Mayor DeWitte (2nd from right) and I accept the Platinum WOWie award from John Jorgensen, Director of ISC-SHRM (left) and Dieter Freer, Sr. VP of BCBS of IL (2nd from left).
On Tuesday, August 2nd, the City of St. Charles received the Platinum Award (highest honors) for exceptional worksite wellness in the category of companies with over 200 employees at the annual conference of the Illinois Chapter of the Society of Human Resrouce Management held at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oak Brook Terrace. The Wellness in the Workplace (WOWie) program was established by the Illinois State Council of the Society of Human Resource Management (ISC-SHRM) and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) to recognize organizations that strive to create a work culture that promotes physical activity and overall wellness.
The Platinum award is bestowed on organizations with a well-defined and well-executed worksite wellness program, and who meet the following criteria:
- Offer employees physical activity support;
- Increase healthy eating options at work;
- Promote a wellness culture;
- Employ a minimum of 5 people;
- Offer a variety of physical activities for employees.
Mary Ann Schultz, Sr. Manager of Media Relations for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, wrote in the award announcement, “You are an employer who champions the health of their employees and strives to create a work culture that promotes physical activity. Your organization inspires employees to make healthy, active choices during working hours.”
This award applauds the commitment of time, talent, staff, and funds by the City as a whole. It also recognizes the hands-on work of the City’s Wellness Team since it was established in 2001.
Representatives of the City's Wellness Team and HR Department proudly show the WOWie award.
The mission of the Wellness Team is to encourage our employees and their families to become healthier, both physically and emotionally, and achieve greater balance in life. The Wellness Team provides on-going programs, activities, and education to help them achieve a healthy lifestyle. Some of the programs and activities include walking, weight loss, smoking cessation, healthy eating, and financial wellness programs. The innovative and voluntary “HEALTHY” program has been key in encouraging a healthy lifestyle for employees, reducing total health care costs for the City, and providing an opportunity for employees to decrease their health insurance premiums by meeting any number of six “healthy factors.” For the 2009/10-plan year, 92% of full time employees participated in the HEALTHY program.
- The best part of the City’s Wellness Team and its programs is that we know it works. In a 2009 Wellness Team survey, 75% of our employees stated that the Wellness Team initiatives and programs caused them to think more about their overall health, and 65% stated that participating in initiatives sponsored by the Wellness Team improved their overall health. There are more than 200 scientific studies indicating positive return-on-investment for worksite wellness programs. A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report in 2002 revealed that at worksites with physical activity programs, employers have:
- Reduced healthcare costs by 20% to 55%;
- Reduced short-term sick leave by 6% to 32%, and;
- Increased productivity by 2% to 52%.
It’s no longer a question of whether a workplace should have a wellness program, but what are the outcomes and quality of the program.
I am very proud of the comprehensive program that the City of St. Charles offers and for the efforts of the Wellness Team in creating a culture of wellness among employees. All residents and businesses should be pleased with the efforts the City is making to improve the health and wellness of employees – the most valuable part of our organization and the people who make all the City’s services possible.