......Engineering a Healthy Workforce - By Steve Mason
Cardinal Engineering has been around since 1989, but it’s only in the last eight years that I’ve considered how my business can affect the health of its employees. Civil and environmental engineering and surveying have little to do with health – or so it seems.
I’ve experienced a growing sense of responsibility to create a work environment that supports and promotes healthy decisions. I determined that my concern for my employees should extend to business practices. It’s a more holistic approach to running a business and it has benefits to the business as well: healthy employees are happier, more motivated, more productive and ultimately cost the business less.
To encourage a healthy lifestyle, Cardinal Engineering has developed a four-prong approach to encouraging healthy lifestyles.
First, we provide full health insurance coverage including dental and vision for our employees and their families.
Second, I asked every employee to set health goals each year. For some, this was getting exercise at least three times a week. For others it was losing weight. Though we operate an 8-5 workday, Cardinal allows flexibility in schedules. For instance, some work out on their lunch hour, take a long lunch and “make up” the time in the morning or evening. It promotes accountability and discussion of health and fitness at the water cooler.
Third we offer cash incentives to reach the goals. Each quarter, employees who reach their health goal receive a $300 bonus and if they reach their goal every quarter, they receive another $100 for a total of $1,300 annually. The last $100 bonus is for a fun celebration outing with their successful co-workers. And it’s worked. Our employees exercise more, smoke less, have lower blood pressure, weigh less, drink less caffeine, and have lower cholesterol. They are healthier and feel better about their bodies which provide better employees, community volunteers, and parents.
Jason Cotton in our Norman office is our poster boy of success. He’s lost 82 pounds and kept it off for the past three years. He plays basketball at the YMCA four mornings a week. He reports that the supportive environment has helped him stay motivated and the cash incentives didn’t hurt either.
Fourth, and a new program, we offer a financial incentive for employees who help reduce our health insurance premiums. We offered employees a choice to change their coverage from Blue Choice to Blue Preferred, a PPO network of Blue Cross-Blue Shield. Employee benefits and costs such as deductible, copay, and prescription card are unchanged, but there is a smaller group of providers. The switch saved us $1,154 per employee in premiums and we give $400 of that savings back to the employee as a $400 debit card. Cardinal will purchase $6400 of debit cards for its employees and save $13,900 in health insurance premiums. The employees can use the
debit card for back-to-school clothes for their children, a great vacation, or whatever they want. It’s a reward for those who cost us less. Every time they use the debit card, it will reinforce their choices and the support Cardinal has for their health.
The talents and time of our employees are the exceptional service we offer our clients and how we stay competitive. It only makes sense to me to invest in them and their health and ask them to invest in themselves and our business.