Global Corporate Challenge Releases New Report Providing Insights Into Workplace Wellness Around The World

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Mar 19, 2013, 08:30 ET

NEW YORK, March 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Corporate Challenge® (GCC), the global expert in creating genuine, long-term behavioral change in the workplace, has released its latest report on workplace wellness practices. Featuring the viewpoints of HR, OH&S and corporate wellness personnel worldwide*, the 2013 Global Workplace Health & Wellness Report provides fresh insight into how organizations throughout the world approach wellness, with details about their successes, challenges and improvement opportunities.

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Key findings include:

Wellness is firmly on the global business agenda. Ninety-five percent of organizations have or plan to have a fully implemented wellness strategy. Of these, 41% have commenced and 22% have completed implementation. Only a 5% minority continue to ignore the negative workplace impact of employee ill-health and the opportunity - and responsibility – to improve this.
Focus is on long-term behavioral change. Eighty-five percent of organizations want to empower long-term behavior change. Organizations are increasingly recognizing the sustained outcomes of behavioral change-based wellness strategies in achieving health risk reduction and improved performance in employees. Physical inactivity leads as the top risk behavior addressed, followed by stress and poor nutrition. Short-sighted "quick fix" approaches are phasing out.
Employee participation is both a top-ranking concern and barrier. Wellness initiatives are achieving less than 20% participation on average, well short of organizations' 60% participation goals. Lack of time and interest are cited as top barriers to employee participation, highlighting the potential for greater program flexibility and enjoyment to achieve perception change and improved engagement.
High-risk employees remain elusive. Seventy-five percent of respondents admit difficulty attracting higher-risk employees, with only 21% successful in doing so. High-risk employees are those who most need intervention and who cost workplaces most. To engage these often reluctant or skeptical employees, initiatives must be appealing to and accessible by employees of all ages, abilities and health status. Greater focus here could boost participation levels by these more evasive employees and vastly increase business returns.
Fun is fundamental but forgotten. Forty-five percent of organizations cite employee perceptions of wellness initiatives as lacking in fun and engagement as a major barrier to participation. A resounding 99% rate "fun" as medium-to-high importance and with only 10% reporting their initiatives actually having very high levels of fun, this presents a powerful opportunity to increase participation through enjoyment.

The full report is available at http://www.gettheworldmoving.com/blog/global-health-and-wellness-2013-report

* Data collected via an online survey of 378 organizations.

For more information about Global Corporate Challenge, please contact of Terri Kayden of Jennifer Connelly Public Relations at 973-850-7371 or [email protected].

About Global Corporate Challenge
The Global Corporate Challenge is the global expert in creating genuine, long-term, behavioral change in the workplace. Founded in 2003, our evidence-based approach has enabled over 950,000 people from 105 countries and 3,400 of the world's leading organizations to achieve outstanding success by improving staff health and wellbeing, promoting teamwork, reducing absenteeism, and creating a culture of resilience across entire organizations.