Second Annual WOWIE Awards from ILSHRM11

Legislators and health care policy experts might consider talking to the 2011 WOWIE Award winners to view for themselves the power of effective employee wellness programs in reducing health care costs and improving employee wellness and productivity.

Six Illinois companies have been honored with the Second Annual WOWIE Award, sponsored by The Illinois State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management (ISC-SHRM) and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL). The WOWIE award recognizes employers who champion the health of their employees and strive to create a work culture that promotes physical activity.

Awards were presented at the 2011 12th Annual Illinois HR Conference & Exposition on Tuesday, August 23rd at Drury Lane Theater.

Applications were divided into two categories: “Companies with More than 200 Employees,” and “Companies with Fewer Than 200 Employees.”  Three awards were given in each of the following categories: Platinum, Gold and Silver.
Recipients include:

At the podium Emcee Charlie Judy
(L)Sharyn Hoptay-Blue Cross   Sherri Gatto-State Farm (R)

Companies with More Than 200 Employees 

• Platinum: State Farm Insurance, Bloomington, Ill. 
• Gold: CDW, Inc., Vernon Hills, Ill. 
• Silver: Provena Health System, Mokena, Ill 

Companies with Fewer Than 200 Employees 

• Platinum: Robinson Engineering, South Holland, Ill. 
• Gold: Alper Services LLC, Chicago 
• Silver: Advanced Rehab, Bloomington, Ill. 

State Farm developed its own wellness program called “Live Well, Be Well” and incorporated it into the State Farm philosophy.

“Our Live Well, Be Well initiative encourages employees to make informed lifestyle decisions in the areas of physical activity, nutrition, tobacco cessation and preventive screenings,” said Sheri Gatto, wellness coordinator at State Farm.

“We made a business case for our wellness initiative and sought buy in from our executive team in 2007,” Gatto said. In 2008, State Farm hired Gatto to develop and oversee the program and she now works with a steering committee that provides input for her and a team of occupational health nurses and wellness ambassadors who work to promote Live Well, Be Well initiatives in State Farm’s operational sites throughout the country.

One of the strengths of the Live Well, Be Well program is its communications strategy, Gatto said.

“We have a number of ways to deliver wellness messages to our employees,” she said. Employees receive letters from the company’s medical director as well as emails with wellness messages and information. State Farm is also committed to new media, with a “Live Well, Be Well” website, Intranet and blog that feature positive stories of employees improving their own health and fitness.

State Farm conducts an annual review of its aggregate employee health plan medical claims data to determine areas of focus and measure the program’s effectiveness. "Last year, more than 29,000 employees completed a wellness assessment and knew their cholesterol and blood pressure,” said Dr. Stephen Kindred, medical director and assistant vice president of Human Resources. “We have seen a significant increase in the number of employees who are going to a primary care doctor and utilizing their health plan’s preventive care benefits.


South Holland, Ill.-based Robinson Engineering was not only one of the first companies to ever receive this honor, they are the only company to repeat its 2010 WOWIE Award win with another first-place, Platinum Award in the “200 Employees or Fewer” category with its “Robinson Employee Wellness Program.” Robinson Engineering is a professional civil engineering firm that has been providing services in the Chicago area for nearly 75 years. According to Denise St. Pierre, director of Organizational Development at Robinson, the company added some new initiatives in 2011.

“We most recently participated in the 100-day challenge through a 12-month grant that focuses on wellness in the workplace, awarded by the Chicago Chamber of Commerce “Live Healthy America – Chicago 100 Day Challenge” consisting of eight Robinson teams (an employee participation rate of 67%),” she said. Robinson has also participated in the Virgin HealthMiles pedometer program where 51% of its employees paraticipated.

St. Pierre said that one of the company’s greatest fitness and health achievements was realized when 60 percent of its employees participated in the Biggest Improver contest, a 100-day challenge that focused on making healthier food choices and increasing activity.

“Our employees reduced their BMI 4 % per person and body fat decreased by 11 percent on average per person,” she said.

In addition to the 2010 and 2011 WOWIE Awards, Robinson was also named one of the 100 healthiest companies in America by Interactive Health Solutions and Robinson has been recognized at the platinum level for wellness the last two years and received a Worksite Innovation Award in 2011 by the American Heart Association.

“More and more employers and human resources professionals have come to realize that employee wellness programs are excellent ways to promote positive health care behaviors and
create more productive workers and employees,” said Donna Rogers, director of ISC-SHRM.
-Chris Martin for ISC SHRM

Blue Cross & Blue Shield Doing it Right!

It is another WOWIE Wednesday at the ILSHRM blog and time to promote our partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and wellness at work programs.  Today I am writing either a shameless plug or a post that is simply the unfettered truth, depending upon your perspective.

