A Wellness Program is an organized program to assist and support staff members in establishing healthier lifestyles.  This can include increasing staff member awareness on health topics, scheduling behavior change programs, and/or establishing corporation policies that support health-related objectives.  

Programs and policies that promote increased exercise, smoking avoidance and cessation, and healthy food selections are a few examples.  

Dimensions of Wellness

Wellness is more than fitness.  In addition to fitness, the dimensions of optimal health include

• Spiritual Wellness

• Emotional Wellness

• Social Wellness

• Intellectual Wellness

These dimensions are often depicted as a “life wheel” with examples of health components that include –

• fitness,
• nutrition,
• purpose in life,
• financial planning,
• social connections and support systems,
• stress management,
• mind-body health,
• career planning and
• continued learning.  

The key for individual health is keeping the “life wheel” in balance.  A comprehensive wellness program addresses most, when not all, of these dimensions.

Why Corporate Wellness?

Staff Members spend a great deal of time on the job, and the truth is that our traditional work-week is increasing.  In truth, the typical American now works about 47 hours per week.  

Plus, technologies like modems, laptops, cellular phones, voice and email have blurred the work-life boundary.  These realities reduce the amount of time that the average individual can devote to wellness pursuits, and yet workers are expected to be at top performance when at work.

A recent study  by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses found that corporate wellness or wellness programs are successful in helping staff members make positive health changes due to a few factors such as convenience, environmental support, and peer or social acceptance.  

What’s the Link between Wellness and the Workplace?

Programs and policies that promote healthy behaviors can make a big difference on worker wellness AND have an impact on the corporation’s bottom line.   Studies have shown that for every dollar invested by employers in corporate wellness/wellness programs, there were savings ranging from $1.49 to $4.91 with a median savings of $3.14*.  

In business terms, that’s more than a 3 – 1 minimum return on investment – a number that is hard to ignore, and a best practice that should warrant serious consideration from companies.  

Truly, a corporate wellness literature review posted in Wellness Practitioner Journal found –  

• 19 studies found a 28.3% reduction in sick time

• 16 studies demonstrated a 5.6 – 1 return on investment

• 23 showed a 26.1 percent reduction in healthcare costs

• 4 found a 30% reduction in direct medical and workers’ compensation claims

There’s little doubt that a extensive wellness program targeted to meet a corporation’s specific needs can save money by reducing absenteeism, lowering healthcare expenditures, reducing staff member turnover, and increasing productivity.

• United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2003

Ten Steps Toward Strategic Wellness Programs

The Wellness Program management world is evolving rapidly. Each month, there are new research findings that support the premise that Wellness Programs and disease management (DM) have a long-term impact on healthcare costs.

A lot of large corporations that started Wellness Programs three to five years ago are showing savings in health, disability, and employees compensation costs. Small to mid-size corporations are watching all this and wondering where to start with wellness.

Getting  senior level management support and budget approval is among the challenges at the starting of a Wellness Program. This is the case because Wellness Programs could be expensive, averaging $150-300 per staff member per year in big companies.

Most of the savings are not realized for a number of years. This long-term investing is hard for corporations on the move.

The key to success for Wellness Programs is to take a strategic approach. Here are ten steps to consider when beginning a Wellness Program.

1. Begin with  upper-level management. Without  upper-level management support, a wellness strategy can fall flat. Begin with the health of your executive team and discover your wellness champions at the top of the organization.

2. Analyze the problem. Look at your healthcare claims and analyze the trends. Which conditions are driving your medical, disability, and workers’ compensation claims and which are modifiable? What’s worked and what has not as a result far? What is the long-term impact of doing nothing?

3. Hold an initial wellness meeting. Invite your key stakeholders both inside and outside the corporation. Ask your broker to facilitate the meeting and invite key health providers including health, disability, Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP), fitness, and occupational nursing.

Review claims and utilization data and identify key areas of concern. Look at current offerings and see how they are able to be tailored to the needs of the population.

4. Consider both healthful and unhealthful workers. Since 85% of claims are normally attributed to 15% of claimants, it is essential to reach those with the most expensive conditions while also reaching individuals  who are at risk for developing avoidable illnesses in the future.

