Whats the ROI on Employee Wellness Programs

What’s the ROI on Employee Wellness Programs Nothing in life is free well most things arent. But delivering a comprehensive corporate wellness program does inevitably come at a cost especially if companies want to ensure their employees health and mental wellbeing are looked after. So is it worth investing in implementing an employee wellness program? What will employers get out of spending money on corporate wellness? Our 10 experts in this field explain just what employers will get in return for providing a health and wellness program for their staff. Nick Patel The concept of value on investment (VOI) is slowing replacing return on investment (ROI) in the employee wellness industry.   This means the value employers look for and realize from employee wellness programs is moving from a strictly financial return on reduced medical costs to one that includes the financial and non-financial benefits from healthy and engaged employees, including higher retention, satisfaction, and productivity.   For many organizations, the areas they are realizing value from employee health are expanding, delivering unanticipated benefits.   For example,   Metro Nashville Public Schools saw their wellness program improve student achievement. Nick Patel, CEO of Wellable. Liz Walker The long-term ROI on investing in the wellness of your employees is tenfold. Long-term, you should see a reduction in costs related to health and presenteeism, number of employee absences, length of time employees are away from work, and the cost of sick pay. You’ll also have a more engaged and productive workforce who knows you care about their overall wellbeing. Liz Walker, HR Director, Unum UK. Sammy Courtright Corporate wellness programs provide tons of benefits to businesses that not only directly impact employees but also provide a high ROI. With the implementation of a wellness program, both employees and companies see health benefits in the short-term. While the savings and overall impact is small at this point, the return on investment begins to quickly emerge. As employee health improves, company healthcare costs begin to drop, and productivity and teamwork rise. Here’s more proof: One study found that healthcare costs decline by $1,421 per participant YOY. Another big-name company saved $250 million over 10 years after implementing a wellness program. Finally, after starting a workplace wellness program, one major hospital saw an 80% reduction of day lost to illness and injury and a 64% decline in modified duty days, resulting in $1.5 millions in savings. Sammy Courtright, founder and CEO of Fitspot Wellness. Lucy Tallick The return on investment to any organisation depends on their goals and their measurements of these goals. Many companies that I work with will be looking for pure VOI, with the importance of positive real life feedback and improvement in lifestyle and or health of individuals being the key driver of the investment. Others are focused around employee retention, or improving absenteeism figures it really depends on an individuals pain points and goals. Either way, there is always a positive return on a wellbeing investment, whether this is commercial or the physical health of your employees’. You could say it’s a win : win scenario. Lucy Tallick,   Head of Wellbeing at Reward Gateway. Alaana Linney Nuffield Health data shows our corporate wellbeing clients have saved over £10 million in lost working days. An employee wellness program is essentially a preventative strategy for lowering the risk of costly absences and staff turnover, which can hit small businesses particularly hard. However, if employee engagement is low, it will be difficult to realise a good return on investment. Companies need to make sure they invest time, as well as money, into their wellness program, communicating clearly and regularly about what’s on offer to increase and maintain take-up. Alaana Linney, Director of Business Development at Nuffield Health. Joe Gaunt There’s no ‘one size fits all’ output for an employee programme.  Like people, all businesses are different.   Whilst one business will want to improve staff retention another will want to attract the best talent, and another will want to reduce absenteeism and so one.  Therefore, the ROI or the value of investment (VOI) should and will differ.   A recent study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine showed that companies recognised by the C. Everett Koop National Health Awards for nurturing a culture of health, by specifically focusing on the wellbeing and safety of their workers outperformed the stock market by a factor of 3:1 from 2000-2014.  And companies that rate highly for their employee-focused cultures show similar results. To effectively evaluate any programme you need a clearly defined strategy and regular reporting. Joe Gaunt, CEO of Hero Wellbeing. Shaun Bradley Although it is difficult to exactly quantify the financial impact of a wellness programme, what we do know is that engaged employees generally generate better organisational outcomes. If a wellness programme is effective and employees have tools to proactively manage their wellness that in itself could positively impact engagement. Employees can address issues early, before they get too serious or even proactively prevent issues. The sooner we act upon an issue, the more likely we are to solve it before it turns into something more serious. Other measures that are useful in determining ROI include the number of sick days taken, overall productivity as well as engagement and job satisfaction scores over time. Shaun Bradley, Director of People at  Perkbox. Ruth Tongue The ROI on wellbeing programmes is clearly evident, yet we recommend that companies now consider VOI (Value on Investment). This means thinking less about the healthcare or sickness absence costs and looking at benefits of a holistic wellbeing strategy such as improving job satisfaction, motivation, reducing turnover and improving engagement at work. These outcomes are harder to measure but thats where we can help! Ruth Tongue, Co-founder of Elevate. Sam Fromson It depends on the type of program offered.   Programs targeting specific issues like back pain often deliver a relatively big return over a short period.   But their reach in terms of people is limited.   More holistic approaches which address the mental and physical wellbeing of all a company’s people tend to deliver sustained behavioural change over a longer period. They may also to identify specific areas which require more targeted interventions, increasing overall ROI.   Either way, evidence suggests ROI can vary from £2 for every £1 spent to £34 depending on the type of program. Sam Fromson, Co-founder of Yulife. Jill King The reality is that your return-on investment, or “ROI” equation, is very complex â€" on both sides. Many elements of wellness/wellbeing programs are complicated and make it difficult to research (executive buy-in, business conditions, vendors, following best practices, etc). On top of that, for wellbeing, the definition of ROI can be as narrow as the reduction in your medical claims. The goals of many wellbeing programs are likely far broader than this, so start by addressing how you define ROI and then adjusting it. Value On Investment (VOI) as a model is more comprehensive, flexible, and adaptable to a company’s specific needs. At Virgin Pulse, we have shown positive impact on business and talent concerns like absenteeism, safety, performance and productivity, turnover, and even customer quality and customer satisfaction. Jill King,  Director of International Markets at VirginPulse.

