How the 100 Healthiest Companies in America Handle Wellness Differently Than You Do

For years, research has proven the unhealthy state of the modern workplace. Employees face back and weight problems because they sit at a desk all day and have poor diets and little or no exercise.Then, there's the fast pace of business, which puts undue stress on many of them.

To counteract these issues, organizations have developed wellness programs.But what’s really working?

Each year,Springbuk assesses thousands of companies to uncover which ones best support employee wellness. In September, the company narrowed down, from 8,000 companies, its annual list of the Healthiest 100 Workplaces in America.

Through a partnership with Fitbit Health Solutions, Springbuk dug deepinto data collected from those 8,000 participating organizations.And this analysis, released in Springbuk's 2017 State of Corporate Wellness study, had some eye-opening results.

For instance, more than half (51 percent) of the companies dubbed the "Healthiest 100"use tools like apps or web portals to track how employees are trying stay healthy.

What's more, they reported, their wellness initiatives are paying off. Of the companies that track financial ROI, more than one in 10 reported seeing $2 to $3back on every dollar they invested in employee health -- suggesting a real connection between the two.

Of course, technology isn’t the only aspect these "healthiest" companies have gotten right. Here are their goals and the steps they've takento support their wellness programs:

健康需要成为核心价值。

There’s a difference between creating a wellness program just because it’s trendy versus prioritizing employeehealth. If wellness isn’t a core value, it will be pushed to the side and forgotten when times get tough.

The Starr Group, a Milwaukee-based insurance and risk solutions company, incorporated health and wellness into its core values, missionand vision. It has since seen great results and in fact ranked No. 8 on Springbuk’s Healthiest 100 list.“The value we have received on our investment in wellness has been tremendous and continues to grow,” Mary Starr, executive vice president, said via email.

“We have experienced first-hand that healthy employees are more creative, passionateand productive, which equates to better customer service and retention and a more profitable company overall," Starr added.

Health is about more than the physical body.

Health of the mind and the body are tied together. A person can run marathons and eat healthy, yet derail his or her overall wellness by not taking care of themind.

Unfortunately, the State of Corporate Wellness report found that just 8.5 percent of the 8,000 companies analyzed focus on mental health. A wellness program can’t be completely successful without supporting employees’ mental as well as physical health.

pro Athlete, Inc. is a sport equipment manufacturer in Kansas City, Mo. ,and No. 4 on Springbuk’s Healthiest list. After conducting an employee survey, the leaders of pro Athlete discovered that their employees weren’t getting enough sleep. Since this was hurting employees’ health, the company established nap rooms in its on-site spa.

“Since we pay our employees to work out or use the spa 40 minutes every day, they can use that enrichment time to take a nap on those 'tired' days,” Chris Hawkins, the company’s wellness program director, said via email. “We also have a meditation room that employees can go to for a quiet space, select what type of meditation they’d like to doand go through a guided session.”

Even without a spa, organizations can still offer employees a place to relax. Allow your staff to sign up for alone time in the conference room. That way, they can go there to meditate, journalor even take a nap.

利用可穿戴设备。

Technology makes many aspects of business more efficient. It provides data that allows companies to track productivity. 健身可穿戴设备也是如此。

As part of a university study, Buffalo, N.Y.-based insurance firmWalsh Duffield started offering wearables to employees. 该项目让员工对自己的健康水平有了更深入的了解，并帮助沃尔什·达菲尔德在斯普林伯克的榜单上排名第42位。

健康协调员CourtneyK。莫斯卡尔告诉我。“人们更有动力在下班后多绕社区一圈，以达到他们的目标，并了解如何保持或减轻体重。”

虽然一些初创公司买不起顶级的可穿戴设备，但也有价格合理的替代品。例如，几乎所有的智能手机都有内置计步器，或者你可以免费下载一个。然后组织可以帮助员工跟踪他们的指标并看到改进。

提供正确的激励。

并不是每个人都喜欢运动或是“喜欢”健身。但这并不意味着员工不应该从公司的健康计划中获益；他们只需要一点激励。最好的企业健康计划为员工提供各种各样的额外服务。

例如，企业健康状况调查发现，9.6%的被调查公司提供了保险费减免，5.7%的公司提供现金，14.3%的公司提供礼品卡。

一些公司，比如总部位于旧金山的健康指导平台optimity，让员工选择自己锻炼的动机。

“我们提供星巴克、亚马逊、丝芙兰、塔吉特等全套礼品卡，以及定制的奖品，如奖杯、公司赠品、带薪休假日和健康支出账户捐款，”公司首席执行官王珍在一封电子邮件中说。

这些激励措施鼓励所有员工参与其中，改善他们的健康状况，并为他们生活的其他方面带来好处。结果会让员工更快乐、更健康——这是所有公司都想要的。