Culture, Wellness, and the Soda Machine

I like to believe that in the workplace almost every form of communication, design, and subtle messaging has the potential to offer some kind of insight or clues to the organization's true culture and values.  

I mainly like to believe this because it provides the justification for an almost endless string of 'What your company (insert any object, policy, statement, product, etc.) says about your culture/values/mission' kind of blog posts. This is especially important on the Monday following a long holiday weekend, and my only other idea for today's post was going to be titled 'What your company can learn from the Knicks gutty, double overtime win over the Pistons this past Sunday', which for some reason is my strongest memory forcing its way through a 72-hour turkey haze.

It was the lingering effects of the tryptophan coma that led to a mid-morning trip to the office soda machine, to fuel up for the next round of meetings. Meetings that while important, had the potential to take the mind back to Danilo Gallinari's back-to-back 3-point bombs in the second overtime that sealed the Knick win.  (You really should check the replay on NBA.com).

At right, is a picture of the aforementioned soda machine.  A very solid and concise headline 'Cold Drinks', followed by two rows of assorted beverages.  The top row, the diet versions of Coke, Mountain Dew, and Pepsi.  Bottom (and less desirable from a product placement point of view), full sugared and caffeinated Coke, Ginger Ale (does anyone at work crave a Ginger Ale?), orange juice, and finally bottled water.

Nine choices in all, with DC and the Diet Dew getting the coveted prime slots on the top row, (and hogging up two spots each).  Out of the nine total choices (seven really), only two would be considered healthy options, with the majority of the selections falling in to the 'wake up, crank out some work, but keep the weight off, fatty' category.

Is there really a message in the drink or snacks that fill up the vending machines? Does the organization subtly or even overtly signal what is really and truly important by the food and drinks it makes readily available to the employees? Am I reading way too much into this, and the real truth is that an outside company services and re-stocks the machines and simply supplies them with what people want, and what sells? Is there really a market for vending machine ginger ale?

Lots of questions for the sluggish Monday following a long holiday weekend.  However, I have just one more - 

Should I have just punted and posted about the Knick game?

The Wellness Show Recap (like an actuarial shell game)

Last night on the HR Happy Hour show we talked about the topic of organizational 'Wellness' programs and initiatives with a fantastic and smart panel of guests - Tanya Barham, CEO of Recess Wellness; Fran Melmed, Owner of Context Communications; and Greg Matthews, Director at WCG Consulting.

You can listen to the archive of the show page here, or using the widget player below:

Listen to internet radio with Steve Boese on Blog Talk Radio

Listen to internet radio with Steve Boese on Blog Talk Radio

Here is a quick rundown of the show topics and main ideas:

Sustainability

Since organizations tend to communicate and promote their wellness programs most actively around the annual Benefits Open Enrollment period, it can be easy for employees and even HR professionals to logically group the two activities together, and to forget (or at least to de-emphasize), wellness initiatives once Open Enrollment is complete. Fran made a great point about Open Enrollment being about 'Choosing' benefits, while Wellness is about 'Using' benefits.

In the minds of the panel, coupling the two efforts is a mistake, for while Open Enrollment is 'transactional', wellness has to become 'habitual'. Wellness is really more about 'life', not a delineated and time-bound program.  If the only time of the year that program designers, HR pros, and employees think about and communicate the wellness message is at Open Enrollment time, then the efforts are likely to have minimal impact and lasting effect.  The other important point about sustainability of wellness initiatives is that they have to connect with the WIIFM requirement, i.e., the 'What's in it For ME?'.  And the WIIFM has to resonate with the organization; in the form of supporting financial and strategic goals, and the employees; who have to connect with and recognize the personal benefits of the wellness initiatives.

Incentives

The group sort of had mixed feelings on the use of incentives to try and influence and direct the behavior of employees toward more desired and 'healthy' options.  Tanya noted that the vast majority of corporate wellness committees want to incent the wrong things.  Programs like 'Free Gym Membeships' and 'Company Biggest Loser' contests, well, they suck.  Greg made an excellent point about the idea of using games and gaming in the design and deployment of wellness activities, and the emphasis needs to be on 'fit'; i.e. incorporating more healthy activities into the flow of the day. Drop one or two of these treadmill workstations in the office to give folks the opportunity to read and walk, or take a con call while taking a moderately paced stroll.

Incentives are often seen as coercion, and once the incentive goes away, the behavior does too.  And 'dis-incentives', like charging smokers a higher premium for their medical benefits was not seen as a positive or potentially effective strategy.

The McRib Conspiracy

Early in the show promotion, I floated the idea of a vast, Fast-Food conspiracy that synchronized the availability of the McRib with most US-based organizations annual benefits open enrollment. But while no one really has bought into my conspiracy theory, the overall macro trends of increasing obesity, diabetes, and other illnesses seem to be such a large, national type problem that I wondered about an organization's ability to effect and fight against these constraints.  But since 'work' is such a major piece of 'life', and that many if not most of us spend most of our waking hours at work or working from someplace, that the panel did indeed feel that there is a role and even a responsibility for the organization to care, to be concerned, and to promote the health and well-being of the workforce, and even their families.  Employers have influence in this area, and can and perhaps should, do more to promote wellness in the broader community. Greg reminded us that there is a moral and social element here that often goes forgotten.

Wellness programs are more and more common, as organizations struggle to control costs, increase productivity, and retain the best employees. But as Tanya noted on the show, the programs often 'suck'. If you are involved in designing or administering wellness programs in your organization, I recommend having a listen to the show to take the first step in avoiding the 'suckiness'.

Thanks again to Fran, Tanya, and Greg for a fun and informative show.

You might be too fat to work here

Tonight on the HR Happy Hour Show the topic is 'Wellness'.

First the specifics:

HR Happy Hour - 'Wrestling with Wellness' - 8PM ET - listen live on the show page, using the player below, or by calling in to  646-378-1086.

Wellness programs seem to have exploded in corporate America in the last few years.  Who hasn't been handed a pedometer (handy when many of sit at a desk all day), been hit up with propaganda about the 'pyramid of nutrition' (Cheetos fit where?), or been cajoled, convinced, or coerced to get more 'well' by our caring employer?

But 'Wellness' initiatives are not stopping there, at good natured advice to exercise more, eat better, and get more rest. Many organizations are setting up tiered employee benefit contribution rates to penalize or punish smokers, or to reward employees that agree to undergo health screenings.

For the companies that enact these programs the motivation seems clear - healthier employee are more productive, are absent less, and reduce the companies cost of providing health benefits and insurance. And who could argue from the employee perspective that getting 'more well' (whatever that means) isn't better?

But do companies have a right/obligation/fiduciary responsibility to promote, or even require 'wellness' at work? Do employees have to be subjected to what can seem like a barrage of 'get off your fat butt and eat some veggies' messaging from their employer? Can this whole 'wellness' thing go too far, even reaching into hiring processes and become a factor in retention decisions? Can someone be 'too fat to work here?'

And once the organization makes the decision to pursue a 'wellness' agenda, what design, execution, and communication strategies can they employ to try and accomplish their goals, while not seeming to come off like Big Brother, or that one nasty babysitter that would not let you eat cookies for dinnner.

Joining us on the show tonight will be Fran Melmed, Tanya Barham, and Greg Mathews, folks with expertise and a point of view from all sides of the wellness equation, communications, design, and organizational.  It should be an interesting and fun show - I hope you can join us.