CLINTONFOUNDATION.ORG CLINTON HEALTH MATTERS INITIATIVE Employee Health Improvement Framework Photo: Christy Porter / HiddenHarvest.org About the Clinton Health Matters Initiative (CHMI) The Clinton Health Matters Initiative (CHMI) works to improve the health and well-being of all people by activating individuals, communities, and organizations to make meaningful contributions to the health of others. The goals of CHMI are to reduce the prevalence of preventable health outcomes, close health inequity and disparity gaps, and reduce health care costs by improving access to key contributors to health for all people. THE PROBLEM THE IMPACT The unwell workforce costs employers $153 billion annually, By addressing employee health and wellness issues, employers a figure set to rise to $1.201 trillion by 2023 and $5.668 have the opportunity to create environments where wellness trillion by 2050. Employees who are thriving or considered programs are encouraged, easily accessible, and promoted, well cost employers 41% less than employees who are while earning $3.27 for every wellness dollar invested. struggling, and 62% less than employees who are suffering. If left unaddressed, the chronic and preventable diseases CHMI’s Employee Health Improvement Framework’s that affect 1 in 2 adults will continue to decrease productivity, standards are based on the best available evidence and increase workforce stress, attending work while sick, from effective programs, policies, practices and laws. absenteeism, and healthcare cost. Collectively, these show that the greatest way to affect employee effectiveness and well-being is through on-going, comprehensive programs that 1) take employees’ needs THE SOLUTION and lifestyles into account and 2) are aimed at changing behaviors. Such evidence has proven that worksite wellness The Clinton Health Matters Initiative (CHMI) is committed programs are particularly effective in increasing productivity to supporting employers in their efforts to create healthier and reducing healthcare cost, attending work while sick, and environments. Through an integrated approach of addressing absenteeism by: employee health through value added benefits design along with existing employee wellness programs, corporate social • Reducing stress responsibility investments, and core business practices, • Increasing physical activity and nutrition CHMI will utilize the Employee Health Improvement • Increasing smoking cessation Framework to guide the appropriate evidence-based • Decreasing workplace injury implementation. With this integrated method of employee health improvement, CHMI builds on the Clinton Foundation’s innovative efforts bringing market-based solutions to critical issues including global HIV/AIDS, climate change, economic development, and childhood obesity. EMPLOYEE HEALTH IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK | CLINTON HEALTH MATTERS INITIATIVE Framework Vision The vision of the Employee Health Improvement Framework is to establish a model of organizational change that supports employee health through improvements and investments in the physical, social, emotional, and financial health of employees. The Framework builds on the Clinton Health Matters Initiative’s (CHMI) primary goals of reducing health disparities and providing a platform for scalable health solutions by helping employers focus on the “how” of the issue – how to realign core business operations to support health, how to effect sustainable behavioral change among employees, and how to develop a robust, effective, and comprehensive employee health improvement program. The Framework’s vision integrates a purposeful focus on three critical factors that are aligned with CHMI’s overall mission of reducing health disparities across all socio-economic groups: 1. Creating systemic change in business organizations, communities, and industries to support improvements to employee wellbeing; 2. Preventing incidences of chronic diseases, especially in the area of employee population health; and, 3. Improving organizational health by looking at the cost-effectiveness and impacts to productivity of employee health improvement programs and practices. By engaging with new and existing partners in all sectors of industry and service, CHMI will shine a much needed spotlight on needs related to employee health, and will assist organizations of all sizes in purposefully integrating a culture of health into their operations and programs. CHMI is utilizing this Framework as a tool to affect a system-wide change that would have transformative and permanent effects on the working population. The development of solutions to intractable health problems facing employee populations requires employers to integrate a purposeful focus on creating a culture of health within their organization. The Framework’s