What Does Your Desk Say About You

What Does Your Desk Say About You Wherever you work whether  its in a cubicle, corner office  or you hot-desk, the way you organise your workspace is a reflection on your personality and working style. There is also, definitely, a correlation between the objects you decide to have on your desk and what type of worker you are  57% of workers in the US admit that they judge their coworkers by how clean or dirty they keep their workspaces, with nearly half admitting they have been appalled by how messy coworkers offices are. 90% of respondents believe clutter has a negative impact on work, with 77% admitting that clutter damages their productivity. Marketo believe there are six types of desk users which one are you? The Minimalist: This worker is like a ghost they take long lunch hours, ignoring emails and working in a bare space (with no decor, just their computer) which makes people question if theyre actually there. This desk will show that the worker is a fan of doing the bare minimum necessary, and may return reports late or be silent in meetings. They also may be looking for another job while currently at their present job. The Hoarder: This worker wants everything to be in the office including massive paper stacks, overstuffed drawers and meeting notes from 10 years ago. This desk will prove a worker who always wants to be involved, and never wants to throw anything away, but could become a fire hazard. The Documentarian: This desk will be home to many memories, and a shrine to anything big in that workers life but dont get on their bad side, as they wont forget itever. This type of worker will hand out multiple copies of emails, remember everyones birthdays and always be thinking about their latest holiday. The Techie: No matter the job, the techie will have any piece of technology needed to up their productivity it may look impressive, but it wont affect their results. They will have multiple screens, and be too busy video conferencing (playing video games) to help out. They may also blow all the fuses when they plug in their 15th device below their desk. The Sickie: This desk will contain quarantined everything keyboard, monitor and pens, however the worker will always be off with something cold, cough or headache. They may also overdose on cough syrup. The Zen Master: This  worker will be a calming presence in the office, but their desk will be more of a spa than a workspace with plants and inspirational posters a plenty. They probably wont take deadlines too seriously as theyll be relaxed, and will probably end up meditating in a meeting. RELATED: What Does Your Office Cubicle Say About You?

