Organizations across America are experiencing a unique workforce situation. We are in the midst of experiencing the graying of our workforce while at the same time having an influx of younger workers along with workers of all ages having one of the lowest, if not the lowest overall health and fitness level ever. These extremes, if you will, will impact your organization in a myriad of ways but for this article I want to focus on the performance of your workforce in regards to their performance, health and wellness. This is especially timely given the rollout of the Affordable Healthcare Act (aka Obamacare) as well as the economic conditions that are influencing how long older workers stay in the workforce. How you and your company deal with it can means thousands/millions of dollars gained or lost.
The Separate Conversation
The health and wellness of your workers is something that transcends traditional silos, and their roles and responsibilities within the organization. Tradition tells us the following:
· Worker healthcare, benefits and wellness programs are the assumed responsibility of HR
· Worker health and safety are the assumed responsibility of EHS
· Worker productivity and efficiency are the assumed responsibility of Operations
If one agrees with the above, the next logical question to ask is, “Are the above silos benefiting or inhibiting the organization—the workers and the overall health of the company?” All too often HR, EHS and Operations have conversations amongst themselves regarding what’s best for their employees and how they can improve their health, safety and performance, respectively. I propose the respective questions are correct; however, the silos in which they are happening often result in ineffective and costly health promotion programs with little to no impact on worker health and performance. These “siloed” conversations are ones that companies can’t afford to have continued. A holistic, systems approach that eliminates traditional organizational roles and responsibilities when it comes to worker health and performance, is needed if companies are to survive and thrive with our current extreme workforce.
The Workforce Demographic Situation
The graying of the workforce is real. Employment among people aged 55 and older has increased to an all-time high of 40.4 percent in 2010 and from 1977 to 2007, the number of workers 65 and over increased by 101 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Data from the U.S. Census Bureau suggest that, by 2016, one-third of the total U.S. workforce will be age 50 or older, and will increase to 115 million by 2020. The growing number of older people, in concert with the trend to continue working at older chronological ages, is resulting in a shift in workforce demographics. By 2030, the BLS predicts, the percentage of workers ages 55 to 64 will increase by 36.5 percent, while those age 65 and older are expected to increase by 80 percent. This means that in 2030, one in four U.S. workers will be 55 or older—compared with one in six in 1950.
There are multiple reasons proposed for this shift. People not only are living longer but are healthier and leading more active lives. They enjoy being productive and working. Economic conditions also play a role. Aging workers who do not have defined-benefit retirement plans and/or have not saved enough in defined-contributions plans, such as 401(k)s, are forced to delay retirement because they don’t have the financial resources to support themselves in retirement. This new reality can be seen in worker expectations of retirement in the past 20 years. A retirement confidence survey released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) (1) in March 2013 showed 37 percent of workers in 2012 expect to retire after 65. In 1991, 11 percent planned to work that long. The result is an increase in older workers which coincides at the time when the younger workforce is in rapid decline by comparison. Between 2010 and 2050, workers between the ages of 16 to 54 are expected to decline or remain the same while workers age 65 or older are expected to grow.
Our Aging Worker “Fears”
HR, EHS or Operations professionals have somewhat of a fear of the challenges that older workers naturally bring. Safety-wise older workers are the best, safest workers. They’ve done all of their “horsing around” when they were younger and have learned how to do the work and be safe. Statistically they have fewer incidences compared to their younger counterparts. So what’s the problem? It’s the big “D” word—Disability. This isn’t to say or infer that older workers aren’t valuable and aren’t capable of being healthy, well and productive—indeed they are; however, the statistics show that as the workforce ages, the incidence of disability increases. The strong correlation between age and disability was definitively demonstrated in the findings of a University of Wisconsin, Trace Center study (2001) (2) that showed that the incidence of disability among working-age Americans was:
· 9.5 percent for workers 18 to 24
· 20+ percent for workers 45 to 54
· 42 percent for workers 65 or over
In general, older people are more likely to have multiple disabling conditions and have chronic disabling conditions which affect their ability to work. With this in mind, organizations should design policies and workflow/work task accommodations that will meet the requirements of older workers in order to retain them as a high level worker.
Our Younger Worker “Fears”
The fear with younger workers isn’t the big “D”. It’s the quick, “no thinking” incidences that they do that causes them to get hurt on the job. One of the states that has been struggling with higher than average rates of young worker injuries is Montana. According to Montana State Fund (3), young workers accounted for 22% of the work-loss injury claims filed with them, which is very high when one considers that only 17%of the total workers they cover are young workers. On average these young workers are out of work for 17 weeks. They lose $3.5 million in wages which is bad enough, but if one were to factor in all of the indirect costs associated with these injuries the impact to their employers would be staggering.
