AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (ACA) – How Affordable Is It?

By Alex Yohn

Jul 29, 2016

When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law on March 23, 2010, there were equal cheers and disappointment as the nearly one thousand page law was coming to be. Strict regulations and guidelines for businesses have been set to evolve since the signing. Knowing if your business is required to be compliant, what your responsibilities are, and how the law impacts your operations, are critical components to ensuring your business is not in violation of the law.

Who is Required to Provide Group Health Insurance?

As of January 2016, businesses with 50 or more employees (previously 100 or more) are required to offer major medical health insurance to their employees. Like all medical policies on the market now, standard benefits must include maternity coverage, a yearly wellness exam, pediatric dental and vision, mental health, and prescription coverage. If your policy is missing any of these essential benefits, it’s time for a health policy ‘check up’.

Reminder: not complying can result in a hefty penalty for your business!

Also new in 2016 was the requirement for W2s to have reflected whether employers offered group sponsored health insurance in 2015. Box 12 on W2 forms should have reflected both what the employer and employee contributed towards costs on a group major medical plan.

Reminder: as an employer offering group insurance, you are required to contribute the minimum amount of 50% of the cost.

As you start your search on the market for group health insurance policy that meets both your financial budget and your employees’ needs, consider the methods of how you will obtain insurance. You’ll want to ensure that you’re stretching those premium contributions to give you the most possible benefit, which impacts that expense line.

• Broker: Call a licensed broker for your state. A good broker will work with multiple carriers and be able to quote you on a variation of policies based on your wants and needs. Using a broker is free of charge and they’ll assist you in sorting through the red tape and offering clarification and guidance. This approach saves you time as you only tell one person what you are seeking. (Make sure they posses a valid state license.)
• Carrier: Call each carrier who offers plans in your headquartered zip code. Not all carriers offer plans based on geography. This will require you to call multiple carriers and speak with several representatives to obtain quotes.

Federal SHOP or State Exchange: Multiple states have established their own exchanges since the passing of ACA. Other states reserve the right to participate on the federal exchange. As a small business you can work with the health exchange to qualify for federal subsidies to assist in offsetting costs.  

I Want to Offer Group Health Even Though I Am Not Required

Great! You will have the same options as those that have a mandate. Additionally, you’re able to consider utilizing tax code 125. Never heard of it? You’re not the only one! Here’s how it works. You’ll receive the tax benefits of assisting your employees with their individual/family coverage, but are not on the hook for the steep demands set forth by the government.

It’s a recommended practice to treat all employees fair and equal. Either provide each employee a set dollar amount or percentage for them to apply towards their individual/family plan they purchase. This requires an accountant to help you establish. If you need a referral, let us know!     

As a small business with 50 or fewer employees, you may also qualify for additional tax incentives or federal assistance when offering group health insurance. Determinations are made on the number of employees, employees participating in the plan, average salary, and your contributing costs. Policies can be compared on healthcare.gov SHOP or with a health insurance broker.

What is My Premium Providing Me?

Not all policies are created equally on the networks they offer. More condensed networks with greater restrictions are often lower in premium, but have more out of pocket expenses associated with them. As an employer, make sure the premiums you are contributing provide choices on doctor and hospital selections. A nice complement to any major medical plan you’re offering (at no required cost to you) to decrease your claims costs, are telemedicine, critical illness, and accident medical expense riders.

What Lies Ahead: Start Preparing Today for Section 49801 of the ACA, the Cadillac Tax!

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has announced that 26% of employers in 2018 are going to be looking at a 40% excise tax that will raise $87 BILLION in 10 years and grow to 76% of employers by 2023. When the law takes effect in January 2018 (possibly delayed to 2020), an employer whose policy premium totals $10,200 for an individual (combined contribution) and $27,500 for a family (combined contribution) will owe Uncle Sam a tax for any costs ABOVE the threshold. Each year the threshold will increase to keep current with inflation.

Our recommendation is to seek assistance if you are unclear on what the requirements are to both your employees and the federal government. Working with a third party will not cost you a penny and they will ensure the plan you select meets your budget requirements, employees’ needs, and that you’re 100% compliant with Uncle Sam’s rules.

images by:
Jakob Owens

By Alex Yohn

Jul 27, 2016

This is the fourth in a multi-part series about wellness programs in small businesses. This article looks at how offering wellness programs as a retention tool can help small businesses recruit, engage, and retain their workforce.

