We thought you might find this article interesting, in light of the rising cost of health insurance for all companies, regardless of their size. While the company profiled in the article, "When All Else Fails: Forcing Workers Into Healthy Habits" is self-insured and has a very large benefit budget, even the smallest of companies can find creative ways to control rising health care costs by being more preventative.
Get creative and think of free or low cost things that could help your work force be healthier, happier and more productive. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:
1. What about scheduling company walk times during the business day? You could reward teams who do five days per week or those with the most miles logged after issuing pedometers.
2. If there is a local gym, negotiate a company rate and offer it to your employees.
3. Find out about local health fairs that are being held in your area and post them to your company calendar or simply hang a flyer in the lunch area.
4. Create a Healthwise information board in a community area and invite employees to tell their own healthy stories and maybe offer to get other employees involved in activities they are currently participating in for health reasons.
5. And you can even save communiting dollars for your employees and possible tax dollars for your company by supporting those communters who ride their bike to work, walk to the bus or any other method of commuting that gets them out of their car and exercising.
Let us know if you have other ideas that might help employees move toward a more healthy lifestyle and save companies money at the same time.
