More companies are hitting the gym for healthy employees, and it’s paying off in a big way.
A study from the Healthcare Trends Institute (HTI) shows the number of employers offering a healthy living incentive program increased from 29.8 percent to 34.6 percent in 2015.
“It’s no secret that a healthier workplace is a happier workplace and, thankfully, the trend is catching on,” said David Rhodes, Workterra president and CEO. “As more and more employers recognize the benefit of healthy employees, we’ll start to see a fitter, happier, and more productive workforce.”
The HTI 2015 Healthcare Benefit Trends Benchmark Study uncovered a few more nuggets:
21.8 percent of employers are considering healthy living incentive programs, while 16.7 percent of employers are still learning about them.
At least one type of wellness program was offered by 44.6 percent of employers, while 31 percent of employers offer biometric screenings, and about 30 percent offer an opportunity for health risk management.
Dental benefits were the top offering this year for employers at 74 percent, with PPO, family plan, and prescription drug benefits trailing behind.
More employers are interested in offering defined contribution plans in 2017.
Healthy workplaces are easier on the employer’s pocketbook, because fit employees have fewer absences, spend less time at the doctor’s office, and have lower medical costs. The last, of course, can reduce healthcare costs for employers. Healthier employees mean a better bottom line for employers. It’s a win-win.
To get to that win-win, Workterra Wellness delivers a fresh and innovative way to engage employees in wellness initiatives. We’ve made managing wellness programs simpler, while enabling leaders to more effectively encourage employees to adopt a healthier lifestyle and minimize healthcare costs. For example, we understand that every company has a unique population and specific wellness goals and requirements. So Workterra Wellness provides an unparalleled degree of configurability and flexibility to ensure the needs of each business and its employees are met.
For employees, it can be a daunting task to approach those changes head-on. That’s why Workterra Wellness adamantly integrates the belief that small steps can add up to major changes in anyone’s health and quality of life. Consider this: If an employee cuts just 150 calories a day from their diet, in one year that equals 15 pounds of weight loss. Workterra’s Small Change feature encourages employees to make small changes and prompts them to affirm that they have lived up to those small changes each day.
In addition, Workterra Wellness includes:
These features create better and healthier lives for employees by identifying health risks, providing important health information, 24/7 tracking, healthy competition, social integration, and more. Our wellness features inspire employees to not only better themselves — but also to create a better workplace.
It’s easy to imagine how a better and healthier workplace will help your employees do their best work and help your company’s bottom line in the long run.
Visit our Wellness page to learn more about our health and wellness offerings.