When it comes to your wellness program, you’ve probably spent lots of time creating goals, developing incentives, and getting executive buy-in. But the key to success is thoughtful and strategic communications. You don’t want to be the best benefit that nobody knows about. Your plan should communicate the program’s value, and most importantly, what’s in it for… » Read More
Why is There a Deep Fryer in My Hospital?
Have you ever been to one of the leading hospitals in the world – and seen a McDonald’s inside the building? I have. Have you asked the CEO of a hospital renowned for its cardiac care why they serve chili cheeseburgers and curly fries in their cafeteria and heard, “People are here with family emergencies… » Read More
CVS Plan to Incentivize Healthy Living Is Win-Win
There is a growing trend among organizations these days: incentivize healthy living. Why? Well, given the rising cost of health care and increased legislation related to the Affordable Health Care for America Act, companies throughout the country are considering different ways to reduce their health care costs. CVS Caremark is among them. While CVS Caremark’s… » Read More
Swedish Medical Center Earns Award For Wellness
Participation is the key to a successful wellness program. Swedish Medical Center, the largest non-profit heath care provider in the Greater Seattle Area, puts a premium on participation and it’s paid off – 91 percent of their employees are actively involved in their wellness program. In late February Seattle Business Magazine recognized Swedish Medical Center… » Read More
7 Simple Ways To Nudge Employees Towards Financial Wellness
There are dozens of reasons why companies should take an active interest in their employees’ well-being. Happy, healthy people work harder with more focus and clarity, promote a more collaborative work environment and, in the long term, save employers money in missed work, healthcare premiums, disability claims and elsewhere. This explains the exploding popularity of… » Read More
When Wellness Gives You Lemons, Make Limeade
What makes Limeade unique? Find out in this six-minute long video interview with Limeade CEO Henry Albrecht. Henry gives a brief overview of the Limeade service, discusses what makes a successful assessment, and explains case studies and their relevance to a program. Thanks to Employee Benefit News for providing the video via Benefits TV!
Top 10 Ways Wellness MUST Be Relevant (with a Score-at-Home Worksheet!)
Relevance is defined first as “relation to the matter at hand,” and “practical and especially social applicability.” (Thanks Merriam-Webster.) On the road toward happy, healthy, high-performance workforces – we are always asked “What drives real program engagement?” We usually respond with, “Check out the pie chart in this Limeade blog entry from April 2009.” But 18 months have… » Read More
My Bike-to-Work Virginity is Gone
I yawned and something golden shone through the still firs. A strange sight in Seattle, this orb. My thoughts turned to our citrusy new offices (10777 Main Street, Suite 203, Bellevue, WA 98004), the optimism of a sunny day (after ~180 bleak ones), and the largely downhill path between my home and my work. And right… » Read More
How to Spend Money on People, Part II: Wellness as a Free Line Item
In Henry’s prior entry “How to Spend Money on People,” he put the ROI on $2 worth of wellness in perspective. I agree — it just doesn’t make sense to skimp on such low cost fundamental prevention, particularly when it drives employee engagement (and profit). So you want to do wellness, but your CFO has… » Read More
How to Spend Money on People
Our lesson today is about perspective. In most of our posts, we subtly hint that there is a better way to do wellness (for which “BUY OUR SERVICE!!!” is often the cleverly hidden subtext). Today we are actually sharing a different way to look at how to spend money on your employees in general. How… » Read More