Voluntary wellness programs like lunchtime wellness workshops miss many of the people  who need them most. Consider programs that are population-wide or target intact workgroups. Wellness incentives help but don’t motivate everyone.

5. Make sure to set short-term objectives for the wellness programs. Make sure to set some realistic short-term objectives based on your key areas of concern. Are there any plan design changes that could’ve an immediate impact on spending? Are there some programmatic actions that could’ve immediate results?

6. Find out what employees are thinking. Hold some focus groups to determine where individuals  are with wellness. What’s working? What isn’t? How much interest do individuals  have in the Wellness Programs? What obstacles and barriers are employees experiencing when they try to change behavior?

7. Be sure you’ve a high-impact Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Your first wellness dollars ought to go into upgrading your Employee Assistance Program (EAP). A highly utilized Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can provide a foundation for all your future wellness activities.

A good Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a trusted link to the hearts and minds of workers. at no additional cost, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can provide needed follow-up coaching and personal attention for workers who are working on modifiable health behaviors or involved in disease management programs.

Nutritionists, fitness, pregnancy, and stress management specialists are all part of a high-value Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

8. Make certain to set three to five year goals for health care savings and measure them. Get help from your broker and insurance carrier help you on long-term goals for your health, disability, and workers compensation plans.

Establish program metrics that will help you to measure ROI. Go beyond participation rates, completion rates and program satisfaction. Measure changes in readiness, changes in behavior, and changes in risk factors. Establish rigorous methods to measure healthcare savings over the long term.

9. Be sure to set objectives for organizational health. Consider the more intangible benefits of a wellness program and quantify them whenever possible. Include employee turnover rates, cost of new hires, employee morale, benefit satisfaction data, and employer of choice issues in setting objectives. Establish ways to measure success in these areas.

10. Add specifics to your short and long-term plan. Include a program strategy, a communication strategy, and an incentive strategy that’ll fit with your corporate culture. Focus on integration of related components along a health continuum with communications that are focused, simple, and human.

Establish a budget that includes key components like consumer education, wellness, health risk (assessment|appraisal}s, and regular biometric screens.

Wellness Programs are vital to improving the health of our nations. Most adults spend more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else, making it a excellent venue for promoting healthy habits.

The worksite organizational culture and environment are powerful influences on behavior and this needs to be put to use as a means of assisting workers to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Benefits to Wellness Programs include –  

• Weight reduction

• Improved physical fitness

• Increased stamina

• Lower levels of stress

• Increased wellness, self-image and self-esteem

Businesss can also benefit from Wellness Programs. According to recent research, corporations’ benefits are –

• Enhanced recruitment and retention of healthful workers

• Reduced health care costs

• Reduced rates of disease and injuries

• Decreased employee absenteeism

• Improved staff member relations and morale

• Increased productivity

A USA  Department of Health and Human Services report revealed that at worksites with exercise programs as components of their Wellness Programs have –

• Decreased healthcare costs by 20 to 55%

• Reduced short-term sick leave by six to 32 percent

• Increased productivity by two to 52%

Thanks to modern medicine, life expectancy for Americans has continually increased. How much we enjoy these additional years, nonetheless, depends greatly on how we’ve lived our lives.

If our quality of life is to remain high so that we can fully enjoy these extra years, we must practice good eating habits, be active and refrain from using tobacco products.

Who needs Wellness Programs? When you work in an office or a jobsite or are a member of an organization who spends a considerable amount of time at work, you will benefit from a well-designed worker wellness program. Employees spend a minimum of about 200 hours a month at work – a considerable amount of time.

Further, stress, distractions and the pressures of the job can take its toll on the staff member, which makes it important that a wellness program is implemented.

Today, all across America, Canada, Europe and Asia, top corporate Wellness Programs are being used to help improve staff member conditions at work and reduce the cost of staff member health care.

Some of the top Wellness Programs currently in use today include –

Wellness Programs – Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s (HRAs)

Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal} is a top Wellness Program currently in use globally. Organizations that start it determine the safety and health concerns of workers by the assessment of appropriateness of the facilities and equipment against the needs of the workers.

It can, for instance, guide the organization into deciding how much air quality within an office room affects the users and then help the assessment team to come up with the measures necessary to correct the problem.

An HRA can also evaluate the level of exposure workers have to certain perilous or perilous materials and practices.

