Business News
Promoting Global Workplace Health: 13 Companies that Get It
Monday 15. October 2012 - According to a new report, for workplace health promotion and wellness programs to succeed globally, senior management must be convinced that these programs provide value to the business, such as boosting productivity or improving safety, in all regions of the world. Although such programs are rapidly growing worldwide, lack of employee trust and buy-in are among the greatest potential impediments to global success.
Released today, the new report is from Buck Consultants, A Xerox Company (NYSE: XRX), which partnered with International Health Consulting (IHC) to complete the research with support from Integrated Health, a Pfizer Solution. It delves into some of the most successful multinational workplace health promotion programs, profiling 13 large multinational employers, such as Intel, Novartis and Chevron, collectively representing over one million employees.
“Wellness programs cannot survive in today’s economy without a strong linkage to business goals, and high levels of employee participation and engagement,” said Barry Hall, principal, Buck Consultants. “Although many organizations have achieved some success with single-country programs in the United States or elsewhere, the challenges of globalizing these programs are significant, due to differing cultures, attitudes, regulations and business practices around the world.”
The new report, “Winning Strategies in Global Workplace Health Promotion: A study of leading organizations,” complements the trends identified in Buck’s Global Survey of Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies to uncover proven strategies that can benefit companies seeking to globalize workplace wellness programs
The report identifies eight critical success factors for organizations implementing global health promotion, based on the major commonalities uncovered among the 13 participating companies, including
Focus on value:Articulate a value proposition that has sufficient emphasis on health and well-being factors, in addition to the financial business case. A successful global health strategy recognizes that employee health and wellbeing is a desirable corporate asset – one that impacts everything from recruitment and retention to engagement and employee productivity.
For example, Intel has correlated worker productivity with health metrics such as weight and blood pressure. As a result, their employee health and wellness programs are increasingly designed to focus on addressing these health factors.
Communicate goals and benefits: Spend adequate time and effort explaining to employees the reasons, goals and benefits for providing a health promotion program. Recognize that not every employee accepts the notion that their employer should be concerned about or involved in their personal health and lifestyle, especially in countries where health benefits are provided by the State.
For example, Novartis avoids references to diseases, and instead focuses on positive health behaviors such as exercise, diet, and avoiding tobacco. They believe that this “de-medicalized” approach is more readily accepted by employees, because they are less likely to feel that the company is prying into their personal health data.
Leverage personal connections:Engage local resources for cultural aaptation and implementation. Success requires a balance between global strategy and local autonomy. Programs managed by local staff with personal connections will outperform programs that are activated through central corporate offices.
For example, Chevron has “cardio champions” in West Africa – union or general employees who function as ambassadors for the company’s wellness programs by educating their co-workers and encouraging them to participate.
“The research also revealed that each of the organizations profiled had senior-level support that served as a strong organizational driver in their health promotion strategies,” said Wolf Kirsten, president, IHC. To illustrate this point, the report highlights the commitment of several of the companies’ senior executives who strive to lead by example, such as the Novo Nordisk CEO who participates in an annual 105-mile bike ride with a group of 20 employees selected by lottery each year.
Additional research in the report looks at regional and cultural challenges, employee communication strategies, the use of technology in wellness, the influence of corporate culture, motivating and measuring employee participation, tracking global program metrics and scorecards, and emerging areas of focus in global health promotion.