We have received a lot of applications for the 2011 WOWIE Awards and we are extending the deadline to apply to this Friday, June 10^th.  Email your application to Chris Martin at cmartin331@comcast.net.

BCBSIL has sponsored the WOWIE program for three years now for the Illinois State Council of SHRM.  In that time, the two organizations have recognized employers who really get it and are putting a huge push behind their wellness programs.  Recently it came to my attention, in my day-to-day activities of doing my job, how really committed BCBSIL is to the wellness concept.

Now this  is where it starts to get murky.  At my employer,  we are a Blue Cross and Blue Shield client and have been so for more than 20 years.  You don’t have to read too much into that to know that we think they do a good job (with an occasional outrageous rate increase now and then – sorry!). In fairness they were market-based increases.  Ok, back the wellness aspect of this post.  Either I have been remiss as the benefits administrator (most likely) or Blue Cross has not wanted to let me know about their on-line wellness tools and incentives for employees and companies. 

So I was offered up some training in how to fully utilize BCBSIL’s employer and employee web sites.  I took them up on the offer. After looking at the employer side we then looked at the employee portion.  Now I have been here numerous times before but mostly to check on EOBs or to see how much money I had left in my HSA account.   After looking at the most of the other features my on-line tour guide asks if I want to look at the wellness stuff.  We do so and oh my goodness I was truly amazed at all of what is going on there.

Since they have all of my health records, they can bring them together in one place and give me a total picture of my overall wellness.  In presenting this, they point out where the risks are at and where I can make improvements.   There is a place to research aches and pains. If you feel you need it, you can have an on-line consultation with an RN.  In another area I can log my weight, my exercise routines and my diet.   BCBSIL then awards you “Blue Points” (like frequent flyer miles) for doing these activities.  If you get enough Blue Points, you can get some really cool stuff.  The site also offers tips and support to quit smoking. There are recipes too!

A screen shot from the wellness program.

So speaking as one of their insured, BCBSIL has done a bang-up job on their web-site trying to communicate to me how to get healthy and what I need to do to get healthy.  If I choose to do nothing – my bad; but know that BCBSIL has done just about everything they can to try and make me healthy  - short of coming over to my house and taking my plate full of food away from me.

Kudos to my friends at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, and thank you for your support of wellness.

- Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

Bigger Portions Means Bigger Employees

Today's  post is from a guest blogger who is helping out ILSHRM on WOWIE Wednesdays . Our guest blogger is Melanie Jatsek RD,LD.  Melanie is a registered dietitian, nutrition expert and author Melanie Jatsek, shows people how to get the most out of what they eat by choosing foods that supercharge their health and energy.  

Hello there Illinois SHRM members! Would you agree with the old saying “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach”?  Think about it—as busy Human Resource professionals, do you often find yourself in a hurry, loading your plate mindlessly with large portions of food when you’re hungry without giving it a second thought? It doesn’t help that portion sizes have exploded over the past 20years. Take a look at the following examples and see if you’re convinced:

20+ years ago                                         That same food/beverage today

Bagel- 120 calories                                          350 Calories

Fast-food hamburger- 333 calories                  590 Calories

Spaghetti and meatballs- 500 calories             1025 Calories

Soda (6.5 oz.)- 85 calories                              250 Calories

French fries- 210 calories                                610 Calories   

Turkey sandwich- 320 calories                        820 Calories

8-oz coffee w/milk and sugar- 45 calories        410 Calories

Blueberry muffin- 210 calories                         500 Calories

2 slices of pepperoni pizza- 500 calories          850 Calories

Box of movie popcorn- 270 calories                630 Calories (For a tub)

Cheesecake- 260 calories                               640 Calories

Chocolate chip cookie- 55 calories                  275 Calories

So if you find your pants getting a little tight, control those portion sizes! Pretend you're living in the 80's and:

• Split that bagel or muffin in half
• Order a burger from the kids menu
• Use a salad plate for your spaghetti and meatballs instead of a dinner plate
• Make that fancy Starbucks drink an occasional treat instead of a daily indulgence
• Eat one slice of pizza and then fill up on a nice green spinach salad with a splash of oil and vinegar
• Of course it also doesn't hurt to lace up your tennis shoes and hit the pavement with a nice jog or walk on your lunch hour

To keep your portion (and waistline) in check today, remember two things:

1. If it’s not on your plate, you won’t eat it

2. You control the portions, they don't control you

Go ahead...I dare you to make a change in your eating habits!