Wellness Programs – Immunizations.

This is not always practiced in every country since there are regions where government sponsored immunization shots are available. Nevertheless, it has also become an important component of the top Wellness Programs in many organizations in North America.

Immunization shots, like those used to combat flu, for instance, are offered to employees for free.

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)

Worker Assistance Programs (EAPs) consist of a broad variety of services. It can range from providing educational resources to staff members regarding health issues to sponsoring health services and medical care. In many businesses, medical and insurance have also become a staple part of their benefits system.

Weight Management Programs

This is another wellness program that organizations use, particularly those that offer in-house commissary or cafeteria services. Instead of serving richer, high-calorie fare, cafeterias offer choices for a healthier diet, normally in the form of low-calorie foods and sugar substitutes.

Worker Wellness Newsletters – Health Education Programs

One of the top Wellness Programs that organizations can begin is a self-powered tool using a newsletter to promote wellness, coupled with a visible campaign.

The campaign could  be done periodically and focus on a specific topic, like use of tobacco hazards, cancer, stress, carpal tunnel syndrome, safety in the workplace, etc.

The newsletter in itself can be an effective means to deliver information to staff members or members of an organization but it is far from perfect. Some staff members, for instance, may not peruse the newsletter in its entirety or even pay attention to it.

If the issues outlined in the newsletter are promoted through an active and highly visible campaign, it’ll be easier to maximize positive results.

Fitness and Fitness Plans

Another top wellness program for organizations is one that involves physical activities. Corporations often sponsor exercise-related events like marathons and company sports programs to encourage employees to remain fit or lose excess weight. In mid- to large-sized organizations, companies might even pay for gym memberships or in-house exercise facilities.

Wellness Program Incentives.

Some of the top Wellness Programs implemented by companies involve incentive rewards. This involves company-sponsored programs that reward workers for achieving specific wellness objectives.

Participation in health campaigns and signing up for Wellness Programs are two of the most widely rewarded schemes. Rewards can range from special recognitions to points (for bigger rewards) to specific gifts. In a few cases, cash might also be used.

However, incentive systems have had mixed reactions and levels of success. But it continues to be one of the top options among corporations who are willing to modify it to fit their unique needs.

Wellness Programs – Group Activities

In many organizations, corporations take benefit of coworker pressure for encourage staff members to participate in Wellness Programs. This is currently one of the favorite staff member Wellness Programs currently in use today and growing in popularity.

Coworker pressure is often leveraged to help promote competitions referring to corporate wellness and to persuade employees to be active in company-sponsored health fairs.

Wellness programs at the corporate level are beneficial, right? Wellness statistics obviously show that such wellness programs aren’t only cost-effective to the organization but can assist the worker in developing a healthier lifestyle.

With the rising cost of healthcare, wellness programs simply make sense. So where does the problem come in? Let’s examine the topic from both perspectives.

Wellness Programs –  the Good

• A sampling of corporate returns on investment for wellness programs –  Bank of America –  600%; General Motors – 370%; Pepsico –  300%; Citibank –  465%; and the Washoe County School District leading the pack at a whopping 1,560%. (Campbell,J., Wellness Improvement Professionals, www.wellnessimprovementprofessionals.com, Albuquerque, New Mexico.)

• Companies with wellness programs have realized a 28% reduction in sick leave, a 26% reduction in adjunctive healthcare costs and a 30% reduction in disability and staff members compensation costs. (Health Affairs, Volume 21, No.2, March, 2002.)

• the Washoe county School District in Northern Nevada realized a $15.60 return on investment for every dollar spent due to a 20% reduction in absenteeism. (Hardy,A. (2005). at the Top of the Class. WELCOA’s Absolute Advantage Magazine, 5(1), 14-20.)

• Wellness programs provide the structure, encouragement, incentives and ongoing support that many person need for make lifestyle changes.

• Workers also realize returns on their efforts. FiServ, a financial services technology corporation, gave workers who filled out a health risk (assessment|appraisal} a meaningful discount on their health insurance premium. (Holland, Kelley, the New York Times, July 22, 2007.)

Wellness Programs –  the Bad

The flip side of the argument centers on basic human rights. Do we want/need our corporation to tell us to eat our veggies or lose 30 pounds? Some businesses are doing just that and at least one lawsuit has resulted because of it.

