ASHHRA Health and Wellness Pulse
November 2016
 
Purchasing Power, LLC
Benefits
Strategy
HR Daily Advisor Open enrollment is an opportune time to educate employees on the traditional and voluntary benefits available to them, and a recent survey suggests that this type of education is needed. "With only 44% of employees feeling in control of their finances, employers today have a unique opportunity to drive loyalty and retention by empowering employees to make informed benefits decisions," said Todd Katz, executive vice president, Group, Voluntary & Worksite Benefits, at MetLife.
 
Benefit Trends
Employee Benefit News With the open enrollment season fast upon us and benefits managers making sure everything goes off without a hitch, a lack of benefits understanding could be hurting employees in the long run.
 
Financial
CareerBuilder Small business owners already trying to stretch limited resources may view employee training as expendable. But investing in the continuing education of your team is not only good for morale, it’s good for business. Providing staff with opportunities to learn new things keeps them engaged and demonstrates your commitment to their growth, both of which aid in retention. And the knowledge gained can make them better, more productive workers. Fortunately, employee training doesn’t have to be expensive.
 
Bloomberg Wage growth is on fire. The Atlanta Fed's Wage Growth Tracker indicates that the median U.S. worker saw pay rise by 3.9 percent year-over-year in October, the fastest rate of growth since November 2008.
 
Empower Retirement
Workplace Programs & Perks
The Washington Post It's late October, and you've been so overwhelmed at work you still have five vacation days you haven't used this year. Now, a new start-up wants to offer an option (d). PTO Exchange, which launched Oct. 4, plans to work with employers to let their workers trade in the value of their unused "paid time off" for other perks.
 
Business News Daily If they had a choice, U.S. workers would much rather be able to work from home than choose the hours they work, new research finds.
 
Retirement
HR Morning The IRS just released the 2017 retirement plan contribution limits, and the changes aren’t big ones. This year, the U.S. Consumer Price Index didn’t trigger a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase for the vast majority of plans, so the major plan limits will remain largely unchanged through 2017. Employees will be able to continue to defer up to $18,000 into their qualified defined contribution plans, and an additional $6,000 for those over the age of 50, for a combined total of $24,000.
 
Culture of Health
Workplace Wellness
Business News Daily This time of year, workers are starting to make their holiday travel plans. But if your company offers the option to work remotely, your employees might choose to stay connected to the office while they're visiting relatives and opening gifts. A recent survey by West Unified Communications Services (West UC) found that 17 percent of full-time workers view working from a vacation spot as a practical reason to take advantage of their company's remote work policy.
 
Strategy + Business In 2016, a Yale study showed that experiences are amplified and more meaningful if they are shared. Shared experiences are a powerful tool for managers to build high-performing teams. They help to shape values, norms, and behaviors that allow people to get work done more efficiently and effectively.
 
Work-Life Integration
Forbes For the majority of Americans work-life balance is an ongoing battle, and it’s not going to be resolved by viewing the issue as something that only affects women. Both men and women struggle to find balance between these two elements of their lives. The work-life balance issues that men face may differ from women, but they are just as difficult to navigate. And these issues aren’t going away.
 
Fast Company Work-life balance sounds great, but it's getting tougher to achieve. Managers and staff often don't see eye to eye on time spent between the two. Several studies also indicate that the traditional workweek is getting longer.
 
UPMC  Health Plan
Mental Health
Business News Daily Technology has been an incredible tool to help people monitor their health. We can track what we eat, our steps, our heart rate and even our sleeping patterns. But some app developers have set their sights on a more complex but equally important area of holistic health: mental wellness.
 
Population Health
American Hospital Association
This year, AHA is participating organization-wide in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) "Get Smart About Antibiotics Week" from Nov. 14-20. The goal of the CDC campaign is to move the needle on antibiotic resistance, improving patient safety and preserving the power of antibiotics. Please use the hashtag #AntibioticSmart in your posts during the week and the hashtag #AntibioticResistance if you participate in the Nov. 18 twitter chat. Feel free to contact Jennifer Schleman (jschleman@aha.org) or Emily Gustafson (egustafson@aha.org) with any questions.
 
The CDC will be hosting a global #AntibioticResistance Twitter chat on Friday, November 18, from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. EST. If you plan to join the Twitter chat, please let Jennifer Schleman know, and she will provide the list of topics and questions CDC has planned for the chat.
 
NPR The number of cigarette smokers in the United States has dropped by 8.6 million since 2005 — and that fall could be accelerated by a tobacco tax just passed in California. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says smoking rates have fallen from 21 percent of the adult population in 2005 to 15 percent in 2015, when the agency conducted its latest survey.
 
HR Metrics Tool 15% Discount Until Dec. 8!
 Sign up by December 8th to receive a 15% discount to participate in the HR Metrics Tool for the upcoming 2017 year! Register today! 
  
The HR Metrics Tool is a joint collaboration between ASHHRA and PwC, to benchmark critical workforce measures. This tool can help you gain a better understanding of your HR function, consistently measure metrics against your peers in health care and access personalized reports. Learn more.
 
If you have questions, please contact PwC at pwcsaratogabenchmarking@us.pwc.com.
 
 

 

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