To: Granite Gear John Cleese, CEO
CC: Prunella Scales, VP
From: Sarah Duerden - Director of Human Resources
Date: 13 March 2018
Subject: Improving Corporate Wellness
____________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
Corporate wellness and the health of our employees is a chief concern of Granite Gear. As a company that provides products for people with active lifestyles, we believe that our employees should be as healthy and active as possible. Research has detailed the many concerning health risks associated with excessive inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle. Unfortunately, this is a reality for many desk workers--including those at Granite Gear. An effective solution to this issue would be providing every employee with a personal fitness tracking device. Depending on the plan, the estimated budget for this program would be $56,970.00. This would provide personal fitness trackers for all 300 employees. By enabling our employees to track their personal fitness, our employees could make informed and smart decisions about their health. In addition, offering incentives for physical activity could create a healthy, competitive corporate culture focused around improving our corporate wellness. As our employees get healthier, they will work more effectively, efficiently, and be happier.
Problem
In recent years, a growing concern for corporations has been the physical well-being of employees. With the prevalence of desk jobs which involve prolonged sitting, researchers have found that workplace inactivity is associated with several concerning health risks. According to Science Daily, a typical office workers spends “about 5 hours and 41 minutes per day sitting at their desk” (Office, 2012).
Furthermore an article published by Johns Hopkins Medicine states that this daily inactivity increases the risk of high blood pressure, obesity, type II diabetes, depression, anxiety, and certain forms of cancer (“Risks”, 2018). Habitual extended periods of sitting in particular have shown to greatly increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and risk of death from all causes, according to Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic (Levine, 2015). Because the overwhelming majority of our employees spend considerable time sitting at their desks during work, the health risks associated with sitting are extremely relevant to Granite Gear. Unfortunately, many of our employees live a sedentary lifestyle outside of work as well. As a result, many of our employees may be confronted with negative health effects if this problem remains unaddressed. With the increasing cost of health insurance, Granite Gear shares in the cost of unhealthy sedentary lifestyles.
Solution
The solution to this problem is personal activity trackers. Distributing personal activity trackers to Granite Gear staff would enable employees to keep track of their personal fitness. Through giving our employees the ability to easily track their daily activity, Granite Gear would enable its employees to alter their behavior and improve their health. The person fitness trackers in conjunction with incentives for increased physical activity or improvement could create an energetic, active, and healthy corporate culture. By tracking their physical activity, our employees can make conscious efforts to improve their physical health and lifestyle.
Improves Health
Using personal trackers will help our employees maintain a healthy lifestyle. The device enables employees to monitor their heart rate, calories consumptions, their miles walked and sleep quality. It also provides real-time information to help employees make informed decisions regarding their health.
In the summer of 2017, TransUnion, a Chicago-based data, and analytics company introduced a health fitness program for their organization using personal activities trackers. More than 1,000 employees got involved. Through this program, Gopi Doniparthi, a 52-year-old analyst revealed that he was able to work his way up to 40,000 steps a day. He'd wake before sunrise for a 6-mile walk, spend his lunch break marching along the Chicago River and hike 2 miles to work rather than take a bus. In his words, the benefit to him is that “the more I was doing, the more I wanted to do."
This is the kind of healthy culture we want to promote here at Granite Gear. A healthy workforce for us means healthy work environment and a happy granite family for all. David Rektorski, the owner of truck dealership Hino of Chicago, reiterates the importance of having a healthy workforce when he said, "The healthier they are, the better chance I have of them coming to work."
A Competitive Trend
Equipping sedentary office workers with personal activity trackers is a growing trend in corporate America. According to Lisa Schencker of the Chicago Tribune, “31 percent of 540 companies with 1,000 employees or more surveyed” supply personal fitness trackers to employees with another 23 percent planning to offer them to employees within the next two years (Schencker, 2016). Corporations across America giving employees personal fitness trackers as part of their corporate wellness programs with the goal of increasing job satisfaction, employee health, and productivity. Many companies realize the competitive benefits of an energized and healthy workforce and have started incorporating personal fitness trackers to help achieve this. Providing our employees with wearable fitness trackers would allow Granite Gear to remain on the cutting edge of corporate wellness and keep our employees healthy and efficient.