At a rapidly increasing rate, small businesses are facing direct and indirect healthcare costs that negatively impact business operations, as well as the bottom line. Employers are getting hit with the costs of increasing premiums for an unhealthy workforce, costs related to absenteeism, and costs associated with employees who are on the job, but not fully working due to illness and medical conditions. In many cases these costs that inspire both big and small businesses to implement a wellness program [link to: Implementing a Workplace Wellness Program for Small Businesses article].

Business owners aren’t the only people considering the benefits of wellness programs. Nearly half (47 percent) of 1,800 workers surveyed said they would participate in wellness programs to achieve better overall physical health. Other top reasons that employees mentioned for why they would participate included:

• Reduced personal health care costs (30 percent)
• Greater chance of living longer and healthier lives (30 percent)
• Receiving employer incentives for participation (28 percent)
• Reduced stress (28 percent)

Source: Principal Financial Wellness Index

The high level of employee interest illustrates that businesses not only benefit from reduced health-related costs when they offer a wellness program, the programs can also serve as an important way of recruiting, engaging and retaining employees. It’s a fairly straightforward formula: businesses that help their employees address and manage lifestyle risks and chronic health conditions can earn trust and commitment from employees that positively impact long-term results.

Recruiting employees

In some cases, wellness programs can make an influence before employees join an organization. The fact is talented job candidates are looking for an employer that provides not only a competitive salary but a competitive benefits package as well.

According to a survey by Virgin HealthMiles, 87 percent of employees said they consider wellness benefits when considering an employer. If you’re a small business, the health and wellness options you provide might be the deciding factor in a candidate accepting a job with your organization instead of with a competitor. In addition to providing healthcare, and retirement investment options, a wellness program also has a positive effect on their recruitment efforts.

Nowadays it’s not uncommon for organizations to offer some variation of a wellness program; that means that applicants have come to expect it when they evaluate new employers. Indeed, there are costs associated with putting a program in place. But when it comes to recruiting, there’s also a cost of doing nothing. If an applicant expects an employer to have a wellness program, but finds out you don’t offer one, that applicant might not be willing to take the job.

Engaging employees

In addition to enticing candidates to join your organization, effective wellness programs can also make work more fun once they’ve been hired. According to the survey conducted by Virgin Health Miles, 70 percent of workers say that wellness programs positively influence the culture at work.

“It’s cool to see how people work together on wellness challenges at our company,” said Cindy, a corporate event planner in Seattle who has experience with wellness programs offered by two of her employers.

At her current workplace, Cindy has seen how the sense of camaraderie around health engages employees long after a challenge ends. Her employer offered a stair challenge that officially ended in November. Now, more than seven months later, there are people from the tech department who are still climbing the stairs together on a daily basis—with no incentive required. Apparently the new behavior clicked.

Cindy’s employer offers new challenges each quarter. This is likely in an effort to keep employees from becoming complacent or bored with what’s being offered. With each challenge, there are opportunities to earn points. In addition to the stair challenge, other examples Cindy mentioned were receiving 50 points for going to the dentist. Or 25 points for attending a wellness session. At the end of the quarter, if an employee has earned 1,000 points they are eligible to receive a gift card. For 2,000 points earned, the company will pay for one month’s health care premium the next year. And, for 3,000 points, the company will cover two months of the employee’s health care premium.

“If a business hires the right wellness partner, it pays dividends regarding employee satisfaction and to the bottom line. The cost is a no-brainer,” said Amy Cox, owner of Omstead, LLC

Cox provides lunch-and-learn programs around wellness topics for businesses in the Chicago, Illinois area. Her goal is to give employees information they can immediately put to use, and stay away from dry or boring content that doesn’t entice someone to make changes.

Recently she facilitated a lunch-and-learn program focused on farmer’s markets. Her program covered the where, who, what and why of local markets, including how community-supported agriculture benefits the environment as well as consumer health. During the lunch session, Cox prepared a seasonal salad from items she sourced at local farmer’s markets. The employees who attended were able to supplement the lunch they brought with a delicious—and healthy—treat, all thanks to their employer.

While fixing and serving a delicious salad or giving points for a trip to the dentist may seem simple, these programs deliver big results around employee engagement. Not only do these offerings feel like perks, but they also serve to incentivize new behaviors, and help employees create positive lifestyle changes.

And, in Cindy’s experience, the increased engagement around her health also improves her performance.

