Ballantyne Magazine covers news, events, real estate, restaurants, shopping, health, schools and business in the upscale Ballantyne Area of Charlotte, NC.
Issue link: https://ballantynemagazine.epubxp.com/i/42111
Premier, a large health-care alliance, pays $300 to employees who get involved in the company's wellness program. ABOVE: Premier's "Get Drenched in Activity" contest for employees featured this winning photo. RIGHT: Ergonomic assessments that include proper chair height are routine at Liberty Mutual. workforce reaps dividends. At Amphion Analytical Engineering, an engineering consulting firm, the founding partners cover 100 percent of employee health insurance premiums, even though it is expensive and the business is only two years off the ground. According to Jeff Perren, director of health promotion and wellness programs for Aetna's southeast region, the key is implementing an entire corporate strategy devoted to wellness. Seminars and discounts aren't enough. "These programs and services cannot provide an adequate return on investment as stand-alone health promotion activities," he says. At Aetna and Premier, the WINTER 2010-2011 strategy begins with a voluntary employee online health risk assessment. Aetna employees can then choose to work with medical or ancillary experts to improve and maintain their health, receiving deposits in their HRA account for participating in annual physicals, eating right and regular exercise. 'Be Well Bucks' Premier's health risk assessment screening by an external wellness provider shares confidential feedback to the employee on results and areas of opportunity. Employees who complete those steps receive $300 in "Be Well Bucks" from Premier, and free access to a health coach to discuss issues such as menu planning, workout regimen or smoking cessation. Avoiding injury in the workplace is another facet of wellness efforts. For Liberty Mutual, ergonomics are such a critical health issue for the 800 employees in claims, underwriting and sales and other functions that managers must now conduct a six-page ergonomics assessment of every new hire. "Being an insurance company, we are all about risk and minimizing risk in the workplace," maintains Shelly Barber, human resources manager. "The training we provide is not only for managers to understand ergonomics, but we also have 10 employees CELEBRATING TEN YEARS 2000-2010 designated as ergonomics specialists. The assessments include proper keyboard, mouse and phone location, along with feet and chair positioning. "To get a chair correctly adjusted, the manager has to measure the employee's elbow height from the floor with a ruler and physically record it," Barber explains. "They can't just check a box. The assessment is then returned to human resources, where it is tracked through the system." The same profile is also done every time an employee returns from disability leave, or complains of pain or discomfort. White Noise Reducing noise for employees BALLANTYNE MAGAZINE 73 Photo courtesy of Premier Shane Baskin/Blackbox Studios