Lower Healthcare Costs
By giving our employees the ability to track their physical activity and consciously improve their health and fitness, Granite Gear will be able to lower the cost of healthcare and insurance for healthier employees. According to the director of strategic initiations for Salesforce, a cloud computing firm, “the single largest cost for an employer is healthcare” while 70 percent of these costs are attributed to “things we can change, like diet or exercise” (Olson, 2017). By addressing the underlying causes of these healthcare costs through tracking employee physical activity, Granite Gear could reduce the cost of healthcare by substantial amounts. A study by Fitbit examining their Fitbit corporate wellness program found that employees participating for two years had $1300 lower annual healthcare cost on average (Schencker, 2016). Through providing our employees a method of tracking their activity along with incentives to be more active, Granite Gear could similarly reduce the cost of healthcare for our employees.
Increased Employee Productivity
Along with the improvements to physical well-being and reduction of healthcare costs, personal fitness trackers could help improve an employee’s productivity at work. Studies have shown many mental benefits from increased physical activity in addition to obvious physical benefits. According to an article from Harvard Business Review, regular physical activity is associated with “improved concentration, enhanced creativity, sharper memory, and faster learning” (Friedman, 2014). Increased physical activity stemming from the employee’s ability to track their personal fitness would lead to a more creative and efficient workforce. From the same article, employees reported more efficient work, better interactions with co-workers, and better time management on the days they involved themselves in rigorous physical activity. Enabling our employees to actively improve their daily physical activity could lead to a more energized and effective workforce for Granite Gear.
Enhance company Brand
Getting employees to relate personally to the company’s products and services is one value that has been identified as a competitive advantage for companies. Research by Gallup study revealed that “companies with high employee engagement levels have 3.9 times the earnings per share when compared to those in the same industry with lower engagement levels.”
Helping our employees engage with fitness will also enhance their communication of the company’s brand with customers. According to the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer, “41% of CEO’s believe that employees are the most credible source of information regarding their business”. This serves a worthy course for us to pursue to improve our company brand.
Concerns
One notable objection to providing employees with personal fitness trackers is the issue of privacy. While many employees could benefit from being able to track and record their physical activity, some employees might view this as a breach of privacy. In similar programs ran by other companies, employees have been hesitant to share personal health and fitness information with their employer. While this is a valid concern, participation in this program would be entirely necessary and participants would be given full disclosure on what data will be collected and shared. By getting fully informed consent from our employees who chose to volunteer, we can avoid the issue of invasive data collection or other privacy concerns.
Implementation
The personal activities tracker I would recommend is the Fitbit Charge 2 by Fitbit. A picture and features of this personal activity tracker is highlighted below
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1. PurePulse Heart rate Tracking Technology that tracks heart rate continuously and better track calorie burn.
2. Multi- Sports tracking and built-in reminders that alert users on when to complete a steps target.
3. In-built GPS for easy tracking and location.
4. Auto Sleep Tracking
5. Interactive OLED Display
6. See Statistics, Time of Day, Exercise Mode
7. Smartphone Notifications
8. App for iOS/Android/Windows Phones
9. Wireless Syncing
10. Interchangeable Bands.
11. Battery Lasts 5 Days on a Charge
12. 1-year limited warranty
Additional Feature:
1. 2-Year Protection Plan with Accidental Damage Coverage for $39.99 per device.
At the price range of $149.95 – $179.95 depending on the volume and additional feature, I believe the Fitbit Charge 2 is the best option for us. Delivery of this product is done within 3 business working days with a 45-day money back guarantee.
I recommend that we purchase one Fitbit charge 2 each for our 300 employees. This is the best brand in the market and has the affordable price compared to the other brands in the market.
Budget
The budget to purchase 300 Fitbit charge 2 is estimated at $56,970.00
The potential detrimental health effects of inactivity and excessive sitting directly affect many of the employees here at Granite Gear. A sedentary lifestyle and the associated health risks should be addressed as part of a holistic corporate wellness program. By enabling our employees to track their physical activity and more easily improve their behavior, we could negate many of the health concerns faced by our employees. By offering these devices to our employees and providing incentives for becoming more active, we can keep up with competition in corporate wellness, potentially lower healthcare costs for employees, and improve effectiveness and efficiency.
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