13 minute read
Entrepreneur in the Spotlight: Daniël Corsen
More Than Improving the Bottom Line for your Business Corporate Wellness
“Wellness programs are not only valuable for the organizations and their employees, they are our biggest hope for fixing a national health crisis.” –
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Rajiv Kumar, doctor and entrepreneur, “In Defense of Corporate Wellness Programs”
TEXT HEATHER DE PAULO
Many of us have heard of the term “Corporate Wellness” or “Workplace Wellness,” but what does it really mean, what does it entail for a business owner, and most importantly, what’s the bot tom line? Specifically, corporate wellness is defined as any workplace health promotion activity or organizational policy designed to support healthy behavior in the workplace and to improve health outcomes. 1 It can be carried out in the workplace, as well as many other settings.
Keys to a Successful Wellness Program People are becoming more and more health conscious, but due to higher stress, longer workdays and constant multitasking, it is more
difficult to find the time to act on wellness goals. Creating an on-site wellness program is important because the majority of an employ ee’s time is spent at the workplace, 2 however, getting away from the office can prove to be beneficial in it’s own right.
According to Harvard Business Review, 3 workplaces have a unique power to reframe the mindset around health itself – from one of sickness to one of wellness.
The organizations with the greatest success are managing to shift people’s relationship with health from one where health is something thought about and “practiced” annually at the doctor’s office, to one where health is practiced daily through small lifestyle habits. Corporate wellness cannot be treated as a band-aid, and you definitely won’t be able to find it in a fitness app. Engagement, moti vation, support, and strategy are the keys to a successful wellness program. 2 This commitment isn’t just for employees, it needs to go to the top – it motivates employees to see their CEO’s getting on board as well.
healthy office snack delivery services, health coaching, weight management programs, well ness newsletters, on-site fitness programs and/or facilities, and educational programs, to name a few. 1 These activities are all aimed at educating people as to what it means to live a healthy life, but more importantly emphasizing and encouraging continued motivation for long-term behavior change well into the future.
Some of these activities can be just as effec tive, if not more, when they take place outside of the workplace. According to Rudolph de Wit, physical therapist/acupuncturist, natu ral medicine practitioner and founder of PIAI Institute in Curaçao, there are benefits to taking an employee out of his/her environment. “While we are always willing to assist companies in setting up an on-site, ongoing corporate well ness program, we firmly believe that taking the employee out of their environment for a couple of days opens up more interactive ways of get ting the message across, and provides greater opportunity for concentrated focus and there fore, a greater learning experience.”
The Bottom Line Healthcare costs are rising year after year. According to the Center for Disease Control in the US, chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and obesity account for 75 percent of total healthcare costs. 2 Obesity, which tends to be the main culprit leading to the cause of many chronic diseases, accounts for a whopping 21% of the costs alone. 4
In the past, companies have mainly focused on the “demands” aspect of the equation when trying to solve productivity, non-performance and other employee related issues, which is the current main motivator for local companies to engage in corporate wellness programs, as well, according to de Wit. “The new thinking is to focus on the ‘resources’ side of the equation. At PIAI, we do exactly that by working on increas ing your inner strength, your ability to rise up to challenges and by working on your totalwell-be ing.” Companies that implement corporate wellness programs find that they help the bottom line, not only in the short run, but in the long run and in areas that were not considered before.
The fact is, healthier employees cost you less; and there are many case studies to prove it: The leaders at Johnson and Johnson, the pharmaceu tical company, estimate that wellness programs have cumulatively saved the company $250 million in health care costs over the past decade; from 2002 to 2008, the return was $2.71 for
Harvard Business Review lists three key approaches to a successful wellness program: 1. Rework your corporate mission to highlight health as a key element. Redefine your core business from “a company with a wellness program” to “a wellness company that happens to sell XYZ.”
2. Tap into the personal motivation of your employees. People don’t strive to get healthy because it’s the right thing to do. If a company can tap into the personal motivator of each employee, it can better communicate the value of health. Making a program tie-in to every day life makes it more relevant and increases the number of employees who participate.
