As discussed in the entry Study Reveals Declining Employer Satisfaction with Health Insurers and Demand for Wellness Solutions, one report indicated that while “wellness and disease management programs are popular among employers, companies that offer them are frustrated with the low level of employee participation. Many employers are finding that simple financial incentives such as cash, gift cards and annual premium savings are no longer working as a way to engage employees.  Employers are asking their health insurers to come up with better strategies for engaging employees in wellness.” Alistair Dornan, Head of Wellness and Productivity Management at Right Management suggests a different approach.

Q: Why do you think employers are so frustrated with health insurance companies and with employees not engaging in wellness?
A: Employers are frustrated with the low participation rate and concerned at the lack of credible Return on Investment data. Incentives are not engaging employees, primarily because companies’ definition of wellness is too narrow and they aren’t talking to employees in a way that motivates them to change. While employers should partner with their health insurance companies for existing problems, companies are missing a key competitive advantage in the way they think about wellness. At the moment, most companies approach wellness in an ad hoc way, thinking that better interventions will see better results. But, as can be seen from the report you mentioned, that approach is not working because wellness is not a recipe of programs with a final product of “participation.” Product based wellness is also not going to work if companies want to sustain a competitive advantage in the workplace.

Q: Employers are asking insurance companies to provide more education that engage workers in real behavioral change and translate that benefit information into action promoting wellness; so why won’t that work?
A: Whether it is an analytical approach or a rational approach – the deliverables are still product based. For wellness programs to really work and for employers to see a higher level of participation, engagement and bottom line dollar growth, a cultural change needs to happen within the organization.

Q: If employers’ main issue is the rising cost of healthcare and they need an immediate fix to reduce healthcare costs, don’t they just need employees to do something to reduce costs?
A: Health plans costs are recession proof and have grown in the US above the rate of inflation since the 1950’s. We do need people to do something to be healthier, but we are stuck with an organizational approach that relies on reactive illness management – these can never be sustainable well-being schemes. Generally, this approach does not allow organizations to capitalize on the strategic benefits of wellness. Don’t get me wrong, the deployment and availability of health programs and interventions is a foundation or part of wellness, but it is not the be all – end all. By doing one or even a couple interventions, like fruit on Fridays and gym memberships, the bottom line will not magically show dramatic results.  Rather, the healthy people are going to continue doing what they have done and simply do it on a companies’ dime.

Q: Shouldn’t employers be aiming to tackle the chronic diseases?
A: We absolutely have to tackle the chronic diseases. We know that three risk factors – tobacco use, poor diet and lack of physical activity - contribute to four major chronic diseases – heart disease, type 2 diabetes, lung disease and many cancers -  which are responsible for more than 50% of the deaths in the world and the majority of costs in illness management.  Tackling the chronic diseases, though, is not going to be enough because of the hidden costs and implications for the broader socio-economic aspect. We are talking about taking wellness to the next level and it must first be redefined. 

Q: So, why must wellness be redefined?
A: When the economy recovers, many commentators think it will be a jobless recovery. So, employers must have a talent strategy in place. Organizations must become more effective and more competitive and plan for future demands. In order to keep their top talent productive, engaged and resilient, they must start looking at a systems-wide approach to wellness that elevates wellness to a strategic level. Otherwise, talent will start walking out the door again and productivity will decrease or be stagnant. 

By engaging the C-suite and senior leaders in the terms of greater performance, and organizational effectiveness – wellness champions will gain the senior leaders’ attention. When employers start asking for their return on investment of wellness programs, they are missing a key component of wellness. So, this is more about sustainability and achieving that competitive advantage.

Q: What is your definition of wellness?
A: Wellness is far broader than traditional health or wellbeing, it is about the economic capacity and capability of the individual. Physical and psychological health are by no means the only determinants of wellness. Employee engagement – the pride, satisfaction and commitment employees bring to their work and the willingness they show to advocate for their organization – must be of equal or even greater importance. We want employees who are fit to do their job and want to do their job. In the white paper, built upon our research and written for the World Economic Forum, The Wellness Imperative: Creating More Effective Organizations (.pdf) we found that when an employer actively promotes wellness, employee engagement increases nearly eight times. Employers are four times more likely to lose talent when employees take an unfavorable view of its treatment of wellness. When wellness is a priority, employees are also 3.5 times more likely to report being in an workplace that fosters creativity and innovativeness, both of which are essential organizational agility.

Q: What approach to wellness do you propose?
A: Companies need a more sophisticated approach to wellness and not a product based solution – as said above there is no single recipe of ingredients which will deliver the magic improvements expected. Instead, wellness strategy needs to more appropriately align and be a part of a company’s overall strategy.

Q: How do companies align their wellness strategy to their overall stategy?
A: Let’s save that discussion for our Part II: Wellness as a Strategic Priority.

Q & A conducted by Mendy Mattingly.

Photo Credit: Business in the Community