• Three hundred companies have requested assistance from a national employment and labor law firm to institute more assertive wellness programs.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

• Clarian Health, based in Indianapolis, Will begin decling employee paychecks by $10.00 for every employee who has a Body Mass Index  of greater than 29.9 because not enough workers were utilizing their wellness services.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

• Scott Rodrigues filed a suit against his prospective corporation, Scotts Miracle-Gro, because he believed the corporation’s antismoking policy violated his civil rights. the corporation has a policy against hiring staff members who smoke and Mr. Rodrigues’drug screen was positive for nicotine.(Holland, Kelley, the New York Times,July 22,2007.)

• Staff Member advocates are concerned that health discrimination might not be covered under the American Citizens with Disabilities Act.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

Penalizing employees by hitting them hardest where it hurts the most,their pocketbook, doesn’t appear to be a favorable approach to molding human behavior.

Such tactics may lead to increased resentments and retaliation, primarily in the form of absenteeism and presenteeism (decreased productivity on the job.) Voluntary, incentive-based programs, like the one in the Washoe County School District, can and do produce results.

A positive attitude by management along with an opportunity for workers to have a stake in the decision-making may yield the greatest dividends to both employer and staff member.

The motivation and resolve needed to change unhealthy lifestyle habits can best be derived from the basic tenets of encouragement, respect and support.

Getting Started – Secure management support

• Justifications for having a health fair

• Health risk (assessment|appraisal}s

• Be certain to help for high-risk population –  smokers, obese staff members

• Early detection of diabetes, heart disease risk factors (high cholesterol, high blood pressure)

Wellness Fair Participation – Identify your audience

• Workers only, whole family, retirees?

• Community involvement? Theme?

Wellness Fair Time Line  

• Make sure to set a date and time Allow 4-6 months of planning time

Wellness Fair Planning

• Identify health-related screenings, tests, other activities you will offer Identify educational literature and other learning opportunities health fair will provide Include any “fun” activities, or food/beverage needs for the fair

Wellness Fair Location and Logistics

• Consider location big enough to accommodate the biggest volume of individuals  at “peak time” periods

• Determine how booths/stations will be set up

Health Fair Providers

• Target relevant health/safety-related community and corporate providers to provide services, educational materials, incentives and giveaways

Wellness Fair Marketing

• Determine advertising tools to be used to inform employees/participants (posters, mailings, e-mail)

• Determine any incentives or giveaways that will be included in the fair or used to encourage participation in the fair

Health Fair Scheduling

• Coordinate timing and events with staff and/or volunteers

Wellness Fair Personnel

• Schedule appropriate experts Physician or similar healthcare personnel to provide patient consultation for review of blood draw lab results

• Nurse(s) to administer immunizations

• Administrative/all-purpose individual to facilitate paper work, finger sticks and to provide general assistance

• Pharmacist or pharmacist assistant if appropriate Dietitian for nutritional counseling suggested personnel designated for health fairs

Footnotes

1 the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation via Reuters Health E-Line.

2 Kaiser Daily Policy on Health Report, (9/11/03)

3 www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/press/archive/lower_cost.htm

4 “Is Stress Nibbling Away at Your Bottom Line?” By Stephen Alper, Nov. 15, 2002.

5 Wellness in the Workplace, Michael P. O’Donnell, page 415.

6 http – //www.bmpcoe.org/bestpractices/internal/dayto/dayto_6.html

According to Gordian Health Solutions, the effectiveness of wellness programs in improving health and reducing health care costs is directly linked to incentives –  

• the more substantial the incentives,
• the higher the success rate.

Incentives can range from tokens of achievement, such as t-shirts, water bottles and sports equipment, to more substantial financial awards, such as cash incentives or copay vouchers for the successful completion of a program.

Nationwide Insurance is seeing results from a small incentive program initiated by among the corporation’s onsite nurses. to encourage lunchtime walking, the worker has informally launched a “shoelace program” modeled after the karate-belt color system.

Workers progress through the color scale until they reach “black-lace” status. the reward system has resulted in more employees making commitments to walk during their lunch hour.

