The Healthy Dozen

In April, LiveWell Greenville celebrated its second Healthy Workplace Awards and honored a dozen companies that were “making the healthy choice the easy choice.”

Experts estimate that every $1 spent on employee wellness equals $3 return on investment, and employers are paying attention in the face of chronic disease and rising health care costs.

Though the businesses honored range from health care systems (with an obvious eye toward wellness) to manufacturing and vary in size, they share several common traits, said Richard Osborne, workplace consultant for LiveWell Greenville.

Key Components

Two key ingredients are support from the top-level management and employee engagement, said Osborne. Another essential is data collection, which can be as complicated as a biometric screening of each employee or as simple as an employee needs and interests survey.

“Many companies start with programs and don’t do up-front data collection,” he said. The data creates a baseline and then helps a company establish priorities. A successful wellness initiative boils down to a program, a goal and something that can be measured, he said.

After about three years, an employer will see measurable changes, said Osborne. After that, an organizational culture of health begins to exist. A sustainable program can be achieved through employee-driven wellness committees and providing measurable data to the employer, employees and wellness committee to demonstrate success, he said.

Southern Weaving

A relatively small company with 190 employees, Southern Weaving was very pleased to garner a gold award this year, said Robyn Knox, vice president of human resources. She attributes the success to the 10-member “enthusiastic and creative” wellness team that meets monthly and talks with fellow employees in the meantime to get suggestions on the next month’s events.

Management allows employees time, often on the clock, to participate in the wellness team or to walk twice each week, said Knox. “We are reaping the benefits of allowing our employees to have that extra time for walking,” she said.

The manufacturer also has a top-down support element, said Knox. The CEO and other leaders often participate in activities and on the recent National Walk at Lunch Day, “he [the CEO] took us on a little two-mile trek,” she said.

There are also the financial incentives. If employees participate in annual health screenings and reach the previous year’s health goals, they receive an $11 per week reduction in health insurance premiums, which is also extended to spouses, she said.

In a recent job satisfaction survey, 91 percent of those participating in wellness programs reported that they felt it had a positive impact on their health and well being, she said.

The Blood Connection

Employee involvement is also an integral part of the wellness initiatives at The Blood Connection, said Meg Guice, information specialist and member of the wellness committee. She works to send out informational emails, lines up lunch-and-learn speakers and coordinates speakers with the nurse practitioner.

“The wellness program is optional, but we’re encouraged to think about health issues in a proactive manner,” she said.

The Blood Connection has 260 employees who work varying shifts and at multiple locations. Some wellness-focused events can help to bring them together, said Guice, citing a walking challenge and a food-tasting that featured a juice sampling and cooking suggestions.

The Blood Connection’s on-site clinic has reduced absenteeism and allowed employees to seek treatment before a health issue gets serious, said Guice. “It saves you a copay, saves time lost from work and sitting in the doctor’s office where everyone’s got the flu,” she said. When she was having problems losing weight, the nurse practitioner suggested a specific screening and Guice discovered she was pre-diabetic, she said.

Management has also embraced the wellness focus, she added. The previous CEO had participated in a boot camp and the current CEO is supporting the programs, too, she added.

LiveWell Greenville offers multiple resources for companies interested in starting wellness initiatives, including coordinator guides, budget information, needs and interest surveys and action plan worksheet, said Osborne. Because many businesses “tiptoe in budget-wise,” he said, LiveWell has created several lower-cost tools to get them started.

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2014 LiveWell Greenville Healthy Workplace Award Winners

Bronze

Hartness International

Silver

The Blood Connection

Bon Secours St. Francis

Drive Automotive

Elliott Davis

Rosenfeld-Einstein

YMCA

Gold