Posts Tagged employee wellness
The (Theoretical?) Framework of Employee Wellness
Posted by Bob Merberg in Employee Wellness Programs, Health Risk, Uncategorized on May 27, 2012
How is employee wellness supposed to work?
We still haven’t wrapped up our commentary on the Shape Up employer wellness survey. Things got stuck when it came to understanding the opinions employers expressed about health risk appraisals. In order to understand their opinions of HRA’s we need to know their expectations of HRA’s. And, to do that, it’s important to appreciate how health risk fits Read the rest of this entry »
Buddy System Trumps Incentives in New Study
Posted by Bob Merberg in Behavioral Economics, Coaching, Incentives, Uncategorized on March 27, 2012
A new study that flew under the radar of most wellness professionals may have major implications for our understanding of how to influence health behavior and the role of outcomes-based incentives. Read the rest of this entry »
Zeroing in on Weight Loss May Be a Bad Idea — The ShapeUp Survey, Pt 3
Posted by Bob Merberg in Commentary, Employee Wellness Programs, Reporting, ROI, ShapeUp, Uncategorized on March 8, 2012
In one of ShapeUp’s initial posts following the release of the results of its Annual Survey Large Employer Wellness Survey, they emphasized that obesity is a key driver of employer health care costs, and the survey results found that employers view addressing obesity as an important goal.
ShapeUp concluded:
Anyone serious about controlling behavior-driven health care costs in America would be wise to zero in on weight loss interventions aimed at large, self-insured companies.
Anyone?
In fact, employers who invest in weight management are likely to be doing so to excess. Read the rest of this entry »
Employee Wellness and Engagement
Posted by Bob Merberg in Commentary, Employee Wellness Programs, Uncategorized on March 3, 2012
Right Management and the World Economic Forum conducted in 2010 a compelling study on the relationship between employee wellness and employee engagement. Among the study’s findings:
“…When health and well-being are actively promoted:
- Organizations are seen by employees as 2.5 times more likely to be a best performer
- Organizations are seen as 3 times more likely to be productive Read the rest of this entry »
Mind Map: Making Workplace Wellness Social (CoHealth Tweetchat)
Posted by Bob Merberg in Employee Wellness Programs, Mind Mapping, Uncategorized on October 28, 2011
Tweet chats and mind maps were made for each other. Below is my first real effort at a mind map — based on October 19th’s CoHealth Tweetchat, “Making Workplace Wellness Social.” Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized image.
Read a recap of the tweet chat on Greg Matthews’ blog.
Find out more about CoHealth tweet chats on Fran Melmed”s blog. Fran tells me that the next tweet chat, on November 16, will be about giving employees what they want. I’ll be participating and hope you will, too.
Wellness Managers: 6 Reasons to Toot Your Own Horn
Posted by Bob Merberg in Commentary, Employee Wellness Programs, Uncategorized on January 10, 2011
It’s easy to get jaded about awards for employee wellness programs, or to feel that doing presentations at conferences and talking to the media are luxuries you don’t have time for. But seeking public recognition of your program’s accomplishments is something you should see as an essential part of your job. Promoting your program to the world outside your organization is as important as promoting it internally, and the two are intrinsically connected.
There’s nothing self-serving about it. Public recognition of your employee wellness program will… Read the rest of this entry »
2010's Top 10 Developments in Employee Wellness
Posted by Bob Merberg in Commentary, Employee Wellness Programs, GINA, Uncategorized on December 18, 2010
Here, in no particular order, are the Employee Wellness Network‘s picks for 2010′s Top 10 Developments in Employee Wellness:
- The Washington Post reveals what most employee benefit managers long suspected: “Misleading claims about Safeway wellness incentives shape health-care bill.” Safeway disagrees.
- A new study lends credence to return-on-investment (ROI) claims. In the February issue of Health Affairs, a meta-analysis suggests that medical costs fall by $3.27 and absenteeism costs fall by $2.73 for every dollar spent on employee wellness programs.
- A newer study casts doubt on ROI claims. In July 2010, a study by the National Institute for Health Care Reform concludes, “ROI is uncertain and measurement Read the rest of this entry »
Worksite Wellness: Are We Committed or Committeed?
Posted by Bob Merberg in Commentary, Employee Wellness Programs on September 2, 2010
There’s been a lot of talk about crowdsourcing lately. I’m still not 100% sure what crowdsourcing is, but I have a good idea of what it isn’t. And, in the arena of employee wellness, crowdsourcing is not leadership-by-committee.
Wellness committees are often understood to be a benchmark of success for employee wellness programs. This delusion Read the rest of this entry »
Employee Wellness ROI: Fact or Fiction?
Posted by Bob Merberg in Commentary, ROI on July 18, 2010
It’s logical: Keep people healthier with wellness programs and they’ll need less health care. Ultimately, employers with wellness programs will save more on health care than they spend on health promotion, leading to the holy grail of return-on-investment. Indeed, we commonly hear about ROI’s ranging from 3:1 to as much as 12:1 (12:1 meaning that, for every dollar you spend on health promotion, you’ll save 12 bucks in health care costs).
Most of us working in the employee wellness industry will argue, “If you prevent one heart attack, you’re going to save a million dollars. How can you go wrong?”
But if it’s so easy, why has it been so difficult to prove? Read the rest of this entry »
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Zero in on a ShapeUp Obesity Study
Posted by Bob Merberg in Commentary, ShapeUp, Uncategorized on March 9, 2012
I’m stepping aside from the series about the ShapeUp Employer Wellness Survey results to take a knee-deep dive into the obesity study published in the journal Obesity in 2009.
Bottom line: ShapeUp met a standard for excellence by publishing, in a peer-reviewed journal, the positive outcomes generated by it’s social-based wellness platform. The study should be a key consideration for any prospective purchaser who seeks evidence-based solutions (and that should be all of us). But…while the study, despite some limitations, gives ShapeUp the grounds on which to argue, “Anyone serious about controlling behavior-driven health care costs in America would be wise to zero in on weight loss interventions,” those of us in the field should take pause before Read the rest of this entry »
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