At the high end of the reward spectrum, some companies pay cash to workers who meet wellness goals. LuK, Inc. offers workers $250 for kicking the tobacco habit and remaining smoke free for 12 months.

For logging fitness points that add up to 10 miles a month, employees are eligible for health assessments, which may lead to reward amounts of up to $225.

The most effective motivator, according to Gordian research, comes through linking participation in wellness programs directly to insurance premiums. Doing so clearly demonstrates to employees the positive effects of wellness on their own healthcare costs.

Often, the first step in linking wellness programming to insurance coverage is lowering deductibles for wellness care or eliminating deductibles altogether. By adding this benefit, companies can encourage employees to undertake routine screenings and other procedures to respond to medical problems before they become chronic.

Early detection benefits both patient health and employer health care costs.

Incentivizing wellness program participation with healthcare credits

More frequently, employers are going beyond increased wellness care coverage and looking to demonstrate the importance of wellness by linking participation to employees’ bottom lines.

Worthington Industries has recently rolled out a program that allows workers to eliminate their portion of the insurance premium by enrolling in a Healthy Choices wellness program.

During the first year of the Healthy Options program, employees and their spouses complete Personal Health Assessments and health screenings to determine their levels of health risks.

Nurses, dietitians and exercise experts are available to help moderate- and high-risk participants develop individual action plans for improved health through the use of educational materials, behavior modification, telephone help from third-party program health coordinators, and formal health management programs.

By completing the assessments, employees earn their full premium credit. Because some plans at Worthington require no staff member contribution, a cash award takes the place of a credit in those cases.  

During year two of the program, the wellness bar is raised slightly. to continue to receive the wellness credit, participants in the moderate- to high-risk category will be required to work at setting goals with third-party health coordinators.

Year three raises the bar again, requiring participants to show progress in meeting objectives and to continue to work with health coordinators to reach objectives.

After year three, Worthington Industries staff members will be on the wellness track. the company believes that will mean a healthier workforce and cost savings for staff members and the company.

The well being of Worthington employees is the foundation of this program, and both employees and the business are expected to benefit from the long-term benefits of the Healthy Choices Wellness Program.

While Worthington has taken a wide approach to wellness, other businesses have found success in offering incentives in specific areas. Longaberger, for example, offers a discount on healthcare policies for workers who do not use tobacco.

An individual worker who doesn’t use tobacco saves $7 per bi-weekly pay. for smoke-free workers with family coverage whose families are also smoke-free, the savings increases to $14 per pay.

The next step –  Penalizing harmful behaviors

As it stands, health care is the only kind of insurance that does not focus on penalizing for behaviors that put the insured party at risk. With health care costs rising so dramatically, that could soon change.

Just as an accident likely raises auto insurance premiums, increasing premiums for those who engage in unhealthful behaviors is a possible next step in corporations’ attempts to manage healthcare costs.

Reports that staff members would support this kind of action are stacking up. One Ohio business conducted an informal survey that indicated staff members would consider it a morale boost if health-conscious staff members were relieved of some of the burden of subsidizing care for staff members who engage in behaviors that adversely affect their health.

Whether or not this kind of program gains popularity, one thing is sure –  the need to control the rise in health care costs is becoming ever more pressing.

Take the first step

Whatever the strategy, from offering staff members medical resources to providing incentives for healthy behaviors, employers have a real opportunity to improve morale and productivity, reduce rates of absenteeism and control healthcare costs through wellness.

The first step is committing to taking one, no matter what size effort is appropriate for your organization.  Big strides start with small steps.

Preventing injuries is a high priority for companys, particularly in factory settings such as Honda. That’s why the company offers several programs-including line-site process analysiss -to identify potential hazards and help reduce the chance of injury.

As part of an early intervention program, Honda employees who are feeling pain can receive a massage of the affected area during work time.

Stretching programs are another effective tool in injury prevention. As reported by the Best Practices in Manufacturing Web site, Dayton Parts, Inc. (DPI) in Harrisburg, Pa., conducted research that revealed approximately 80 percent of all manufacturing injuries occurred within the first two hours of each shift.

After implementing a program that required production staff members to stretch for 10 to 15 minutes at the starting of their shifts, they saw a dramatic reduction in injuries.

