Letter to Clients
When the War for Talent Begins, Will You Be Ready?
Key indicators suggest the Great Recession may be near its end, and this is good news for business. However, along with this shift, employers must prepare for a completely different set of challenges.

In recent years, forward-thinking employers with lean staff levels have focused on how to improve productivity, which has helped to fuel growing interest in employee health.

In 2009, 61 percent of employers with 500 or more employees offered a wellness program, up from 57 percent in 2008 and 46 percent in 2005. Of those that offer wellness programs, 48 percent of employers say that they are "very effective" at improving productivity.¹

Today, as the recession begins to unravel, businesses must make sure they have strategies and programs in place to keep key talent with their organization. Research also shows they must do so quickly because employers and employees have very different expectations for attrition.

A recent survey found that 80 percent of hiring managers expect less than 5 percent of their employees to leave the company voluntarily in 2010, yet a separate survey of employees showed that 60 percent plan to pursue new job opportunities if the economy improves this year.²

This means as soon as the job market gains momentum, employers could see a high volume of workers exit. And given that most companies already operate with lean staffs, there is little redundancy in positions, which places employers at high risk of losing critical organizational intelligence.

Here again, an effective wellness program can serve as a critical tool.

Research shows 71 percent of employees who participate in wellness programs say they greatly value the offering.³ And almost half (45 percent) of American workers say they would stay at their jobs longer because of employer-sponsored wellness programs.⁴

Workplace wellness programs send a clear message to employees that management values their well-being. Plus, in-demand employees have come to expect that wellness be part of their employment package.

Interested in learning how to strengthen your wellness offering to employees? HealthFitness can help. Talk to your program manager for strategic ideas on how to target programming for your specific demographics.

Together, we can ensure you are well-positioned for success when the "war for talent" hits.

Yours in good health,

Gregg Lehman

¹ "Recession Causes Employers to Focus on Employee Productivity," World at Work, April 13, 2010, http://www.worldatwork.org/waw/adimComment?id=36939
² "Employers and Employees Not Synced on Attrition," World at Work, April 14, 2010, http://www.worldatwork.org/waw/adimComment?id=36951
³ "Recession Causes Employers to Focus on Employee Productivity," World at Work, April 13, 2010, http://www.worldatwork.org/waw/adimComment?id=36939
⁴ "Survey: Wellness Programs Drive Retention," Benefits Selling, Jan. 14, 2010, http://www.benefitssellingmag.com/News/2010/1/Pages/Survey-Wellness-programs-drive-retention--.aspx

Inside HealthFitness
HealthFitness Receives Case In Point Honorable Mention
HealthFitness received honorable mention in the wellness/prevention category at a ceremony for the Case In Point Awards, held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., this April. The Case In Point Platinum Awards recognize case management departments and initiatives around the country that provide a superior level of medical management services.

The awards are given by Dorland Health, which is a media publisher in the health care business information industry. To learn more about the awards, click here.

Consider This: Innovative Corporate Policies that Could Change Your Culture
HealthFitness' Science Advisory Board met in Miami this April to discuss new approaches to creating employee health and possible application to HealthFitness' solutions.

As part of the two-day meeting, one topic debated among the group was the concept of expanding the definition of "culture of health" to include new corporate policies and procedures. By doing so, employers would approach health management as one aspect of human capital management.

Examples of these policies include:

• Require participation in health risk assessments and preventive screenings as a condition of employment, rather than positioning them as options for employees.
• Whenever possible, provide employees with flexibility in their work schedule and location to allow greater opportunities for work-life balance. Base rewards on performance and results, rather than how long someone works at their desk. This aligns the goals of workers with the goals of the company. When employees have an opportunity to earn more for better work, rather than hours spent, both company and workers increase their potential earnings.
• Consider providing employees with unpaid time-off, rather than limited pre-paid time-off. For example, an employer could set wages at 100 percent of value and allow workers to buy back the desired number of days they want off. This allows workers to choose their tradeoff between time and money.
• Move towards tobacco-free grounds, versus just implementing no smoking areas.

HealthFitness' Science Advisory Board includes six independent professionals who are nationally recognized experts in areas such as nutrition and obesity, exercise and fitness, behavior change, outcomes research and managed care.

To learn more about our Science Advisory Board, click here.

HealthFitness CEO Speaks at Innovation 2010
HealthFitness CEO and President Gregg O. Lehman, Ph.D., recently spoke at Innovation 2010, an invitation-only event held for the nations' top CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors, and policy leaders. Held May 5-7 at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point, Calif., the conference focused on areas where innovation is needed in the health care system.

