Market Trends Pacific Releases Baseline Survey on State of Worksite Wellness in Hawaii

Honolulu, HI (May 25, 2017) – Market Trends Pacific has just completed the first local survey on the state of worksite wellness in Hawaii.

The baseline survey was commissioned by the Hawai‘i Health at Work Alliance (HH@WA) – for its over 375 participating Hawai‘i employers – and presented at its general meeting on May 18.

Market Trends Pacific will re-visit the state of worksite wellness with biennial surveys for HH@WA as a long-range study on Hawai‘i employers and their wellness policies.

In early February of this year, the HH@WA partnered with research company Market Trends Pacific to survey local companies about workplace wellness. While data from wellness surveys exists on a national level, this is the first significant research survey of local organizations on wellness programs and their impact on companies’ financial performance.

Survey Respondents
In total, 509 local companies responded to the survey; of those, 72 percent were O‘ahu-based, with 10 percent on Maui, nine percent on the Big Island and six percent on Kaua‘i.

Market Trends Pacific focused exclusively on Hawai‘i businesses representing a wide range of sizes, industries and locations across the state. Seventy-five percent of respondents self-reported that they were company executives or managers. Eighty percent work for small or mid-sized businesses.

In terms of industries represented, 17 percent of respondents came from retail/wholesale, 16 percent were from health services, 16 percent were from professional, scientific or technical services, 13 percent construction and 38 percent from a wide variety of other, non-specified industries.

The HH@WA/Market Trends’ survey collected data on a wide array of workplace wellness issues including:

• Impact of workplace wellness programs on business performance measures like employee satisfaction, productivity and company revenues
• Current workplace wellness behavior and usage of workplace wellness programs
• Motivators for developing and implementing wellness programs
• Effectiveness of workplace wellness programs

Primary Research Findings
Among the survey findings, 38 percent of local company respondents offer wellness programs to their employees – compared to the national average of 52 percent, according to the Global Wellness Institute.

However, of the respondents whose companies do offer workplace wellness programs, the majority positively connect wellness to key business metrics. Areas mentioned by respondents as positively impacted by such programs include:

• 69 percent: productivity
• 68 percent: satisfaction
• 63 percent: retention
• 61 percent: revenues
• 60 percent: absenteeism
• 56 percent: recruitment

The top reasons that were given for offering workplace wellness programs were:

• 67 percent: improve employee self-care
• 52 percent: improve morale and enhance corporate culture
• 48 percent: increase productivity
• 45 percent: increase employee engagement
• 37 percent: improve safety and lower injury and error rates

Of the companies that do not offer workplace wellness programs, primary reasons included:

• 23 percent: no time to implement/time constraints
• 22 percent: lack of employee interest
• 20 percent: lack of staff to organize worksite wellness programs
• 17 percent: don’t know where to begin
• 16 percent: high cost/no budget

Local wellness programs currently offered by survey respondents focus on the following:

• 60 percent: job safety and injury prevention
• 32 percent: physical activity
• 31 percent: nutrition
• 30 percent: emotional well-being
• 28 percent: alcohol or substance abuse
• 27 percent: stress management
• 24 percent: weight loss
• 23 percent: tobacco cessation

“Our research found that Hawai‘i is trailing the rest of the nation when it comes to offering workplace wellness programs,” said Wanda Kakugawa, president and owner of Market Trends Pacific, Inc. “There is a lot of opportunity for growth and the benefits are evident.”
“This local research makes it clear that workplace wellness programs positively impact key business areas,” explains Howard Lee, chairman of the board of the Hawai‘i Health at Work Alliance and president and CEO of UHA Health Insurance. “For any manager who is concerned about challenges in developing a program, the survey results show that respondents believe that wellness programs at any level lead to tangible results.”

For guidance on developing workplace wellness programs, please visit hhawa.com or contact the Hawai‘i Health at Work Alliance at workwell@hhawa.com or 532-2156.

About Hawai‘i Health at Work Alliance
In mid-2013, UHA started the Hawai‘i Health at Work Alliance, a first-of-its-kind organization and grass-roots movement of businesses of all sizes that are dedicated to workplace wellness. The collaborative partnership seeks to create and improve employee well-being, viewed as a critical component of company success. Growing to over 375 participating organizations statewide since its inception, HH@WA is committed to providing best practices on how to build effective worksite wellness programs and methods that lead to sustainable lifestyle changes for employees. Recently moving to a paid membership model, HH@WA provides a framework where organizations across a wide range of industries can learn from each other’s efforts to institute effective wellness programs that will engage their employees.

About UHA Health Insurance (University Health Alliance)
UHA was founded as University Health Alliance in 1996 by a group of physician faculty at University of Hawai‘i John A. Burns School of Medicine. UHA provides medical, drug and vision plans to more than 4,700 Hawai‘i employer groups and over 56,000 members. As the only health plan in Hawai‘i founded by physicians, it was the first to offer preventive and wellness care focused health plans in the state, and now offers the largest physician and provider network in Hawai‘i. By meeting strict quality standards to ensure clinically sound decision-making that respects the rights of patients and medical providers, UHA received accreditation in Health Utilization Management through URAC, the independent non-profit that promotes healthcare quality.

For information, visit uhahealth.com or follow @uhahealth on Twitter.

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