While the DPI program costs about $75,000 a year to operate, paired with other company programs, it has helped bring the annual cost of workers’ compensation from $700,000 to $200,000 per year.6

To help prevent lengthy absences and reduce workers’ compensation claims, Honda instituted a work recovery program. Through the program, employees who have had an injury can work in a modified job-getting better.

Workers in the program spend their work days receiving physical conditioning to raise overall fitness, physical therapy to restore functionality, health education and nutrition counseling. the program is based on data that shows fewer work days are lost when an worker stays connected to the work environment.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, www.ohiobwc.com, provides a “10-Step Business Plan” as a guide for corporations in providing wellness programs that aim to reduce injuries. the plan includes information on safety and health programs to prevent occurrences of on-the-job accidents, including –

Staff Member involvement – to ensure the success of any corporation wellness program, employees must participate in the safety and health-management process.

This may be done through safety and health audits, accident examinations, or by forming safety and health involvement teams, focus groups or committees.

Orientation and training plan – Conduct orientation and training sessions to educate staff members on the corporation’s safety policies.

These sessions should include procedures for the safe use of machinery and tools, chemical hazards and how to prevent contact or exposure, specific job/task safe practices, and hazard recognition and prevention.

Communication – Open communication keeps staff members informed and provides suggestions and feedback on the effectiveness of the corporation’s wellness program.

Through memos, bulletin boards and staff meetings, important health and safety information may be conveyed throughout the organization, keeping all management staff and employees knowledgeable about the corporation’s safe practices.

The company plan also outlines incentives for post-injury procedures, including –

Medical treatment and return-to-work practices – arly return-to-work strategies help injured or ill workers return to work in a timely manner.

Corporations should establish a disability management policy to help injured or ill employees obtain quality medical treatment, making their transition back to work quick and effortless.

Timely notification of claims – Companys should document workplace injuries immediately after they occur and promptly send that documentation to a claims handler.

Rapidly providing claim information demonstrates care and concern for the injured employee, prevents delays and confusion with the claim process, and decreases the potential for abuse or needless litigation.

Record keeping – Internal documents ought to be kept to record work-time injuries and to assess the success of the corporation’s safety efforts.

Corporation audits, surveys and injury or illness reports can all be used to analyze which safety practices and policies have proven successful, and what areas of wellness need improvement.

Dr. Moore of Nationwide maintains that immunization is the most cost-effective treatment in medicine. for  instance, vaccinating children against the influenza virus averages a savings (including health care costs, parents’ missed work, etc.) of up to $35 per vaccine recipient.

And experts predict that estimate is low, because it does not take into account the rapid spread of the flu.

The American Association of Family Physicians’ Web site, www.aafp.org, offers a recommended adult immunization schedule developed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

This schedule, tiered by age and chances of exposure, recommends diphtheria, tetanus, influenza, pneumonococcal, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, measles, mumps and rubella, varicella and meningococcal vaccinations.

Ideas to incorporate prevention and early detection –  

• Hold a wellness fair and invite organizations that provide screening services for such conditions as blood pressure, blood iron, cholesterol, Body Mass Index (BMI)  and diabetes.

• Offer educational materials about well-baby care and immunizations.

• Pick health care coverage plans that include wellness check-ups and immunizations.

• Offer on-site mammograms for staff members.

• Sponsor on-site flu shots to coincide with flu season.

Advantages of Stress Reduction Programs

While stress cannot be eliminated from life, or even from the workplace, coping skills may be developed with relative ease. Stress management skills lead to decreased absenteeism and more effective, more productive employees.

Because stress has been shown to contribute to such physical conditions as ulcers, high blood pressure (BP) and stroke, stress reduction has a direct impact on bettering physical health.

Studies have shown that heart patients who attend stress management programs have 42% lower healthcare costs. Other studies have documented a 50% reduction in medical services use when stress management programs are employed.

Further, Worker Assistance Program (EAP) experts estimate that 20 percent of any workforce is affected by personal problems that can influence work performance.

Stress reduction tactics to consider –  

• Offer onsite yoga or meditation classes.

• Organize support groups among employees.

• Sponsor stress management classes during the workday.

• Offer an worker assistance program that includes both counseling and referral.

• Offer onsite counseling for staff members with a work-related trauma, like the death of a peer.