LinkedIn Open Networker A Bad Idea

LinkedIn Open Networker A Bad Idea One of the decisions I made early on in online networking was to become an “open networker” on LinkedIn. For those of you who don’t use LinkedIn, becoming an open networker is where you join a group and are added to a list of people who are open to connecting up with people. Other networkers can use this list to make contact with you. Three years on after becoming an open networker I have thousands of connections. Now I kind of regret it. I say “kind of” because there are advantages to being an open networker. One is that it expands your list of contacts by the bucket load. That means you are able to research thousands, if not millions of people in your broader network. This is great if you want to use LinkedIn to understand people, where they work and how they may help you. The down side of being an open networker is that I am fair game. Now I receive hundreds of emails from people I don’t know. Many of them have nothing to do with my business. People have assumed that since I am an open networker that I want to hear about their bridge building business in California or a great deal on grapes in Penang. I’m in Sydney and if you’re reading this, you know what I do. It sounds bizarre, because it is bizarre. I am simply being spammed. While I received a few interesting emails among all of these, I’m sure many more good contacts have been lost in the masses. For me, one of the few things to come out this deluge of emails, is a bit more insight on email impact and ethics. I try to understand how people communicate and how to improve my own communication. When I’ve read these emails I’ve realised how easy it is to all sound the same. If I open an email, it’s because it’s been a really clever or targeted email, and short and snappy, or the person sending it has “lucked on” a topic that has interested me. With thousands of connections in my in box, I also find it hard to manage the masses. It’s a challenge to find people that I really care about and want to form deeper relationships with. (If anyone reading this has that secret, please let me know. I’d really appreciate it.) Another thing that I didn’t think about when I opened myself up to contacts is how other people may view this when they look at my profile. Many headhunters I have spoken to say that they look at the richness of your connections and who’s in your network. With so many contacts I am sure I look either really impressive, or really indiscriminate. My main take out of doing all of this is that I had hesitation about becoming an open networker. But I ignored my gut instinct. At the time I didn’t have a good reason not to do it. I now know from working within online networking, Twitter and social media, that the community influences the way people use the forum. So with LinkedIn, many people have seen people hooking up and emailing each other, seeming indiscriminately and it becomes the “done thing.” It snowballs. What I do know is that I’m not generally a person that works a room and hands out my business card to 25 people, even at a professional networking event. I prefer to chat to two or three people and get to know them. Open networking seems to be a bit like that spray can kind of approach. I’m not saying that’s wrong. I just don’t think that’s my natural style. My main take out of all of this, is my networking style worked for me one way offline, so I should have approached it that way online. Perhaps that’s a good rule of thumb for anyone, really. RELATED: The Do’s and Don’ts of Professional Networking.

Setting Yourself Up for Success End of Year Goal Setting

Setting Yourself Up for Success End of Year Goal Setting The end of the year is a great time for every career girl to reflect on what she has accomplished over the past twelve months, and also to set goals for the upcoming new year. Goal setting is simple and doesnt require much of your time, yet it keeps you on track by promoting self-awareness and helps to hold you accountable. December is a common month for many companies to do yearly reviews, and this may give you the opportunity to receive a raise or a bonus. It is smart to use this as a chance to reflect on your work over the past year, and to take an active role in identifying areas that you excelled in or could improve upon. Aside from the possible financial benefits, the end of the year is a great time for you to do some reflection on how it all went, and where you would like to see yourself moving forward. There are a few things you can do in order to set yourself up for success during 2015. A little planning can go a long way!   Set Goals for the Upcoming Year Come up with three things that you would like to accomplish within the next twelve months. Be sure that they are realistic and attainable. Next, write them down. I like to place my goals somewhere I will see them daily, like hanging on my bathroom mirror or as the background on my phone, so that I have a constant reminder of what I am working towards. Celebrate Your Achievements Take some time to reflect on what you have succeeded at this past year. What were some major goals that you set, and achieved? What were some unexpected accomplishments that you can pat yourself on the back for? Its important to pause and to give yourself the credit you deserve, so that you can use that as motivation to keep moving forward. Picture the Future Take some time for a little creative daydreaming, and fantasize about your professional future. Whats your dream job? Your dream schedule? Are you a CEO? A business owner? A traveling event planner? Now, with the ultimate goal in mind, picture some steps you can take at this point in time to put yourself closer to realizing that dream. Starting small makes that which seems impossible at first, a very real possibility! If you can dream it, you can do it. “Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act.” ~ Pablo Picasso What kind of goals do you want to set? Tweet to me about them @sncueto or @mscareergirl!