“The challenges make me think more about exercise, so I’m more active, which tends to give me more energy. As a result, I’m more productive.”

Retaining employees

It makes sense that employees become more motivated and productive when they know that their employer cares about their quality of life enough to offer programs that address employees’ physical, emotional, financial and social health. Providing these types of benefits not only motivates and engages employees, but it’s also an important part of retaining them as well. Research indicates that employers and employees alike acknowledge the retention benefits of these programs.

In 2012, the National Small Business Association conducted a survey of more than 1,000 small business owners. In that study, 58 percent of business owners agreed with the statement, “A health and wellness program is a differentiator for employee recruitment programs are critical for employee retention.”

In a MetLife study, 60 percent of employees agreed with the statement, “The employee benefits offered to me are an important reason why I remain with my employer.”

Finally, 45 percent of Americans working at small to medium-sized companies said that they would stay at their jobs longer because of employer-sponsored wellness programs, according to the Principal Financial Well-Being Index

If these numbers aren’t evidence enough, Cindy, the corporate event planner in Seattle agreed.

“The wellness programs from my employer are a nice benefit; they’re a great incentive,” she said. And, she added an important caveat, “They’re not the only reason I stay.”

While they are valuable, wellness programs are not a magic wand. If you want to recruit and retain top talent, you must also have a competitive compensation package, a great work environment, and a management team that is committed to creating a positive organizational culture.

Another important key to maximizing the recruitment and retention benefits of wellness programs is to make sure that employees know about the program. That they’re aware of what’s available. And that they understand how to take part in what’s offered. Even the best wellness program won’t make a difference if employees are confused about how to sign up.

Evidence strongly suggests that while it takes time, effort and financial investment, offering a wellness program is a smart move. Providing wellness programs helps promote a healthy company, adds appeal to job seekers, engages employees, and helps retain top talent. For someone contemplating whether to work for your business, a gym discount, a weekly yoga class, or sessions with a nutrition coach, might be what make them sign your offer letter. Those same offerings might be what make your current employees think twice before they decide to leave your organization for another employer.

“The possibilities for employees and businesses are overwhelming,” said Cox, the wellness coach in Illinois.

“Look at the chronic inflammatory conditions and provide a program that crowds out the bad behavior and crowds in the good behavior, there’s nothing to lose.”

images by:
Scott Webb

By Alex Yohn

Jul 25, 2016

Craig Bryant, Founder and CEO of Kin, and Emily Powers, Director of Operations and Finance at Fresh Tilled Soil, have joined forces to uncover the mysteries of the modern workplace. The following is the final chapter of an eight-part series featuring some of the greatest debates, struggles, and solutions surrounding how we work. Check out the entire series here.

I’m going to come right out and say it, perks are overrated. Yes, perks are all the rage. It’s almost daily that we read headlines boasting about yet another company who’s erected a rock-climbing wall, or installed sound-proof, pillowed pods inviting daytime naps, or laid down fresh turf for a bocce court out back. Now, before you begin swooning over those luscious nap pods, I strongly recommend taking a deeper look. It is critical to recognize that not all perks are created equal.    

I like to lump perks into two categories: Fluff and Fulfillment.

Fluff – just like the white stuff, devoid of substance

This is the category devoted to the ping pong tables, beer-on-tap, and Nintendo rooms of the world. Sure, having these things at your office is pretty darn cool, but I have two questions:

1. Is it truly changing your life in a meaningful way? Let’s be honest, would you rather play Nintendo with your co-workers for an hour or get home an hour earlier to play catch with your child? Or take a walk with your partner? I know you love your co-workers and all but…
2. What happens when these perks are actually used? What happens when Joe from Sales is seen heading up to the nap pods? Do his coworkers think, “Damn! Good for Joe!” or do they think, “We just had a tough quarter, how does Joe have the time to go take a nap?”

We need to think critically about the culture surrounding perks. Having a kegerator, or a gym, or a bowling alley is meaningless if there is a culture of suspicion shrouding these offerings. I’ve heard countless stories of companies where the kegerator lies fallow for months on end because there is shame around grabbing a beer.

Simply offering perks gets you nowhere. There must be the culture to back them up. Just as I mentioned in my recent article on how to NOT work, a company offering unlimited paid time off sure looks great on paper, but if there is no cultural support for actually taking time off, it just doesn’t happen. However, unlimited paid time off, game rooms, and bocce ball can be truly beneficial perks that help your team relax and recharge if (and only if) they are supported, encouraged, and followed through on in real life. Otherwise, these perks are simply hollow promises used as recruitment tools to woo prospective hires.

