long-term given ACA regulations. Now more than ever, employers (self-insured or not) must understand that wellness is a business strategy. High-performing companies are able to manage costs by implementing the most effective tactics for improving workforce health.
Here are five wellness strategies for self-insured companies:
Strategy 1: Focus on Disease Management Programs
Corporate wellness offerings generally consist of two types of programs: lifestyle management and disease management. The first focuses on employees with health risks, like smoking or obesity, and supports them in reducing those risks to ultimately prevent the development of chronic conditions. Disease management programs, on the other hand, are designed to help employees who already have chronic disease, encouraging them to take better care of themselves through increased access to low-cost generic prescriptions or closing communication gaps in care through periodic visits to providers who leverage electronic medical records.
According to a 2012 Rand Corporation study, both program types collectively reduced the employer’s average health care costs by about $30 per member per month (PMPM) with disease management responsible for 87% of those savings. You read that right – 87%! Looking deeper into the study, employees participating in the disease management program generated savings of $136 PMPM, driven in large part by a nearly 30% reduction in hospital admissions. Additionally, only 13% of employees participated in the disease management program, compared with 87% for the lifestyle management program. In other words, higher participation in lifestyle management programs marginally contributes to overall short-term savings; ROI was $3.80 for disease management but only $0.50 for lifestyle management for every dollar invested.
This isn’t to say that lifestyle management isn’t a worthy cause – employers still benefit from its long-term savings, reduced absenteeism, and improved retention rates – but it cannot be ignored that short-term ROI is markedly achieved through a robust disease management program.
Strategy 2: Beef Up Value-Based Benefits
Value-Based Benefit Design (VBD) strategies focus on key facets of the health care continuum, including prevention and chronic disease management. Often paired with wellness programs, VBD strategies aim to maximize opportunities for employees make positive changes. The result? Improved employee health and curbed health care costs for both employee and employer. Types of value-based benefits outlined by theNational Business Coalition on Health include:
Individual health competency where incentives are presented most often through cash equivalent or premium differential:
- Health Risk Assessment
- Biometric testing
- Wellness programs
Condition management where incentives are presented most often through co-pay/coinsurance differential or cash equivalent:
- Adherence to evidence-based guidelines
- Adherence to chronic medications
- Participation in a disease management program
Provider Guidance
- Utilization of a retail clinic versus an emergency room
- Care through a “center of excellence”
- Tier one high quality physician
There is no silver bullet when it comes to VBD strategies. The first step is to assess your company’s health care utilization and compare it with other benchmarks in your industry or region. The ultimate goal is to provide benefits that meet employee needs and coincide with your company culture.
Strategy 3: Adopt Comprehensive Biometric Screenings
Think Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) and Biometric Screenings are one and the same? Think again. While HRAs include self-reported questions about medical history, health status, and lifestyle, biometric screenings measure objective risk factors, such as body weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, stress, and nutrition. This means that by adopting a comprehensive annual biometric screening, employees can review results with their physician, create an action plan, and see their personal progress year after year. For employers, being able to determine potentially catastrophic claims and quantitatively assess employee health on an aggregate level is gold. With such valuable metrics, its no surprise that nearly 51% of large companies offer biometric screenings to their employees.
Strategy 4: Open or Join an Employer-Sponsored Clinic
Despite a moderate health care cost trend of 4.1% after ACA changes in 2013, costs continue to rise above the rate of inflation, amplifying concerns about the long-term ability for employers to provide health care benefits. In spite of this climate, there are still high-performing companies managing costs by implementing the most effective tactics for improving health. One key tactic? Offer at least one onsite health service to your population.
I know what you’re thinking: employer-sponsored clinics are expensive and only make sense for large companies, right? Not anymore. There are a few innovative models out there tailored to small and mid-size businesses that are self-funded, including multi-employer, multi-site sponsored clinics. Typically a large company anchors the clinic and smaller employers can join or a group of small employers can launch their very own clinic. There are a number of advantages to employer-sponsored clinics and it is worthwhile to explore if this strategy is right for your company.
Strategy 5: Leverage Mobile Technology
With thousands health and wellness apps currently available through iOS and Android, consumers are presented with an array of digital tools to achieve personal goals. So how can self-insured companies possibly leverage this range of mobile technology? From health gamification and digital health coaching, to wearables and apps, employers are inundated with a wealth of digital means that delivering a variation of virtually the same thing: measurable data.
These companies curate available consumer health and wellness technology to empower employers by simplifying the process of selecting and managing various app and device partners, and even connecting with tools employees are already be using.
Conclusion:
Self-insured companies have a vested interest in improving employee health and understand that wellness is indeed a business strategy. High-performing companies are able to manage costs by implementing the most effective tactics for improving workforce health including an increased focus on Chronic Disease Management programs; strengthening value-based benefit design; adopting comprehensive biometric screening; exploring the option of opening or joining an employer-sponsored clinic; and leveraging mobile technology.