Knock em Dead Secrets and Strategies for Successful Job Search - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Knock em Dead Secrets and Strategies for Successful Job Search Joyce Lain Kennedy, the nations first syndicated careers columnist, had this to say about Martin Yate’s latest addition to his series of Knock em Dead career and job search guides, Knock em Dead: Secrets Strategies for Success in an Uncertain World â€" How to Take Control of Your Job Search, Career, and Life!: Whether your concerns are landing the job you want, choosing or changing careers, shoring up job security, climbing the professional ladder, or owning your own business, Martin Yates Knock em Dead: Secrets Strategies for Success in an Uncertain World is the career book of the year. Bet on yourself. Read it. Not a typical how-to job search book, Martins latest effort offers advice that can change the trajectory of your career and life, and help you work your passion. He covers  everything needed to navigate all the twists and turns of todays job search landscape, including the latest cutting-edge strategies and turning job interviews into job offers. Heres just one of Martin’s pointers: Turn off the TV â€" and invest in improving your value to the marketplace. You can’t afford to go to bed as stupid as you woke up. If you do not learn something new every day to become more valuable to the marketplace tomorrow, you will become worth less (worthless). And a peek at the table of contents: We Are All Professional Schizophrenics Your Resume Has to Be a Killer for You to Survive How to Build Networks for Today and Tomorrow Prepare to Win The Five Secrets of the Hire Meet Your Interviewers: Why They Do the Things They Do Lifetime Career Management: Issues and Strategies The book is sprinkled with actionable advice from his star-studded panel of 42 senior recruitment and job search experts. I’m thrilled to be included among such luminaries. Each expert is highlighted in the appendix with valuable information â€" job title, company, specialization, accreditation, contact data and even years of experience. Almost every page carries an expanded dialog on key career success and job search issues. According to Martin, the experts share three things in common: They know what they’re talking about, they don’t pussyfoot around and they each genuinely care. Nancy Schuman, Corporate VP Marketing at Lloyd Staffing (30 years’ experience) offered this, in the chapter entitled The Network-Integrated Plan of Attack: The people who have the most difficulty adapting are the baby boomers, or those who have been in the same company since the 1990s. To survive and compete, you must get a handle on job boards, specialty industry sites, social networking sites â€" all play a part in the job search landscape. And here’s one of my contributions, in the chapter entitled Job Sites, Resume Banks, Headhunters, and Direct Research: An estimated 85% of $100K+ jobs that are filled are not advertised and not posted on a job board â€" these are hidden jobs. Yet as many as 85-90% of executives are competing for that mere 15% of jobs that are advertised and visible. Related posts: My Executive Branding and Job Search Ebook How To Land an Executive Job in 2011 Executive Job Search: The Old Way (Networking) Still Works Best Twitter for C-Suite Executive Job Search 00 0