Fulfillment – truly impacting lives  

Beyond the fluffy stuff, there are a ton of companies doing it right, and here’s how. Consider some of the greatest pain points in the lives of working professionals today: Child care, household demands, transportation, and TIME. By digging into these areas and getting creative, companies have an opportunity to be impactful by reducing life’s greatest stressors. Here are a few examples:

• Akraya, an IT staffing company, sends professional cleaners to employees’ homes every two weeks
• McGraw Wentworth, a provider of group benefits, offers on-site pickup and dropoff of dry cleaning and laundry
• Many companies, such as Google and SC Johnson, offer on-site child care
• Patagonia offers employees two weeks paid leave to work for the nonprofit of their choice
• Airbnb offers employees $2,000 per year to travel and stay in an Airbnb listing anywhere in the world
• Parental leave: From Spotify’s 6 months paid leave (they also cover fertility treatments), to Netflix’s 1 year of paid leave, there are many stellar examples on this front

I think you get the point. In the Fluff category, we are talking about beer, cold-brewed iced coffee, bowling, Nintendo, and bocce. In the Fulfillment category we are talking about child care, home care, charitable causes, world travel, and fertility treatment. If you’re seeking more inspiration, I find this list by Fast Company to be highly Fulfilling.  

One thing I want to make clear is that Fulfilling perks do not require an exorbitant expense on behalf of the company. Services such as child care, laundry, dry cleaning, and massage can be at the expense of the employee (or anywhere in between). The company is simply establishing the partnerships with those vendors to bring them to the office. In return, employees gain back precious hours in their week and reduce stress.

Even those perks/benefits that are most often railed as being out of the question for budget sensitive companies need a second look. Take for example parental leave. When Google increased its paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 18 weeks, the rate at which new mothers quit fell 50%. Sure, it costs money to pay parents while they are spending precious weeks with their newest additions, but it costs far more to drop that support and lose those highly valued team members at a rate of 400% their annual salary.

Lose the Fluff

I encourage employers, employees, and job-seekers alike to take a good hard look at perks and the culture surrounding them. Are they meaningless Fluff devoid of true substance, or are they truly enriching and supporting the lives of the team? I beg you, please do not confuse perks with company culture and values. Let’s lose the Fluff and build truly meaningful and engaging places to work, with or without perks.  

About the author: Emily Powers is Director of Operations and Finance at Fresh Tilled Soil.

By Alex Yohn

Jul 22, 2016

In 1993, under President Bill Clinton, the federal government introduced the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The law was the first of its kind to offer a work/life balance to individuals, when caring for family members or themselves, with protection from discipline or termination of employment. Approximately 60% of private sector companies are required to comply with FMLA.

Federal law has set levels on the requirement of an employer, with 50 or more employees, to comply to the full extent of the law if they have employees within 75 miles of each other. States have progressively expanded coverage to employers with fewer than 50 employees and the scope of who you can care for and when you can apply has broadened to include domestic partners/civil unions, step-children, step-parents, parent-in-law, child of a domestic partner/civil union, and anyone you are assuming legal responsibilities for that is living within your household.

Individual State FMLA Coverage & Requirements

• California – Domestic partner and domestic partner’s child.
• Connecticut – Civil union partner and parent-in-law.
• Hawaii – Grandparent, parent-in-law, grandparent-in-law, and employee’s reciprocal beneficiary.
• Maine – 15 or more employees for private employers, 25 or more employees for city or town employers, domestic partner and domestic partner’s child.
• Maryland – 15 or more employees for private employers. Up to 7 days for bone marrow donation and 30 days for organ donation. Leave includes step-children/parent and adoption or primary caregiver (even if not related).  
• Minnesota – 21 or more employees (parental leave only).
• New Jersey – Covers civil union and civil union partner’s child, parent-in-law, and step-parent.
• Oregon – 25 or more employees. Covers domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild and parent-in-law.
• Rhode Island – 30 or more employees for public employers. Covers parent-in-law and domestic partners of state employees.
• Vermont – 10 or more employees (parental leave only). 15 or more employees for private employers are given 4 to 24 hours a year for appointments. Covers civil union partner and parent-in-law.
• Washington – All employers are required to provide insured parental leave.
• Washington, D.C. – 20 or more employees. Covers blood related relatives, legal custody or marriage, a person with whom the employee lives and child who lives with employee for which they assume legal responsibilities.