embedded approach to process change provides a proven model for developing the appropriate organizational culture by providing criteria that outlines the tools that can support, enhance, and sustain a culture of health. Full maximization of the Framework requires the active collaboration of employers in all sectors. CHMI will work closely with companies and organizations to improve health outcomes, close gaps in health disparities, and facilitate organizational change in various types of industries across the United States. CHMI serves as a convener for efforts around important public health issues to engage innovative thoughts and methods from multiple sectors in improving unique health indicators for this particular population. EMPLOYEE HEALTH IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK | CLINTON HEALTH MATTERS INITIATIVE Framework Overview CHMI has prepared the Employee Health Improvement Framework with three goals in mind. The first is to provide employers with a comprehensive survey of the landscape of employee wellness programs and their effect on employee productivity. The second goal is to change the conversation around this issue of employee health and emphasize the importance of this matter in the overall scheme of community, national, and global well-being. The final goal is to motivate employers to improve, innovate, and lead on the issue of employee health improvement. CHMI encourages employers to identify new programs or policies within this Framework that can help them expand their organizational capacity to improve health outcomes for their employees. The Framework has been designed to assist employers in every phase of employee health improvement program development, from those just beginning to design wellness programs to leaders in the field that are looking for the next best innovation on the issue. This Framework is intended to support the work of employers in all sectors – private, public, and non-profit – across all industries, and contains input from key thought leaders, content experts, executive management professionals, and academics. It is flexible by intentional design to allow employers a menu of options related to employee health improvement, rather than a proscriptive list of mandates and requirements. CHMI is committed to working with employers throughout this continuous quality improvement process. Organizations that want to adopt or enact new employee improvement programs or policies can do so by utilizing the recommendations laid out in this Framework, through which CHMI and its partners can provide technical assistance and support along the way to an efficient and well workforce. Framework Target Audience The Framework can assist large-, mid-, and small-sized corporations with developing and/or supporting a sustainable culture of wellbeing within their organization’s infrastructure. CHMI recognizes that the myriad of intractable problems affecting employee populations requires a diverse array of multi-faceted solutions, each appropriately tailored to address the unique challenges faced by employers and employees. A uniform solution that can be applied in every organizational setting does not exist, but this Framework encompasses real-world examples of best practices that result in positive outcomes that are both measurable and scalable. DISCLAIMER This manual is intended solely to provide instructional guidance to employers on the topic of employee well-being. References within this manual to any specific commercial products, processes, services by trade names, trademarks, or manufacturers do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CHMI. 4 Contents 06 FRAMEWORK METHODOLOGY 10 CORE POLICY CATEGORY 1 CORE BUSINESS ALIGNMENT (ROI) 15 CORE POLICY CATEGORY 2 VALUE ADDED BENEFITS 22 CORE POLICY CATEGORY 3 AT-RISK EMPLOYEE POPULATIONS 28 CORE POLICY CATEGORY 4 FAMILY FRIENDLY WORKPLACE – PROMOTING FAMILY FORWARD CULTURE 35 CORE POLICY CATEGORY 5 EMPLOYEE HEALTH 44 CORE POLICY CATEGORY 6 TALENT MANAGEMENT 49 CORE POLICY CATEGORY 7 VETERANS AND MILITARY 54 CORE POLICY CATEGORY 8 BUILT ENVIRONMENT CORE POLICY CATEGORY 9 DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY (FORTHCOMING) 60 ENDNOTES EMPLOYEE HEALTH IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK | CLINTON HEALTH MATTERS INITIATIVE Framework Methodology & Approach This Framework focuses on eight key components of employee well-being, as follows: CORE POLICY CATEGORIES 1. Core Business Alignment (ROI) 2. Value Added Benefits 3. At-Risk Employee Populations 4. Family Friendly Workplace – Promoting Family Forward Culture 5. Employee Health 6. Talent Management 7. Veterans and Military 8. Built Environment 9. Digital Technology These nine core policy areas cover the many different facets of employee health improvement, and CHMI encourages employers to view their