Today’s guest blogger is Melanie Jatsek RD,LD. She is actively involved in the National Speaker’s Association, the American Dietetic Association, and has partnered with The American Heart Association to help prevent the nation’s number one killer— heart disease.  Melanie has been seen offering her nutrition expertise on ABC, NBC and CBS.  Her brand new book for employee wellness, Healthy You: 10 Secrets to a Healthier Body Despite Your Busy Life!, helps employees improve their health behavior for real (and measurable) results! 

You can visit her website at http://melaniejatsek.com/  or see Melanie's latest television appearance: 10 Foods That Can Keep You Healthy! http://tinyurl.com/42gg8w4

WOWIE Wednesday: Three Questions with Lynn Creedon, City of St. Charles, WOWIE Winner in 2010

Coming off its WOWIE 2010 Award, the City of St. Charles can offer good advice to those interested in employee wellness programs.  Here at the ILSHRM Blog, we thought it might be beneficial to ask Lynn Creedon, SPHR, and benefits coordinator for the City of St. Charles, about how St. Charles implemented its award winning program.

First, some background:

City of St. Charles, Il  by Night

The City of St. Charles has had a multi-department wellness team in place for 10 years.  (Prior to that time, the HR department handled all wellness initiatives.)  The Wellness Team’s mission is to encourage our employees and their families to become healthier, both physically and emotionally, and to achieve greater balance in life.  The Wellness Team provides ongoing opportunities through programs, activities, and education to assist in achieving a healthier lifestyle.  Additionally, an important part of the mission statement of the HR department is "to hire and develop quality people, and to foster an environment that embraces total wellness.”  We have support from top management which allows employees the ability to participate in our many programs.  We look at the whole spectrum of wellness and have selected four topics on which to focus this calendar year; we present the topics through various mediums several times throughout the year, which enables us to reinforce these foundational building blocks for a healthier lifestyle.  This year’s topics are:

§  Physical/nutrition

§  Safety

§  Emotional

§  Financial

  

ILSRHM: Was it difficult to convince management to invest in employee wellness?

LC: It was somewhat difficult to get all of the top management on board at first.  We had to provide validation of our efforts and did this through showing the reduction in workers’ compensation injuries, the participation in our HEALTHY program, and through employee feedback from our Wellness Team survey.  Also, for the past three years, a department director has served on the Wellness team, which has provided top level management firsthand experience of our goals and programs. The Wellness Team meets at least once a year with the department directors and City Administrator to provide updates on the wellness initiatives.

ILSHRM:  What advice would you give your HR colleagues about setting up such an effort?

LC:  You definitely need the buy-in from upper management.  The best way to get this support is to provide quantitative data to validate the importance of offering a Wellness program. (There is much research available as well to validate the importance of focusing on prevention and workplace wellness.) It is also helpful to have employees from various departments serving on the Wellness Team so that a cross section of employees can get the word out about wellness initiatives and provide feedback to the team from a diverse workforce.

ILSRHM: How do you measure the effectiveness of your program?

LC:  We do annual surveys to get feedback from our employees, keep data from all of our programs/initiatives, and look at reports regarding absenteeism, workers’ compensation, medical insurance statistics, etc.

If you would like to learn more about the City of St. Charles’ winning WOWIE Award from 2010, post a reply here or email chris@addcmpr.com.

Guest Post from Chris Martin

Introducing WOWIE Wednesdays

The Illinois State Council of SHRM is again partnering with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, like last year  to present the WOWIE Awards at our state conference in August. The WOWIE Awards honor Illinois-based organizations or companies that take a creative approach to inspire employees to make healthy, active choices during working hours.

In an effort to promote the WOWIES we are introducitn WOWIE WEDNESDAYS. Every Wednesday until our state conference we will have a post about the WOWIES. Be watching for updates. In the meantime, here is an overview of the program.
The WOWIE Award program has Silver, Gold and Platinum categories.

The Silver award will be given to organizations that demonstrate a solid foundation for success.

The Gold award is given to select worksites/organizations that meet the Silver criteria, as well as organizations that develop comprehensive programs producing results. These programs are strategic and aligned with the organization’s mission, vision and values.

The Platinum award recognizes organizations with well-defined and well-executed worksite wellness programming, and who meet the following criteria:

• Offer employees physical activity support

• Increase health eating options at work

• Promote a wellness culture

• Employ a minimum of 5 people

• Offer a variety of physical activities for employees

Companies that achieve any level of WOWIE award recognition will receive:

• An official recognition letter from ILSHRM and BCBSIL

• A recognition plaque for display

• Recognition on ILSHRM and BCBSIL program Web site

• Recognition by ILSHRM and BCBSIL at local events and in communication materials supporting the recognition program.

Click here for an Applications

The Deadline for submission is June 1, 2011.

Content from CMPR & Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC - SHRM