Under the law, employees are eligible to apply for FMLA for up to 12 weeks if they reach the criteria of having worked 1250 hours and for the employer for 12 or more months (not required to be consecutive). Life events that are identified as granting approval include the birth of their child, caring for a spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition, the serious health condition of the employee and the placement of a child into foster care or adoption (plus, additional state requirements). Special rules apply that allow up to 26 weeks surrounding circumstances with an active military status for a parent, spouse or child.  

The law’s longest ongoing debate is whether to enact a mandatory method of payment for the employees when on leave. Many employers offer a percentage of pay through disability insurance when the circumstance for the leave surrounds the employee themselves. Many others do not have a policy in place to provide pay to the employees, leaving them to choose between taking time off to improve their health/assist another and collecting an ongoing paycheck. As of today, 3 states pay employees through state funds when they are under protection of FMLA: California, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

All covered employers are mandated by law to have a poster displayed in the workplace covering all provisions. If your employees work remotely, make sure to email/mail them a copy of the poster, or even better, upload the documents in your Kin files section and share! FMLA documents need to be accessible to all eligible employees. Documents should reflect a clear definition of the employer’s expectations, obligations of both parties, and appropriate paperwork (approval documents, restored to duty forms, and payroll deductions).

Both employers and employees have rights alike. Understanding your responsibilities lessens the possibility of fines and legal disputes that could present themselves.

images by:
Jakob Owens

By Alex Yohn

Jul 20, 2016

This is the third in a multi-part series about wellness programs in small businesses. This article looks at the direct and indirect costs of the healthcare crisis and how addressing those costs with an employee wellness program can generate savings for a small business.

The healthcare crisis has made workforce health a top concern for all employers. Many businesses have attempted to handle this problem by shifting a portion of medical and pharmaceutical costs to employees through increased copays and deductibles. While focusing on medical expenses may alleviate some financial burdens for employers, it doesn’t deal with an important part of the healthcare equation: the substantial cost of reduced productivity when employees aren’t healthy.

In the past, wellness programs may have been seen as something that was nice to offer employees. Now many companies understand that health and wellness is a strategic imperative for their business that helps them take a dent out of rising health care costs. These programs assist employers in resolving health-related productivity and performance issues, and ultimately save the organization money.

Indirect and direct costs of unhealthy employees

Large and small businesses alike are feeling the pressure of rising healthcare costs in the workplace. To determine whether or not a wellness program will deliver results, and potentially help reduce healthcare costs, it’s important to recognize there are two categories of costs associated with unhealthy employees:

• Direct costs: outpatient care, pharmacy charges, inpatient care, emergency room visits, etc.
• Indirect costs: short-term disability, workers’ compensation, turnover, absenteeism, etc.

Direct healthcare costs are relatively easy for employers to identify; however, many organizations don’t realize the impact that indirect costs have on their workplace.  Things such as sick days and the effect of presenteeism—the cost of employees who are on the job, but not fully working due to illness and medical conditions—can be sizeable and harder for small businesses to absorb. In fact, one study of  50,000 workers from 10 different employers showed that lost productivity costs related to absenteeism and presenteeism were 2.3 times higher than medical and pharmacy costs.

Illnesses and health conditions such as asthma, arthritis, migraines, depression, back pain, and diabetes can negatively affect an employee’s performance and productivity. While these conditions may produce fewer direct costs than diseases such as cancer or heart disease, they create higher indirect costs, in part because they’re so prevalent:

• Depression costs U.S. employers more than $35 billion a year in reduced performance at work.
• On-the-job pain (including back pain, headaches, and arthritis) costs employers nearly $47 billion a year in productivity loss.
• One research team calculated the total cost of presenteeism in the United States to be greater than $150 billion per year.

Source: Mayo Clinic Health Solutions

For employers, the hidden costs of presenteeism are alarming; however, these expenses also serve as motivation for implementing wellness programs that help employees address and manage lifestyle risks and common chronic conditions.

Cost benefits of a healthier workforce

Research consistently suggests a positive correlation and return on investment (ROI) when employers implement a wellness program. A report from the Health Affairs journal, found that medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs and absenteeism costs fall by about $2.73 for every dollar. In addition to reduced medical fees, companies with wellness programs can negotiate better premiums with health care companies. In some cases, discounts might be an option if the employer can demonstrate less risk among those employees who are part of the program.

