Global wellness programmes: long-term employee commitment to a healthy lifestyle

Transcription

1 Global wellness programmes: long-term employee commitment to a healthy lifestyle Employee Benefits Connect, 27 Feb 2014 Dr. Tyna Taskila Centre for Workforce Effectiveness The Work Foundation London, United Kingdom

2 Contents of the presentation q Introduction - Why there is need to invest in health and wellbeing of employees? q Wellness programmes at a workplace - Why companies invest in wellness programmes? - Type of wellness programmes q How to build a successful wellness programme? - How to implement the programme - Effectiveness of the programmes

3 Ageing Workforce Later Re1rement More Chronic Illness Early labour market withdrawal Reduced produc/vity More social exclusion & poverty Increased healthcare costs Reduced tax revenue Poor Workforce Health Increased welfare spending Increased burden on families & carers The Work Founda/on

4 Effects of ill health on society and economy Ø Rise of chronic conditions is partly due to poor life style factors Ø Massive costs to Ø Society (e.g. healthcare and welfare system) Ø Companies (e.g. sickness absence, loss of productivity)

5 Type of workplace wellness interventions q Health and safety and managing ill-health programmes (sickness absence management, rehabilitation, and return to work schemes) q Health promotion programmes, which focus on overall wellbeing, for example smoking cessation, healthy diet and exercise programmes

6 Improved workplace health has the potential to make a significant contribution to economy, to public finances and to reducing levels of disease and illness in society (Healthy Work Challenges and Opportunities 2030)

7 The key objectives of health and wellness strategies for companies

8 Wellness strategies are still under development Q: What is the current status of your health and wellness strategy? Source: 2013 Global Workplace Health and Wellness Report (GCC)

9 Implementing a wellness programme in a workplace Plan Execute Manage

10 Implementing a wellness programme in a workplace: PLAN Demographics of employees An assessment of employees needs and motivations (methods: informal interviews, existing employee surveys and focus groups) Deciding priorities and objectives of the programme

11 Implementing a wellness programme in a workplace: EXECUTE Ensuring employees engagement ü The use of programme incentives ü Creating an environment and culture that supports wellness programmes Leadership support Changing the physical work environment

12 Implementing a wellness programme in a workplace: MANAGE Measuring success of the wellness programme ü Short- and long-term strategic aims ü On-going evaluation of the programme ü Challenge: measuring financial benefits

13 Evaluating workplace wellness programmes Financial evaluation Challenging to measure financial benefits of the wellness programmes Ø Required data difficult to collate Ø Measurement techniques are considered complicated

14 1) How to measure effectiveness of the programmes? q Organisations that have successfully undertaken financial evaluations of their wellness programmes: Ø Have identified the causal link between programme costs and intermediate and financial benefits Ø Monitored the change in the key financial variables before and after programme implementation (e.g. NPV, IRR, BEP)

15 2) How to measure effectiveness of the programmes? q Programme costs and benefits vary considerably depending on a number of factors (e.g. type and size of a company, and type and scope of the wellness programme). q There is a set of costs and benefits that frequently appear when evaluating the financial implications of wellness programme

16 Do the programmes work? Evidence from academic studies q According to systematic reviews, moderate to weak evidence exist that the wellness initiatives have longterm effect on employees health or behaviour Why? q Relatively short follow-up times q Participation bias: high uptake rate first but motivation decreases quickly and may vary considerably by each site q Intervention is poorly targeted (e.g. does not respond to needs of employees at a company)

17 1) Do the Programmes Work? - Evidence from Case Studies 55 organisations in the UK that had implemented a variety of wellness programmes (Building the Case for Wellness 2008)

18 2) Do the Programmes Work? - Evidence from Case Studies

19 Conclusion When planned, implemented and managed well, wellness programmes in the workplace can make a significant contribution to health and wellbeing of employees. Ø How to move forward?

20 Any questions? Thank you!