Creative (And Unusual) Ways To Market Your Business

Creative (And Unusual) Ways To Market Your Business You don’t need us to tell you that marketing is key to your business strategy. You probably don’t need us to tell you how to market your business, either. From print marketing techniques (flyers, newspaper advertisements, business cards) to digital marketing (setting up a business website, social media, email), you have probably utilized a fair few of these methods to broadcast your business to the world. And that is fine. However, it’s also worth thinking outside of the norm, finding new and creative ways to market yourself. The more ways you can spread the word about your business, the better. We have listed a few ideas here, many of which won’t break your marketing budget. Place your brand on a range of items, not only your business cards, flyers, and staff t-shirts. Check out this service for a range of custom button ideas. Consider advertising your business on car decals, whether that’s your company vehicles, or paying others to drive around on your behalf. Think about caps, mugs, posters, bags, diaries, and other items that can be given away promotionally. Arm yourself with these items at trade shows, conferences, and even on the high street, and get your business brand out into the world to as many people as possible. Hire word-of-mouth. Some people love to talk, so why not get them to talk about your services? For example, think about hiring somebody to walk around town, handing out your promotional materials while talking about the wonderful service you offer to passersby. You could do the same online, with an influencer who will promote you on social media, blogs, forums, Youtube video, and the like. You could pay commission based on how many leads these people generate, or offer other incentives, such as a discount on the product or service you are selling to your happy talkers. Project a logo. Rather than relying on posters and banners stuck up across town, go one better, and project your logo onto buildings, rooftops, or into the night sky. You will need to find somewhere to install your projector, but once you have overcome this minor hurdle, you will soon have people talking about your business. It cuts down on paper and marketing costs too, as a cheap slide projector will do the job just fine. Stop people in their tracks with a publicity stunt, whether you do something wild and crazy in the middle of town, or plan a stunt that will grab the hearts and minds of the world’s public and media. Take inspiration from some of the greatest publicity stunts of our time, from creating viral content to spread word about your business, to one-off events (such as flying an airship plastered with your brand over town). A guaranteed way to get people talking about you, but you do need to be careful. Don’t break any laws or cause harm or injury to yourself or others, as people will end up talking about you for all the wrong reasons. Self-publish your own book, and either sell it or give it away for free online through the various eBook sellers at your disposal. There are some tips here on how to go about this process, and providing you do have some written ability (or you could hire somebody to write it on your behalf), you can both share your expertise in business with others, and hopefully garner an interested audience into what it is you are offering for sale. Reward your customers in a variety of ways, both securing their loyalty and encouraging them to spread word about your business. This can include remembering anniversaries (sending out birthday and Christmas cards), randomly sending out freebies through the post, and offering special discounts to those clients and customers who have been with your business for a set amount of time. Don’t spam your customers (or go over budget with your rewards), but send them out sparingly for more positive results. Volunteer your time or money at a community or charity event, or hire members of your staff to do so. While this can be rewarding in itself, especially if the cause is close to your heart, you will also reap some of the benefits by having your name affiliated to whatever the event is supporting. However, don’t over promote your ego in the process there is a balance between doing something good for others and helping your own cause so let the media spread the word about any good deed you have done, and share your branding appropriately. Take a stance on a hot industry topic, and share your thoughts with local media to draw attention to your opinion. To do this, you will need to have an understanding of what you are talking about, and a genuine feeling on the matter. Do your research first, and ensure you don’t say the ‘wrong thing’ as public opinion may turn against you. For example, one of the current hot topics worth focussing on is the environment, as this is something common amongst many industries. How is your company dealing with the issue? How are you different to others? Let people know your thoughts on this or any other matter that could generate interest into your business. Hit the streets, and do something that will catch the eye of passers-by. You could commission a local artist to paint a decorative mural on the side of a wall, or something created with chalk on local pavements. You could hire a walking billboard, somebody dressed up as mascot to provide a verbal or a visual marketing aid to your business. You might even hang coat hangers around town emblazoned with your brand (makes a change from flyers and posters). Whatever you do, ensure you have the correct permissions first, as you don’t want to get fined for graffiting, or find yourself being accused of being a public nuisance. So, let us know what you think. Did any of these ideas take your fancy? You may have some creative (and unusual) marketing tips of your own. Please share your thoughts and ideas with us promoting yourself in the process and giving others the benefit of your helpful advice.

Finding the Right Career Builder

Finding the Right Career BuilderWhen looking for career builder opportunities, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Career builders are the most effective means of exploring an entire career without a major investment in time and money.You may have been job hunting for several months and have not been able to find the right position. This is often a problem when you are trying to break into the workforce, but is something that many people face when trying to climb up the corporate ladder. Perhaps you are an experienced employee who just wants to move up a level. Whatever the reason, you are more than likely facing a barrier when it comes to getting a new position.One of the reasons that this situation may exist is because the position has been filled. The individual who was hired will no longer be working for the company and so they no longer have a reference to offer. However, if you search hard enough, you may be able to find someone who is willing to provide you with a refe rral. This person will give you the opportunity to make contact with the same employer as the former employee and thus creating another line of reference.Once you have this second set of references, the next step is to ask about their recent experience. If the individual has recently left the position, then they should be able to give you some specifics on the type of work that they did. You may also want to ask them what position they held at the company.If you don't have the opportunity to meet with the employee before deciding whether or not they should be hired, you should still ask about their previous employment. You should ask how long they have been employed at the company. It is important to make sure that they leave the company on good terms. If they are experiencing problems within the company or feel that their abilities were diminished while they were employed, this is a good indication that they may not be a good fit for the position that you are seeking.Before you beg in interviewing individuals, you should also learn about the company. If you are considering hiring a recruiter, this should be their first question. They should be able to tell you about the history of the company, the current goals and objectives, and the hiring process that the company uses. They should also be able to tell you about the procedures that are used for the hiring process and the quality of the employees that they have been able to hire.Once you have met with the candidates, it is now time to determine what type of position they will be applying for. Once you are clear on the position, you should determine if this position would be one that would fit into your career path. For example, if you are a student who desires to pursue a more professional career, you may want to apply for the position of librarian. If you are looking for a job that is less demanding, you may be more apt to apply for administrative or clerical positions.Resume writing is the most important pa rt of any job hunt. The resume is the first thing that an employer sees, so the next steps are finding the right position, interviewing the individual, and crafting a strong resume.