The reduction in health-related costs makes sense. Wellness programs serve to educate, empower and encourage employees. Rather than a workplace that has a detrimental effect on workers’ health, a wellness program creates a positive environment and group mentality around healthy habits that pays in dividends.

“While we’re not privy to a company’s actual health insurance costs, we do track the metrics that they ask us to track. It’s typical for our employee wellness programs to show 20% decrease in sick days, 10% decrease in company-wide BMI average, and a two-thirds reduction in workplace injuries and workers comp claims,” said Dan DeFigio, director at Basics and Beyond Fitness and Nutrition.

Just as it takes time to create new habits, so it takes time to realize a return on the investment in a wellness program. Industry leaders estimate that it takes about two to five years after the initial program investment to realize savings related to a wellness program.

For organizations considering the costs and benefits of a wellness program, KrowdFit, a crowdfunded employee wellness rewards program, developed a Wellness Calculator to help estimate the annual costs of absenteeism, presenteeism and short term disability for businesses.

Small business advantage

When it comes to implementing wellness programs, small businesses may not have an endless budget, but they do have some advantages over bigger organizations. In large enterprises, new programs require approval from multiple departments, gaining leader buy-in requires a significant amount of time, and it can be difficult to create momentum across a larger or dispersed employee population. Small businesses don’t face the same bureaucratic and geographic challenges; therefore, it’s easier to identify needs, implement a program, and start realizing the benefits more quickly.

If you have fewer employees, it’s also easier to assess what will work for them and create a program based on their distinct needs.

“I think that a small business has an easier time adapting a particular feel to their wellness program that will fit their company’s culture,” said  DeFigio. “If you have 15 employees, it’s obvious what kind of approach to take. When you have 1,500 employees, you have to take a more generic approach.”

Furthermore, in a smaller company, individual results and incentives are easier to communicate, celebrate, and leverage with all employees. Jim Miller, CEO of KrowdFit, shared the story of an employee who won a $2,500 KrowdFit incentive based on her accumulated step count.

“This employee signed up for KrowdFit; unfortunately, two weeks later she had to significantly reduce her activity level due to the onset of a health issue. When the drawing took place, one of the entries she’d earned while she was more active was the winning entry. Her peers responded enthusiastically. They realized if she could win, anything was possible,” Miller said.

Incentives and rewards deliver results

It’s difficult to generate a return on your investment if you don’t have a way to fund a wellness program, and even more difficult if your employees choose not to participate. That’s where incentives and rewards can help your organization gain traction and see financial results.

According to Harvard Business Review, organizations favor positive incentives because they positively support the creation new habits. On the contrary, when employees feel they’re being “forced to act against their wishes” to improve wellness, they lose trust.

“Morale increases with cash prizes and when colleagues witness how healthy choices impact their peers in positives ways. When small business employees win an incentive based on healthy habits, a sense of camaraderie develops. And, a culture of health evolves because people know each other and witness the results,” Miller said.

KrowdFit is one example of an employee wellness rewards provider that helps organizations incent employee efforts to live a healthy, active lifestyle. KrowdFit pays out cash rewards to members for tracking their meals, sleep, steps and physical activity. Their “No Budget-No Problem” enrollment rebate program helps employers offset the cost of implementing an employee wellness program by paying rebates based on the number of employees who use the online platform. They also provide full reporting and analytics, and handle 1099 tax reporting for anyone who wins an incentive.

“The return on this type of crowd and incentive-based wellness program is quite significant because of the low impact on HR and company operations,” Miller said.

Of course as business owners, it’s important to identify financial returns on any investment, including workplace wellness programs. Is the money you save worth the money you’ve invested? In addition to the solid monetary returns of a healthy workforce, it’s equally important—and valuable— to establish an organizational culture that supports and encourages positive, healthy habits. That culture of health is reinforced when businesses commit to—and invest in—employee wellness programs.

Healthcare is an enormous issue facing all employers, and while wellness programs may not deliver immediate returns, they offer business owners a way to proactively address the crisis. The reality is if you waste time waiting for a prescription to fix the problem, the health crisis will never go away. Instead take time to examine the data—chances are it will reveal how an employee wellness program will increase engagement and generate savings for your business.

images by:
Fabian Blank

By Alex Yohn

Jul 18, 2016

Craig Bryant, Founder and CEO of Kin, and Emily Powers, Director of Operations and Finance at Fresh Tilled Soil, have joined forces to uncover the mysteries of the modern workplace. The following is the seventh chapter of an eight-part series featuring some of the greatest debates, struggles, and solutions surrounding how we work.

