As profits soar, but budgets stay flat, wellness programs must prove worth
As profits soar, but budgets stay flat, wellness programs must prove worth
A booming economy fails to loosen the purse strings for wellness
Corporate profits continue to increase, as evidenced by the healthy stock market, but if you've been waiting for the robust economy to translate into a bigger budget for your wellness program, you'll probably be waiting for a long time. Unfortunately, say observers, the booming economy has done little to sway corporate bean-counters and stock analysts from their dedication to "lean and mean" operations.
"The predominant philosophy is still not having any excess baggage at all, and doing things as efficiently as possible," says Marsha McCabe, MS, manager of personal health management at Texas Instruments, in Dallas. "It comes out of a need based around stockholders and stock price - the old formula for productivity in which Wall Street bases everything on head count (read: number of employees)."
"From what I know -- and we're pretty well-connected with industry organizations - we're still being asked to watch our budgets closely and to quantify results even more than ever, even though the economy is good," says Joan Cantwell, BSN, MA, COHN, manager of the employee health and wellness program for Chicago-based Quaker Oats Co. "You have to show the results of the money allotted to your program even more than in the past. I don't see that changing; it's part of our profession to learn to [demonstrate results] even better."
'A growing disappointment' in health providers
Joe Leutzinger, PhD, director of health promotion at Omaha, NE-based Union Pacific Railroad, doesn't see things quite so globally. "I don't really think there's a relationship [to the economy]," he says. "It's more company-specific. I do see a lot of companies saying this is an issue for their health care providers. There is a growing disappointment that health care providers are just not taking care of it." (Have MCOs dropped the ball when it comes to wellness? See the related article on p. 100.)
One thing is clear: Wellness professionals today must do more than just program effectively to retain their piece of the corporate pie. Keys to the ongoing financial health of your program, say the experts, include:
· creating added value for your company;
· leveraging your programs into other departments of the company;
· demonstrating a link between employee wellness and increased productivity;
· supporting major corporate initiatives through your programming (for more keys to making your budgeting case, see the box on p. 99).
One of Leutzinger's strategies for success is expanding the reach of wellness into other departments. For example, his department has instituted physical agility tests for new hires. "We try to make sure that the people we hire can perform the job they are being hired for," he says. "It's good for the company, and for the person being hired. It also benefits co-workers, because they know these new people can do the job."
In addition, Leutzinger's department helps support and implement a companywide alertness management program. "We use our health promotion network and skills to deliver the educational component of the program," he notes.
Leutzinger is also constantly seeking to generate data that not only support his programs, but support health issues that are important to the company. He currently has three studies under way, in conjunction with the Birmingham, AL-based Health Enhancement Research Organization project, that examine the relationship between lifestyle habits, injury claims, and health care costs.
These studies assess current risks and demographics, then make projections on when and how they will impact the company's lifestyle-related costs. "This is where we can get leverage," says Leutzinger. "By addressing what's important to the company."
For example, one of the studies deals with the smoking cessation drug Zyban. "We want to take the results to our healthcare providers to see if they will include it on their formulary," Leutzinger explains.
Showing the productivity link
One of the negatives of current corporate philosophy, the never-ending pursuit of greater productivity, can be turned into a positive by astute wellness professionals, says McCabe. But with fewer resources available, it's not an easy task.
"Health promotion is still a very important part of creating the kind of work climate - as well as the resources - that allow people to perform at higher levels," she notes. "But I don't see staff getting bigger, and I think budgeting will be held flat; anything that's not clearly driving the productivity needs will be held flat. So, we need to find newer ways of being more effective and efficient."
Productivity has become the new central issue in corporate America - much more so than costs alone, McCabe asserts. It is up to the wellness professional to demonstrate that she can play the productivity game - and win.
You have to have the right resources to be productive, asserts McCabe. "Your role is to be more of a strategic designer; one who holds your providers accountable for results," she says.
Those "providers" include your internal team. "You have to be really clear about pulling your resources together, and you don't need redundancy - you shouldn't have more staff than you really need."
McCabe has done a great deal of programming where she has made sure to fuse together disparate elements wherever possible. "For instance, with maternity programs, you need to give employees information about benefits as well as how to manage their lifestyles; to have the most effective return to work program you must reduce the work/family stress," she explains. "But you may not have to produce separate resources for both areas; you can achieve an economy of scale by combining staff and communication vehicles from wellness and benefits."
Cantwell boosts her program's efficiency (read: productivity) by rotating different program modules. "On alternate years our HRA [health risk appraisals] include small and large screenings," she notes. "On the years in which we have smaller screenings, we start other programs. One year, for example, we started a self-care program because we knew our HRA [budget] would be smaller."
Communication challenge greater
With leaner staffs, there is a greater challenge for wellness professionals in the area of communication, notes McCabe, but technology can be an invaluable asset. "The biggest issue for having the more efficient staff models work well is to keep everyone well-informed," she says. "We've used on-line communications for certain projects, which allow employees to log on and find the information they need."
Effective communication is critical to achieving those results upper management is looking for. "Getting people to focus and to take action, to make a change to maintain their good health, depends totally on whether people participate or not," says McCabe. "And making sure people get the right information at the right time is the key to getting them interested enough to participate."
Because of the speed and pace of the workplace, employees don't have as much time as they used to for perusing wellness marketing materials, McCabe adds. "There are so many messages, and we have to find faster, simpler ways to bring our customers communications on health-related matters."
Finally, McCabe says, wellness professionals must be very clear about the business case for their program if they want to get those corporate dollars. "For example, if a target of interest for a company is performance and productivity, you need to show the link between good health and a person's ability to think clearly, to be creative and innovative, and to focus on their work," she says. "If there's a health-related issue that can impair that capability, and you can you show that, you have made your business case."
This is a lesson that wellness professionals must learn for long-term survival, adds Cantwell. "I don't see that need going away no matter how well business does," she says. "Companies never know what economic challenges are going to be around the corner, so you have to be smart with the money you do have. Employees will continue to be asked to work a lot leaner in all divisions and departments of their companies."
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