3. Employees need to own the program – they have to feel that it’s theirs. American company, L.L. Bean empowers employees to design their own wellness initiatives that are relevant to their respective departmental needs. This empowerment encourages employees to take the initiative to develop their own programs, and if they get enough people in their department interested, the company funds and supports it. This creates wellness representatives who help spread the message, keeps employees accountable and give support to others when they start to fall behind.
every dollar spent. 3 During a randomized control trial by doctors Richard Milani and Carl Lavie, it was demonstrated that of the participants receiving wellness intervention who were at high risk, 57% dropped to low risk at the end of the six-month program, resulting in a decline in medical costs of $1,421 per participant, yielding $6 in health care savings for every dollar spent. 3
The way some companies skirt around the increasing cost is by passing on the difference to their employees through higher deductibles. However, by implementing a more posi tive approach, some companies are allowing healthier employees to actually help their own bottom line. For example, some employers are empowering and rewarding their employees by offering incentives such as lowering employee’s contributions with rebates if they do participate in a wellness program.
Keep it Going Corporate wellness shouldn’t be boring. Creating unique and dynamic programs that consistently evolve over time ensure the best possibility of long-term success. Human beings need to be challenged and stimulated in different ways and different means to create change. Challenge your program to stay on the latest trends; it will help to appoint a wellness leader who takes direct responsibility over the opera tions.
Preventable wellness is a complete lifestyle and behavior change, so it takes time and commit ment. 2 The only way to prevent disease is with actionable steps to halt progression. When old habits are years in the making, you cannot expect behavior to change overnight. However, when a person is able to commit mentally, emotionally, and socially, and on a conscious level, progress is possible. An employee wellness pro gram needs to address this through consistent education and layers of accountability.
Employers simply cannot afford to take the financial burden of rising health costs any longer.
“Investing in corporate wellness is not a lux ury,” stated de Wit, “it’s an investment in your employees’ engagement with the company leading to increased productivity and increased creativity and problem solving skills. The decrease in the cost of absenteeism and turnover is a bonus!
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_wellness
2 http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2013/09/12/
five-reasons-corporate-wellness-is-more-impor tant-than-ever/
3 https://hbr.org/2010/12/whats-the-hard-return-on
employee-wellness-programs
4 http://www.obesitycampaign.org/obesity_facts.asp
Striking a Balance: Running a Company & Getting Involved ENTREPRENEUR IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Daniël Corsen
The world is becoming more and more interconnected, and as a consequence, people are becoming more important in the sustainable development of their societies.
TEXT NEELAM MELWANI
Whether people decide to remain at home; work abroad and send remittances home; or move their entire families abroad in search of new opportunities; each decision could have a lasting impact on a society, particularly in smaller contexts like that of Curaçao. As people start to play a larger role in development, it is clear that improving society stretches far beyond the work and possible limited resources of government, but that a “future that we want” needs to be built through collaboration between the private and public sector.
Although ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) has become a catch-phrase in the business community today, its definition tends to differ depending on the context in which it is used. Holistic CSR strategies stretch beyond sustainably using non-renewable resources, recycling renewable resources, donating
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money to foundations, or hosting charity dinners. While all of these are of course important, a holistic CSR policy entails encouraging employees to play a larger role in effectively realizing positive change in the community.
In Curaçao, like in other small island communities, a company’s reputation plays a large role in determining its client base. Considering that the local ‘pie’ is already small, it is important to motivate employees to be actively involved in their communities, both through their work and outside the workplace. A small or medium sized company’s reputation is very much defined by the people who work there. In small communities, everyone knows everyone, and your employees are an indication of what your company stands for. Therefore, it is important to: define a company culture; strike a balance between work and community involvement; and create ways to allow your company to transcend sectors and borders.
To get a better idea of how to “strike the right balance” in the specific context of Curaçao, CBM interviewed Mr. Daniël Corsen, 28-yearold co-founder and co-owner of D&I Business Support Services (D&I), a local consultancy firm; lecturer for finance at the University of Curaçao; and Chairman of the National Platform for Youth Development.
