Stepping up workplace wellness

Employees who incorporate regular physical activity into their lives can boost their health outcomes. Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shields’ manager of well-being and engagement, Kristen Lippencott, said the organization can help. She said this starts with employers encouraging their workforce to build wellness activities into their days to improve their health and decrease their stress.

Movement moves the needle

“Almost every condition is improved or even prevented by regular exercise. It does not have to be an intensive training program or require expensive equipment to make a difference in health trends. Even a 30-minute walk several times a week can help people get healthier,” Lippencott said. “Little things like standing up from your desk once an hour and moving around a few minutes have been shown to reduce the stress of being sedentary. As an employer, you can improve your workforce’s health and well-being by building a culture that promotes active lifestyles. Movement towards employee health also moves the needle long-term on lowering health costs. It’s building a strong base for your financial future and helping your workforce enjoy a higher quality of life.”

Having healthier employees not only boosts their productivity and morale, it helps prevent the higher medical bills associated with chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other debilitating illnesses linked to sedentary lifestyles. While people often think of being sedentary as being restful and stress-reducing, too much sitting can have detrimental health effects. “Our bodies need to move regularly,” Lippencott said. “They work better when we use them. Just like a tool in the garage can get rusty with lack of use, movement help keeps our bodies regulated and in working order.”

The new year often motivates people to make fresh fitness resolutions, but Lippencott said there’s never a bad time to start boosting health. “January is a big month for gym memberships, but wellness can start any time.”  

Positive steps

Here are some organizational well-being ideas that can be incorporated at any point in the year:

1. Build a wellness program: Develop a comprehensive employee wellness program that includes regular exercise sessions, healthy eating workshops, a wellness platform and stress management techniques. Lippencott encouraged groups to reach out to Arkansas Blue Cross for help with this.
   
2. Consider on-site fitness classes or gym memberships: Where possible, offer on-site fitness classes such as yoga or Pilates to encourage employees to stay active and build community. If on-site classes are not feasible, a discounted employee membership to a nearby gym also promotes wellness and helps extend your organizational benefits.
   
3. Incentivize healthy habits: Rewarding employees for participating in regular physical activity, completing health screenings or achieving specific wellness goals can yield improved engagement, better health outcomes and help build employee loyalty. Lippencott recommended employers on Arkansas Blue Cross (and BlueAdvantage, Skai Blue and Health Advantage plans) encourage sign-ups to the free Blue365 discounts program. Blue365 offers Blue Cross members exclusive discounts on health, wellness and lifestyle products and services from national brands.
   
4. Make it easy for them: Foster a workplace environment that encourages and supports healthy habits, such as providing healthy snack options in vending machines or break rooms, promoting flexible work arrangements, encouraging employees to take advantage of their paid time off, providing fitness areas and equipment, offering wellness programming, and finding new ways to recognize employees’ achievements. “When you build employee wellness boosts into your offices and your culture, people take note that you value their contributions,” Lippencott explained. “It’s motivating. We all love to be in positive places that believe in us.”

Tools and resources

As an employer, you can play a significant role in promoting fitness among all your employees by adopting a proactive approach to encouraging healthy lifestyles. Explore the wellness tools and resources Arkansas Blue Cross makes available to your specific health plan:

For Arkansas Blue Cross groups: Download our Wellness toolkit.
For Health Advantage groups: Download our Wellness toolkit.
For BlueAdvantage Administrators of Arkansas groups: Talk with your BlueAdvantage representative about a wellness solution for your workforce.