Chapter 9

Cases 1. After just six months, you are settling in to a great job opportunity you landed right out of college. Your work aligns with what you studied in college, and overall you like your new co-workers. Your manager, however, is a different story. She is a highly respected manager, but you find her work style intimidating. She has very high expectations of you, and some mornings you wake up feeling stressed just thinking about getting ready to go to work. You just received a positive mid-year performance review, but it is clear that your work is going to become more challenging now that you have been trained in your job. In college, you struggled with anxiety and you are concerned that the stress you are under will lead to a recurrence. You know that you will be taking on more responsibility at work and you are not sure how you will manage it. Because of her management style, you dont think your manager will be helpful to you. But you know you will need help. Your concerns are escalated by the results of a health assessment conducted by your company that you recently received. The health assessment is conducted on annual basis, and the results suggest that you are doing worse than you thought. It highlighted several health concerns, including high blood pressure. You arent surprised by the assessment. As you have struggled with your stress and anxiety over the years, you have not engaged in healthy habits to manage. Overeating and sedentary behaviors are commons ways that you cope. You also tend to drink more alcohol when you are feeling stressed. The health assessment has opened your eyes to the reality of your behavior. If you are going to be successful in your career, it is time to start addressing your health issues. You know you can manage your stress and engage in behaviors that can lessen the impact of anxiety, but it will take some effort on your part. You arent sure where to start. During the new hire orientation program that you participated in upon hire, the Human Resource Director discussed many benefits available to employees. While you were overwhelmed with a lot of information at the time, you recall that resources to help with stress and anxiety were highlighted. You are a little concerned about your manager finding out about your history of anxiety and your overall health concerns. But you recall confidentiality was mentioned as well. As you read over your health assessment results again, you decide you should log in to the benefits portal page on the company website. You see the benefits you have already signed up for including the health insurance program and retirement benefits. As you continue looking you find explanations of other benefits including an Employee Assistance Program and a wellness program. There is a lot to review, but you feel a little relieved because you think you can get the help you need.

What kind of benefit programs might be beneficial to you in managing your anxiety and other health issues? What are some of the consequences for your company if you do not get help and your health continues to decline? That is, why do companies provide these benefits?

2. Managing Employee Benefits: Employee Wellness at Premier Financial Services Shelly Austin is frustrated as she conducts the companys annual analysis of employee benefits. As the Director of Compensation and Benefits at Premier Financial Services, she is charged with ensuring that the companys benefit offerings provide value for the organization. This means that the benefits must be cost effective and also meet the needs of employees. Shelleys goal is for the employees to appreciate the benefits and also for the benefits to have a positive impact on the organization. As she reviews a collection of reports, it seems clear that the company has room for improvement in both cost-effectiveness and employee satisfaction. Premier Financial Services provides a variety of financial products and services to high-income clients across the country. The company operates in a fast-paced, competitive, and high-stress environment. A majority of the employees are in sales positions and receive commission-based pay; thus, many employees work long hours to make more sales and increase their pay. These long working hours seem to lead many employees to neglect their health, as Shelly observes increasing premium costs associated with a high number of claims under the companys health insurance plan. In addition to increasing health insurance costs, a recent employee satisfaction survey suggests that Premier Financial Services has some room to improve in creating a welcoming and engaging work environment. Among other things, employees report that they find their daily work days stressful and feel that it is challenging to manage their time on a daily basis. A surprising percentage of employees reported in the survey that they have considered looking for another job within the last six months. This generally negative mood is reflected by company profits, as Premier Financial has experienced a decline in overall sales over the past year. Further, Shelly has noted that there has been a higher rate of absenteeism over the last few months. In examining information from past years, the decline seems to be an ongoing trend. In researching solutions to the challenge of lowering health insurance costs and improving the overall well-being of employees, Shelly has determined that Premier Financial should consider implementing a wellness program. The company currently does not offer any kind of wellness program benefits, and Shelly believes that even though there would page 263be a cost to add a wellness program, in the long run, it could positively impact overall benefit costs and employee satisfaction. However, her research has uncovered many options for wellness programs, so she is not sure where to begin.

Would a wellness program benefit Premier Financial Services? What components of a wellness program would be appropriate for this company? If a wellness program is started, how can Shelly encourage employees to participate in the program?