Defining your Company Culture In the modern day and age, defining a company’s culture has become a more flexible process. Taking advantage of technological possibilities, working hours can become more flexible, and work places more informal. Corsen explained how D&I Business Support Services (D&I) is a relatively new company founded five years ago, with the intention of doing business differently. A rather small company, with only five full-time employees, and two part-time assistants, the company has an innovative working culture: no defined working hours or vacation days, and online work space that allows employees to log in from any computer anywhere in the world.
While Corsen mentions that the company hopes to grow, he claims that the flexible company culture will play an important role paving the road further. By creating a less rigid company structure, CSR can be better incorporated in a com pany’s culture. Corsen says, “Your employees should feel like they have the space and time to invest in themselves and in their community, and partake in initiatives that add to their quality of life and surround ings.” Flexible working hours and vacation days, allow for a result-based management approach where deliverables matter more than the amount of hours spent sitting at a computer in an office.
Employees are therefore able to allocate their time to fit their busy schedules, whether this is training a little league baseball team on a Wednesday afternoon, cleaning up a beach on a Saturday morning, or working with the elderly every morning. At the end of the day, they are evaluated on the work that they are doing rather than how or when they decide to do it.
A less rigid corporate culture also encour ages employees to prioritize their time, and dedicate their time to things they consider important.
Why it’s important to Prioritize In countries like Curaçao, collaboration is key. Corsen feels like it is the responsibility of everyone, and not just the government, to bring about real change, and therefore spends a lot of his time on an issue that is close to his heart: youth development.
He says: “being optimistic, I hope that in five years, through the National Youth Platform, we’ll be able to realize real change: a collab oration between different actors to decrease youth unemployment, crime rates, and in ten years, we’ll be able to create a generation of ‘rockstars’- a generation that recognizes their potential and has the resources to take on their dreams without the fear of failure.”
Much like prioritizing within a company, it is important for busy business owners to prioritize their time outside of the workplace. The challenge with flexible hours is that it is easy to get off track and become involved in too many different things at once. According to Corsen, it is important to find the one thing you’re interested in; an issue that is close to heart, and focus on bringing real change in that area. For Corsen, it’s obviously youth development. Expanding your boundaries
While the ‘pie’ is only so big in Curaçao, there are so many ways to get involved and so many initiatives to support. For Corsen, there are no such things as business and non-busi ness hours. “I have one agenda,” he claims, “and that’s how I get everything done in a day. There’s one life to live, not two. Trying to build a rewarding personal life around the traditional ‘8 – 5’ working hour mentality does not work if you want to bring about real change in your community.” Connecting your business to your passion is important when
What can you do? In summary, Corsen suggested doing the following things to get more involved: 1. Get rid of rigid company structures – be more flexible with working hours and vacation days, for example. 2. Let your company transcend borders and sectors – look for other companies that have the same passions you do, and see how they are get ting involved in their communities and coping with local contexts. 3. Redefine your business – approach CSR holistically and incorporate it in your company culture rather than using it as an ‘add-on’ or ‘extra.’ 4. Find a passion that resounds with you -- and be sure it also has a positive long-term impact on your company’s success. 5. Encourage your colleagues to find their passion -- give them the time, space, and flexibility to add value and bring about change in their communities.
looking to add value and be successful at both.
The Many Benefits How can your business benefit from being socially involved? The answer, according to Corsen, is quite simple, especially with regards to youth development. By becoming involved in youth development, you can ensure that the youth is able to participate in creating their future. This can con sequently lead to more employment, social cohesion, and a better link between schools and the professional world. Economic growth is sure to fol low, if these preconditions exist, and a growing economy will have employ ees that are well-prepared, equipped and motivated to contribute to society. Corsen also explains how being actively involved in your community could give your company an international edge. His company, D&I, is part of a global network of 33 consulting firms that have similar business mod els and corporate cultures. Companies are able to compare social contexts across borders, and look at issues they face. No company today operates within a specific sector or country alone; it is becoming more impor tant to transcend these boundaries to ensure your company’s success, whether that is eating a larger piece of the small pie, or getting your hands on different pies as well.
