Editor’s Note: A number of TLNT readers have asked about this post recently, so here it is again in case you missed it originally. This past week a … Read more
Fran Melmed is an award-winning HR communications consultant specializing in workplace wellness and health care consumerism. Prior to founding context communication consulting llc context communication, Fran worked at Hewitt Associates in their Talent and Organizational Change and Communication practices in the U.S. and U.K. Contact her at fran@contextcommunication.com, and follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/femelmed.
Our Email Addiction: Can We Keep it From Following Us Home From Work?
According to a new survey by GFI Software, email is alive and doing well in small- to mid-sized America. Some 44 percent of respondents use email over … Read more
How Far Can Employers Go In Mandating What Employees Eat?
I’ve yet to talk with someone about employee wellness without hearing about how an employer allows — if not actually provides — donuts or cupcakes or … Read more
The Workplace Ethics of Not Hiring Tobacco Users
As more employers consider how to reduce the percentage of tobacco users in their workforces, one policy in particular has raised eyebrows and hackles more … Read more
The Wellness Dilemma: Getting More Employee “Skin in the Game”
Last month I shared a story on health care costs titled The Bitter Pill. That might’ve been what CVS felt they swallowed when they saw their name … Read more
What to Tell Workers About That New Health Care Costs Line on the W-2
Whoa! What’s that new line item on my W-2? Is that taxable? Employers are starting to field questions like these from their employees. That’s because … Read more
Pew Study Shows That Employees Are Turning Into Health Care Consumers
Employees have heard you loud and clear, Ms. and Mr. Employer. They got the message that it’s time to become a savvy health care consumer. They’re out … Read more
Aon Hewitt Study: Stress Keeps Your Workers from Being Healthy
We have such good intentions, particularly at this time of year. We intend to eat better, get more sleep, head to the gym more often, budget better. Then … Read more
13 Easy and (Mostly) Low-Cost Employee Wellness Changes for 2013
Right about now, your employees are wondering whether they’ll keep their new resolutions or dust off the old ones and give them one more go. Even your … Read more
Connecting With Workers About Health Care? Call Their Cell Phone
Our phones are fast becoming the ATM of health. That’s the upshot from the Pew Mobile Health 2012 report. Some 85 percent of American adults own a cell … Read more
More Employers Working to Help Employees Stop Smoking
Employers are highly attuned to the risks of tobacco use, particularly when it comes to the business and human toll. Tobacco use is, of course, associated … Read more
Why You Need a Few Silicon Valley-Style Perks for Your Employees
Companies in California’s Silicon Valley are sending employees home with dinner and the cleaners to wash up afterward. These perks aren’t reserved … Read more
Don’t Go Into a Communications Hibernation When Open Enrollment Ends
Right now many companies are deep in the throes of annual enrollment. They’ve spent countless hours with benefits consultants determining the changes to … Read more
5 Ways You Can Keep BS Out of Your Business Review Process
If you’ve ever flown Virgin America, you will have seen the cartoon-like safety video that plays before the flight takes off. In one scene, about a minute … Read more
2012 Health Care Survey Lays Out 3 Ways For Employers to Rein In Costs
Aon Hewitt’s released their 2012 Health Care Survey and provided their findings and reactions to employers’ planned tactics to rein in costs. It lays out … Read more
Four Factors That Will Help Hold Down Medical Cost Increases in 2013
Pricewaterhousecoopers (PwC) released a study last month that projects another year of low medical cost trends. They project an increase of 7.5 percent, … Read more
Why There Is a Big Employer Focus on Getting Employees to Stop Smoking
Tobacco use holds a top spot among the health risks employers focus on through their wellness programs. You may wonder why. After all, public bans on … Read more
Survey: How Innovative Employers Use Technology to Improve Health
ShapeUp and context released the findings from our first annual Technology + Employee Wellness Survey this week. Over the past six months, we’ve … Read more
What Are You Doing For Employees During National Wellness Month?
June is National Employee Wellness Month, an annual recognition of the importance of employee well-being that Virgin HealthMiles initiated in 2009. One … Read more
5 Tools to Help Get Employees Up and Out of Their Desks
We know prolonged sitting is detrimental to individual and business health. Prolonged sitting decreases productivity and creativity and ratchets up stress. … Read more