I’m really proud of the three unique and memorable brands we’ve built. Our We Are Mammoth, Kin, and DoneDone brands are aesthetically pleasing to be sure, but what makes them truly valuable are the solid products backing ’em up. A good looking logo is nothing if the product it sells doesn’t live up to the promise. There’s another brand I’m just as proud of – the brand our employees say is inclusive, collaborative, and seasoned. It’s our employer brand – the image our team members connote when describing their experience working at our companiess.

Employer branding is “the term used to describe an organization’s reputation as an employer.” These brands generally don’t have logos – but that doesn’t mean we don’t experience them. Every aspect of successful hiring and retention depends on a company’s ability to uphold a sturdy employer brand through a well-designed workplace.

The product

I view our workplace as a product just like Kin or DoneDone. It can be designed, measured, and even sold. We even have a product team consisting of our company founders and operations team. There is feedback, iteration, and ultimately, new versions of our product rolled out at a regular clip.

Our workplace product has failed employees in the past, and that’s cost us. Likewise, since our workplace is mostly virtual, it’s certainly not a product for everyone…some folks need a physical work community to succeed.

Our workplace product is everything an employee experiences, from payroll and mentoring programs to our quarterly company summits and compensation reviews.

I think you get my point. Everything in our businesses can be viewed as a product, and the workplace where our employees thrive is amongst the most important on the list.

Our customers

Every person that interacts with our workplace is a customer interacting with our employer brand and product. Our employees consume our everyday workplace – our managerial structure, people operations, and client projects. If they aren’t happy, well, they’ll shop elsewhere.

Job candidates are also important customers. Even if someone doesn’t make it to a first round interview, we still want them walking away from our company having had a positive experience via our hiring team’s feedback and responsiveness.

People leaving the company are also consuming a service of ours. It’s important to be mindful that someone going to work at another firm is carrying our name forward with them. Exit interviews are opportunities to create a lasting and, hopefully positive, experience.

The brand

All of our workplace customers carry around an enduring impression of our product. If we do it well, they become brand evangelists. When they talk to friends and family, they’re spreading the word about our company. When they’re moving on to another job, they’ll be talking about their experience with us. Every story they share counts.

None of this is to say that our brand always leaves a good taste in everyone’s mouth. We haven’t always done a good job communicating with job candidates, for example. We’ve also parted ways with a couple coworkers on awkward terms. Regardless, every undesirable experience someone’s had, we’ve tried to improve upon so it doesn’t happen again. Brands aren’t static – they need upkeep.   

The upkeep (and measurement)

The best way to ensure our workplace brand stays healthy is to build a good company to work for. To do that, we need feedback and iteration. In the past several months, for example, we’ve seen new coworkers flourish under a beta mentoring program. Based on their feedback, the program has become a fundamental part of our organizational design. As an example of iteration, we’ve taken a couple of approaches to management over the years. We began really flat, but learned that day to day support and guidance are not only critical but desirable to a majority of our employees’ sense of well being.

In the same respect, we’ve don’t cling to changes that don’t get adopted. Just like with software, if our hypothesis about a certain feature doesn’t prove out, it doesn’t make sense to keep it around. Improve it or remove it.

People are our biggest asset

We don’t have a warehouse full of inventory. The biggest line item in our expenses is our payroll. Our people are the most important thing our company has going for it. Given the competitiveness of our industry, it’s imperative our employees view our company as a desirable place to work – from the projects they do, the way they’re treated and supported, to the peers they help hire and mentor. If we screw that aspect of it up, well, there’s no talent to build and maintain all the other brands I’m so proud of after ten years. A great looking brand with nobody behind it is nothing but a picture hanging on the wall in an empty building.

If you build it they will come

Our companies aren’t static. Like any business, they have their ups and downs, and to be frank, a lot of the times the volatility is beyond our control. There are recessions, clients going out of business, and competitors appearing seemingly from nowhere. However, we have almost total control over the organization that our people come to work at everyday, and we know that building a good company to work for establishes the platform from which our businesses will continue to succeed for years to come.

images by:
Ondrej Supitar