Now consider the consequences to the employer for those injured young workers who end up with chronic health problems from their injury. Those chronic problems can reoccur or worsen throughout their lives. In many states, the subsequent care is covered through workers’ compensation costs.
How much are these young worker injuries costing Montana? According to WorkSafeMT, collectively Montana businesses would save $145 million a year in direct work-injury-related costs simply by bringing Montana's work injury stats down into line with national averages (that number doesn't even include lost productivity or hiring and training costs).
Our Every Employee “Fears”
The health issue that does or has the potential to affect all workers is Obesity. Just this week the AMA classified obesity as a “disease” (4). AMA board member Patrice Harris, M.D. stated “The AMA is committed to improving health outcomes and is working to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, which are often linked to obesity.” The side effects of obesity can result in increased utilization of healthcare (which adds costs to HR), increased days away from work (which affects productivity) and increased risk of injury (which affects HR, Operations and EHS) (5, 6). Obesity also presents challenges to the design of the workplace environment and work tasks since their physical characteristics differ from the standard anthropometric tables.
The Upside to Older and Younger Workers
There are obvious benefits to employers by having older and younger workers. Older workers bring many years of experience and maturity to the job. They have decades of accumulated organizational knowledge and know key information about customers or work practices that are valuable to employers. If they are knowledge workers, they can easily work productively to a later age. Older workers with physically demanding jobs are less likely to be able to work to a later age. Older workers in some ways use less health insurance than younger workers who are having families and taking care of children. Another benefit is that older workers tend to have lower absentee rates.
Younger workers tend to bring new ideas, creativity and a “fresh” perspective to the workplace. They haven’t yet acquired the “We’ve Always Done It This Way” syndrome and look at challenges as opportunities. They have learned to work in teams and are very comfortable collaborating with others. Younger workers are at their prime physically and tend to bounce back quickly from injuries compared to older workers.
The Right Conversation
The Value Stream of Worker Performance, Health and Safety
Given the facts of the current and foreseeable future workforce demographics the conversation companies need to be having is single one—one that involves all of the departments/divisions that focus on their workers’ health, wellness, safety and productivity. A coordinated effort is needed to build in health and wellness into workers’ day-to-day tasks and activities. To use a lean term, it is important to have a “value stream” around worker performance, health and safety. Having isolated wellness program by HR or “safe at home” talks by EHS are less likely to be successful and sustainable compared with joint and complimentary efforts by HR, EHS and Operations combined.
Whole System Design: It’s What To Do
The following are steps organizations can take to promote and optimize the health, productivity and safety for all ages of workers:
· Develop a whole system design, i.e. a collaborative, value stream team consisting of organizational leaders whose focus is to think holistically on achieving optimal worker performance, health and safety
· Design the physical work and work environment for the “weakest link”—If the work can effectively be done by the least capable then it can be done by all, regardless of age and physical fitness ability
· Create and implement worker health promotions that are incorporated into all aspects of the worker’s work life, i.e. pieces of the program are integrated into and/or an option for workers to participate in the employer health benefits program, EHS activities/training and work task design
· Provide opportunities for, or ideally embed movement through modifying task design into the sedentary (“Desk Jockey’s”) worker’s work day. When movement is simply intuitive, “part of my job” then there is no resistance or participation barrier to overcome
· Tailor wellness activities for specific work groups within your organization, i.e. a “count your steps” program if not a good fit for workers who are on their feet all day
Unfortunately there is no “one size fits all” solution for improving worker performance, health and safety. However, there is a best way to find those solutions: Start with the “Value Stream” conversation. Unchain yourself from the traditional vertical silos and think horizontally—what pieces across the organization contribute to and/or depend on worker performance. You need to align your organization and culture to your performance, health and safety strategy by using a whole-system design. You’ll be amazed at the success you will have in implementing change, gaining participation and commitment from your managers and employers if you use a whole-system design.
References
1. http://www.ebri.org/pdf/surveys/rcs/2012/EBRI_IB_03-2012_No369_RCS.pdf
2. http://www.dol.gov/odep/pdf/NTAR_Employer_Strategies_Report.pdf
3. http://www.worksafemt.com/safety/the-safety-difference/state-of-the-state/
4. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2013/2013-06-18-new-ama-policies-annual-meeting.page
5. http://www.livescience.com/8726-hidden-costs-obesity-bring-yearly-total-73-billion.html
6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19445439
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