Post Meeting Review Notes - Employee Health & Wellbeing by Corporate Research Forum

Employee Health and Wellbeing

MAIN PRESENTERS: Gillian Pillans, Research Director, CRF Dorian Dugmore, Chief Executive, Wellness Academy Matt Freeland, Senior HR Director, PepsiCo

WITH: Vicki Culpin, Dean of Faculty & Director of Research, Ashridge Business School Tara Swart, CEO, The Unlimited Mind Ben Moss, Managing Director, Robertson Cooper

The meeting reviewed a CRF report by Gillian Pillans, and included an exercise period with Technogym RESEARCH SUMMARY Wellbeing has emerged as a ‘hot’ topic in business circles. 

A third of companies interviewed by CRF now developing strategies, others are revisiting theirs

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Increased focus on prevention, developing resilience and on mental health

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Also, dealing more holistically about health and the ‘whole person’, including engaging families.

What’s the business case? 

Studies report a range of investment returns, but can be as high as 6:1

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Some evidence of productivity gains and absence reduction

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It takes 3-5 years for programmes to make a real difference

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Benefits for employer brand, including better employee value proposition and engagement.

Core features of a health and wellbeing strategy 

Clearly defined objectives, linked to business imperatives – create measures from the start

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Base these on workforce demographic analysis and evidence of what works

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Systemic approach, not separate one-off interventions or ‘random acts of wellness’

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Focus on prevention, not just after-the-event health problem management

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Foster lifestyle and behaviour change – but communicate/encourage/facilitate rather than ‘force’

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Evaluate outcomes, and communicate about results to employees and other stakeholders.

CRF tips for success? Plan, have clear objectives, tailor, co-ordinate interventions, address culture and environment, communicate effectively, think about evaluation from the start – and be patient.

Employee Health and Wellbeing

THE HEALTH EXPERT’S VIEW Dr Dorian Dugmore shared his experience of 30 years’ work in cardiovascular medicine and the links between exercise and health, and of working with companies, education and sports organisations.

Some stark realities  Upstream or downstream focus? The major challenge for both companies and governments is to move towards pro-active prevention. 90% of the current health budget focuses on ‘downstream’.  Significant economic cost. Office for National Statistics (2013) estimates annual loss of 131m working days, or 4.4 days per worker. PWC quotes a UK rate of 9.1 days and £29bn, much worse than US, Russia, Europe. The highest rates are in the public sector, the lowest in technology.  Poor health at the top. Typical issues for executives are lack of exercise and sleep, bad eating and drinking habits, mental and physical stress.

Some positive examples Project Life Canada  70 Toronto CEOs, average age 49, 18-24 months programme participation  Regular exercise, reduced fat diet, no smoking, lifestyle counselling  Cardiovascular and life-style risk reduced by 30-40% across the group. Global Sports Brand  Start point – relatively low sickness absence, well below average in private sector  BUT, tests on the first cohort of 200 employees showed poor measures of fat and cholesterol, and worrying blood pressure and cardiovascular issues, even at an average age of 31  Started wellness programme, took 3-5 years for benefits to come through – now winning prizes  New mantra: “The P&L of your business should be linked with the P&L of your company’s health”. Global Building Technology Company  Five step process for year 1 – health and behavioural profile; needs analysis; design/deliver interventions; analyse results; share data – then build in learning to design Year 2 programme  Over 50% needed more exercise, 89% didn’t know their key ‘health numbers’  Life Wellness Inventory – focus on more sleep and moderate exercise (‘Walk of Life’), diet, weight loss, blood pressure  Analysing and tackling stress – eg workshops on resilience and optimising performance  Year 2 introduced Wellness champions, awards, longer ‘Walk of Life’, Wellness Advisory Board

Employee Health and Wellbeing

 Other initiatives include lifestyle clinics and sports rehabilitation; flu vaccinations; nutrition workshops, programmes for ‘couples’ and retirees  Employee engagement benefits – 88% positive about the company’s commitment, and welcome adoption of employee ideas, including a company recipe book. Concluding thought? There ARE economic benefits, but it’s also the right thing to do. THE HR PRACTITIONER’S VIEW Matt Freeland talked about progress to date at PepsiCo UK in implementing a wellness strategy. Context 

5k UK staff, 60% in manufacturing and distribution, stable but ageing workforce

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A number of locations are in areas with below average health records

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Mental health (including stress) has overtaken musculoskeletal as top sickness absence issue

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“Performance with purpose” – commitment to human, environmental and talent sustainability.

Business case for action 

Financial – absence and early retirement costs, replacement costs, productivity, accident avoidance, retention of skilled employees through better environment and culture

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Employee engagement, proactive reputation building

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Compliance – being alert to all legal and good practice issues concerning employee health.