Lehman served as a panelist in a discussion about where consumers are taking wellness and prevention services. Innovation 2010 is hosted by Health Evolution Partners, an investment firm that specializes in the health care industry.

Best Practices and Awards
Eastman Chemical Company and American Electric Company Reap ROI with Employee Health
Designed and implemented correctly, a health management program will deliver a positive return on investment (ROI) and contain health care costs.

At Eastman Chemical Company, the company attained an ROI of 3.20 with its population health management program after three years. Eastman manufactures chemical, fibers and plastics.

For American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the country, its lifestyle management program is delivering an ROI of 2.25.

Learn more about these employee health initiatives, their critical components for delivering strong ROI and HealthFitness' methodology for measuring ROI with employee health solutions.

Click here to download free issue briefs about these effective employee health programs.

Industry Insights
Buzz from Recent Research
How Much Exercise is Needed to Avoid Weight Gain?
A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that, among women consuming a usual diet, those who were successful in maintaining normal weight more than 13 years averaged about 60 minutes per day of moderate-intensity physical activity and had a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25.

To study the association between different amounts of physical activity and long-term weight changes, researchers followed more than 34,000 healthy U.S. women for 13 years. The average age of the women at the beginning of the study was 54 years.

Overall, all women gained some weight during the study period. However, there was a significant difference in the amount of weight gained by women who were the most active and whose BMI was less than 25.

Women who did less than 60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per day were more likely to gain at least 5 pounds during a three-year period. Normal weight women (BMI less than 25) who did the equivalent of 60 minutes per day of moderate-intensity physical activity gained the least amount of weight (about 5 pounds) during the study period.

In light of these study results, many health professionals and researchers underscore the following:

• In addition to physical activity, caloric intake is an important part of weight loss and weight maintenance.
• Weight is only one aspect of health. Physical activity has many health benefits, such as reducing the risk for chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
• Many health benefits can be gained from even small amounts of physical activity.

Source: Lee, I., Djoussé, L., Sesso, H.D., et. al. Physical Activity and Weight Gain Prevention. JAMA. 2010;303(12):1173-1179

A New Link: Simple Carbs and Heart Disease in Women
A diet rich in high glycemic index (GI) carbohydrates may be linked with an increased risk of heart disease in women, according to a recent Italian study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The GI measures how carbohydrates affect blood sugar levels. High GI foods cause blood sugar levels to rise quickly while low GI foods slowly release glucose into the bloodstream, keeping blood sugar levels more steady.

Examples of low GI foods include whole-wheat products and most fruits and nonstarchy vegetables. High GI foods include baked potatoes, corn or bran flakes, white bread and white rice.

In the study, researchers reviewed dietary intake questionnaires from 15,171 men and 32,578 women from the EPICOR study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study). The participants were followed for almost eight years. The study results showed that women who consumed the most carbohydrates, specifically high GI foods, had a significantly higher incidence of heart disease compared to those who consumed the least. However, this effect was not found in men.

In trying to understand the reason for the gender differences, researchers speculated that it was due to differences in cholesterol and glucose metabolism. A high GI diet appears to lower high-density lipoprotein or "good" cholesterol and raise triglyceride levels more in women than men, which can increase the risk for heart disease.

Source: Sabina S., Vittorio K., Franco B., et al. Dietary Glycemic Load and Index and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in a Large Italian Cohort: The EPICOR Study. Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(7):640-647.

Is Medical Advice on the Internet Reliable?
More patients are turning to the Internet for medical advice. To determine the accuracy of online medical information, researchers in the U.K. used key words to search Google for advice about five common pediatric topics: measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, HIV infection and breast-feeding, mastitis and breast-feeding, infant sleep position, and management of green vomit. The first 100 Websites listed in the results for each search were evaluated.

Thirty-nine percent of the Websites gave accurate information (consistent with current U.K. recommendations), 11 percent provided inaccurate information (inconsistent with current U.K. recommendations), and 49 percent did not provide pertinent advice.

Information on the MMR vaccine and autism and HIV and breast-feeding was correct in only 65 percent and 51 percent of sites, respectively. The Websites on the other topics were accurate more than 94 percent of the time. All government sites were accurate. However, news sites were accurate only 55 percent of the time, and sponsored sites (sites that pay premiums to be featured prominently in results lists of search engines) were never accurate.

Source: Journal Watch Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, April 28, 2010.

Where We'll Be Next
America's Health Insurance Plans Institute 2010
June 9-11, 2010
Las Vegas