Johnson & Johnson's Health and Wellness Program

Background Note Contd...

The survey discovered a close connection between employee wellness programs¹⁴ (which included flexi work options, employee care, employee assistance programs) with 16 key result areas including enhanced efficiency, low absenteeism, low turnover, high employee satisfaction, high morale and reduced health-care costs of employees. This signified that a company which had a good health and wellness program had to offer less in terms of monetary assistance to its employees. Elaborating the benefits of these programs, DW Edington,¹⁵ Professor at the University of Michigan said¹⁶, "Wellness programs in general, and fitness programs in particular may be the only employee benefits which pay money back.

When more people come to work, you don't need to pay overtime or temporary help; when people stay at the job longer, training costs go down; lower health care claims cost you less if you're self-insured and health care insurers as well as some companies are already beginning to create premiums based on fitness levels."

In the late 1990s, with the rising awareness about the link between the employees' health and an organizations' productivity, more and more companies in the US started offering health and wellness programs for their employees. According to a study conducted by Hewitt Associates¹⁷ in 2001 (involving 945 major corporations), around 93% of the corporations offered HWPs compared to 89% in 1996.

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14] Employee Wellness Programs include Employee Assistance Programs, workplace ergonomics, interpersonal skills, workplace safety, prevention of violence, drugs, HIV/AIDS at workplace and diversity management.
15] Dee W. Edington is a professor of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan and has authored and co-authored several articles and books. His work on Health Risk Appraisal and Corporate Health Evaluation programs is regarded as a benchmark for developing business plans in wellness programs.
16] In an article titled "Experience of other companies with Wellness Programs," posted on www.championhealthandfitness.com.
17] Hewitt Associates is a world-wide outsourcing and consulting firm, offering a gamut of services in Human Capital Management to various companies in 39 countries. These services include HR strategies and technologies, HR benefit outsourcing, health care, organizational change, retirement and financial management and, talent and reward strategies.

Case Details

Case Code : HROB025
Themes: HR Practices and Policies
Case Length : 14 Pages
Period : 1998-2001
Organization : Johnson and Johnson's
Pub Date : 2001
Teaching Note : Not Available
Countries : USA
Industry : Consumer Goods

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