Strategy and action 

Vision – to improve employee health through action and thought leadership

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Priorities – smoking, diet and hydration, exercise, mental resilience

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Targets identified for absence, smoking, BMI, participation in exercise, diet/hydration knowledge

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Support pillars – professional help, active engagement, healthy choices, education

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Support infrastructure – Health Action Teams, occupational health services, external partnerships

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Annual screening – 95% take-up by operational staff, more than half advised to consult a doctor

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Some results – overall payback on investment of 5:1; absence reduced by a third, saving £1.6m.

Key learnings 

It’s complicated, and everyone has an opinion especially at the start

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Tailor strategy to needs – don’t be too generic

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You need data, facts and economic justification, but also recognise what is just right to do

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Focus on a few priorities and be clear about objectives, course of action

Employee Health and Wellbeing

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Give people choices – treat them like adults

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You need to try things, not be afraid to experiment and make mistakes

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Find strong partners, service providers and specialist experts.

Focus on a few priorities and be clear about your objectives, but also unafraid to experiment and learn from mistakes. And it’s not all about return-on-investment, it’s also about doing what’s right. Give people choices, treat them like adults. THE RESEARCHER’S VIEW – THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP Vicki Culpin shared insights from 15 years of research into memory and the effects of reduced sleep – an under-recognised issue with a variety of wellness implications. While sleep requirements differ by individual, on average LESS than 6 hours sleep can result in 

up to 4 times greater risk of strokes

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negatively affecting hormones that shape dietary habits – reduced leptin, increased ghrelin

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48% higher risk of developing or dying from heart disease.

Just 1.5 hours less sleep than normal can reduce alertness by around a third. Prolonged wakefulness induces effects similar to drinking alcohol. People start to say and do things they shouldn’t. While humans can to a degree perform familiar tasks on ‘autopilot’, higher ‘executive’ functions impaired by sleep loss include decision-making; flexible, lateral and creative thought; communication; and the ability to grasp changing situations. Sleep deprivation has contributed to disasters such as the Exxon Valdez, Challenger space shuttle and Chernobyl. Organisational culture and policies play their part, particularly if they foster long hours, and pay little regard to different timezones, and the negative effects of stressful travel and shiftwork patterns. Studies also show that ‘long hours’ cultures tend to induce LESS productivity. Managers need to be better educated about the risks to themselves, to people they manage and to the organisation, including how their own conduct influences the behaviour of others. Tara Swart, a medical doctor and neuroscience specialist practising as an executive coach, provided some perspectives on resilience – starting with the physical dimension. 

Remarkably few business people appreciate how much their body and brain are connected.

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There are many bio-chemical processes that have significant effects on energy and performance. People generally know little or nothing about these, and even try to disregard what their bodies are telling them. They can ‘soldier on’, potentially risking themselves and others around them.

Employee Health and Wellbeing

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Neuroscience is providing increasingly useful evidence of the effects of bio-chemical changes, and sleep, nutrition and hydration all have an effect – even if direct causality is unclear.

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Hydration – people generally drink well below recommended health limits. Men with prostate issues – eg many senior executives – are particularly resistant, to their detriment.

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Glucose and oxygen have important impacts on brain functions and health, such as mental agility and diversity of thinking. Simple steps such as deep-breathing can be highly beneficial.

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Sleep pods are a good idea – but often macho cultures inhibit catering flexibly for physical needs.

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Regular exercise is good, but infrequent and intense exercise – which some executives indulge in – carries the risk of heart failure and strokes.

Three other dimensions of resilience – mental, emotional and spiritual – are now getting more serious attention. Well-established restorative techniques such as meditation can benefit all dimensions of resilience. Technology advances offer new aids, such as health-monitoring apps on mobile phones. The European Food Safety Authority recommends a daily water intake of 2.5 litres for men and 2 litres for women, 70-80% coming from drinks. Adjust this upwards if drinking diuretics such as tea, coffee and alcohol. The body acclimatises to increased water intake.

POINTS FROM THE FLOOR 

Reduce stress by tackling ‘always-on’ communications overload; respect human needs

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Examples include flexible working and holidays (eg Virgin), and First Group’s policies on distinguishing both work and ‘own’ time

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Encourage responsible choices – the individual, not the organisation is the primary carer

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Build a culture of exercise and mental resilience (eg these are Macquarie’s first steps)

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Vodafone is focusing on physical, social and emotional aspects of work, and making a significant investment in supporting people to be at their best

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You must invest SOME money, but can do a lot with just a few tens of thousand pounds

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CEO sponsorship makes a huge difference to whether wellness initiatives happen and succeed. Keep moving! Technogym engaged CRF meeting participants in simple ways to combat the effects of sedentary, lunch-at-desk behaviour. To burn calories, standing is better than sitting – and frequent, moderate exercise is even better.