by Rajiv Kumar, founder and chief clinical officer, Shape Up The Nation
Like many employers, Nelnet did not realize how much unhealthy employees affected health care costs and its bottom line—until the company held its first health assessment in 2005.
The eye-opening results led the education planning and financing company to look for answers to stem rising health care costs. While many companies would have watered down health care offerings or shifted more of the cost burden onto employees, Nelnet chose to be proactive by promoting healthy lifestyles and behaviors to sustain better living for its 2,200-plus employees.
Plotting a Strategy
To further understand the landscape of its workers health, Nelnet set up health screening sessions where they were measured and weighed and had their cholesterol, blood pressure, and other health data points checked. These screenings led to more thorough health risk assessments (HRA), a series of questions about the individual’s demographics, lifestyle, physiological data, and attitude and willingness to change.
In 2008, 84% of Nelnet employees participated in the annual health risk assessment, and four major health risk factors were identified: weight management, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and tobacco use. The results drove Nelnet to create a yearlong wellness initiative broken down into quarterly focus areas: nutrition, physical activity, self care, and stress management. By focusing on each of these areas throughout the year, Nelnet hoped to instill the importance of healthy behaviors while educating employees on health risk factors. Nelnet implemented this strategy as a way to not only reduce health care costs but also to improve employee productivity and limit absenteeism and turnover.
With a strategic wellness plan in place, Nelnet focused its efforts on weight management, recognizing it was likely to be the most successful area of wellness to combat. Of the 62% identified through the HRA to be at risk in the weight management area, 74% noted that they were ready to change. With employees in different office locations, Nelnet needed the right kind of programs to help promote weight loss—ones that everyone could access, regardless of current activity level and location.
Shape Up at Nelnet
Research demonstrates that trusted social networks can be used to encourage healthy behaviors and sustainability through peer motivation, accountability, and support, so Nelnet chose to partner with Shape Up The Nation, a wellness company that utilizes online social networking to encourage people of all health and fitness levels to work together with their colleagues to achieve optimal health.
The social networking functionality of the Shape Up The Nation platform was a key factor in successfully motivating Nelnet employees. Shape Up The Nation’s social networking platform enabled Nelnet employees to schedule group exercise opportunities, find colleagues with similar health interests, utilize online fitness and nutrition trackers, and participate in team competitions. Participants could invite, challenge, track, and motivate one another as they set personal goals and worked collectively to achieve them.
For example, the platform allows one employee to reach out to another employee and challenge him to a friendly competition, such as walking the highest number of steps in a week. Or, teams may challenge other teams within the company to collectively lose more pounds or walk more steps in the span of a month. Sharing healthy recipe ideas and offering encouragement or congratulations on meeting a goal are other ways participants utilize social networking within the Shape Up The Nation platform.
In addition to using the online tools for motivating and supporting one another, Nelnet employees used a Shape Up The Nation pedometer to drive a 12-week team walking competition. Tracking the number of steps with the pedometer was a friendly reminder to be active by taking walking breaks or lunch hours, and it allowed team members to easily track their progress. Knowing that team members were dependent on one another made each person accountable for his/her contribution and offered the extra push to be active on days when motivation was lacking. One participant noted that she felt a sense of duty to provide for her team and, in turn, realized that ultimately she had a duty to herself to be as healthy as possible.
Nelnet also encouraged healthy behavior changes by hosting companywide events to increase the amount of steps people were taking during their workday, including a “Take the Stairs” campaign and “Walking Wednesdays,” where an executive leader would lead a group walk for interested participants. The frequent and sustained involvement of company executives, including Nelnet’s CEO Mike Dunlap, in the Shape Up The Nation program also helped to drive participation.
Success of the Program
Simply put, Shape Up The Nation’s team structure and social-networking capabilities were a hit for Nelnet, with more than half of the company’s employees enrolling in the 12-week program in 2008. Employees who completed the program, on average, walked 8,008 steps per day, exercised 44 minutes per day and lost 5.7 pounds. Even Dunlap reported that he was exercising six days a week, up from his baseline of two to three days. Nelnet participants had great feedback for the program. One person stated, “I lost 24 pounds, going from almost 212 pounds to around 188 pounds while my body fat percentage went from 28% to around 14%. I am definitely more conscious about my activity level and calorie intake and how they are directly related. I think this is a great program, and more people should get involved!” Another person stated, “I am 42 pounds lighter since January of this year. Much of the weight loss is due to an increase in exercise, particularly keeping track of the steps I take with my pedometer. This is a great program.”
Through Shape Up The Nation and the additional efforts of Nelnet’s comprehensive yearlong wellness program, Nelnet’s employees benefited from shrinking waistlines and Nelnet’s business saw a decrease in its employee health coverage costs. In 2009, medical costs for the company dropped 12%. In the three years since Nelnet initiated its organization-wide commitment to wellness, the company has fully implemented a consumer-directed health plan and a robust wellness program, resulting in impressive statistics, including:
- Cholesterol reduced by 42%
- Weight loss of more than 7%
- Blood pressure lowered by 15%
- Tobacco use reduction of 32% while also transitioning to a tobacco-free workplace
With more than half of Nelnet employees engaged in wellness activities, it is easy to see why wellness is consistently mentioned as one of the more popular benefits in the company’s annual employee survey. Not only have Nelnet’s health care costs been lowered, but also the programs have united employees and affected their daily lives by educating them on how to live a healthier lifestyle and providing the motivation and tools needed to make a sustainable change.
Rajiv Kumar is the founder and chief clinical officer of Shape Up The Nation, the first wellness company focused on leveraging the power of social networks to promote healthy living. Shape Up The Nation’s evidence-based online platform is used by more than 100 leading self-insured employers and health plans, including CVS Caremark, Aetna, National Grid, Cleveland Clinic, and Medtronic. Shape Up The Nation is online at www.shapeupthenation.com.