Create a wellness philosophy first and then build your programs around that philosophy, Mary Williams, senior counsel of global compensation and benefits, at Coca-Cola Co. told attendees at a conference on employer-sponsored health benefits.
“We have had wellness programs in the past, but they really didn’t provide us with a strategic approach, so we rolled out a new strategy in 2009,” said Williams during a session on health promotion programs. The Employer Council for Flexible Compensation sponsored the conference, which was held in the nation’s capital this month.
Basically, Coca-Cola wanted to ensure that its health care benefits supported its wellness philosophy. “We now have a strategy in which our health care benefits and our wellness programs are mixed together,” Williams added.
Some employers create wellness programs simply because someone believes employees will find the program attractive, yet the program doesn’t really fall into the company’s overall health strategy.
In the past, “we had no communication with the employee that having a healthy worker within our workforce was important to the company,” Williams noted, adding that the company’s mantra is “Live Positively.”
The new wellness approach, in part, entails educating associates so that they can make informed decisions about their health. The soft-drink company now provides real incentives for employees who are interested in the wellness programs.
Last year, Coca-Cola provided $120 to any worker who completed a wellness assessment. “Today, we have a 50% participation rate. This year, we are offering up to $180 to workers who participate in certain wellness programs, such as an online seminar and health coaching,” Williams said.
The company also rolled out fitness challenges in which an employee earns points for getting enough sleep at night and eating vegetables and fruits. It’s a self-reporting tool tied to the wellness programs.
Although the uptick in some wellness initiatives, such as the health coaching, has been slow, Williams believes that the company’s venerable marketing machine will move the needle on the participation rate.
“We know how to market almost better than anyone else in the world, so we have done a full-blown marketing blitz aimed at our employees,” said Williams, explaining that jobsites now display posters designed at enticing employees to participate in wellness programs.
The wellness campaign also entails e-mail blasts and ads running on in-house television monitors. “It’s about getting the message out to the employee, realizing that we had never communicated to the employee that wellness was important and that we valued healthy employees.” Williams noted.
Coca-Cola is now in its second year of offering a high-deductible health plan and its first year of providing a health savings account. The company also is focusing on disease prevention by offering a pilot program to its Atlanta employees. An employee can go to one location to receive preventive care tests. “You don’t have to go to several different places for a test, such as an X-ray, mammogram and electrocardiogram. It’s all done in one place,” Williams said.
