As a leading global manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, Fiat-owned Case New Holland (CNH) is literally shaping the world. And while CNH equipment has been transforming the earth’s landscape, the company’s leadership has been working with Watson Wyatt to navigate the changing landscape of health care.

Sharif Amin, CNH’s senior director of benefits and compensation in North America, began addressing rising health care costs in 2006. Amin and his team introduced consumer-directed health plan options and wellness services, including a tobacco cessation program, a revitalized disease management program and a nurse line. They also added decision-making tools to assist employees in choosing the best health plan for their needs and calculate how much to contribute to their flexible spending accounts.

The push led to greater than 50 percent participation in the consumer-directed health plans, and CNH saw dramatic decreases in its health care cost trend. Between 2002 and 2005, CNH had an average trend of 8 percent. Since 2006, the trend has averaged 2 percent.

Amin, knowing that cost savings from plan design can go only so far, began considering new ways to continue managing costs with a consumerism mindset. Looking to shape a healthier workforce, he turned to partner Watson Wyatt to help implement a comprehensive wellness program. “CNH had a history with Watson Wyatt, and we liked the firm’s approach to our challenges,” says Amin. “Watson Wyatt’s ideas and long-standing appreciation of CNH’s culture were just what we needed.” Maureen Tarantello, Watson Wyatt’s director of account management, agrees. "We knew CNH from our years of work with the Fiat Group of companies. We came with a great deal of organizational knowledge, so we could get off to a fast start.”

One decision, many benefits
By introducing a wellness program, the company expected to see a return on investment that went beyond lower health care costs for employees and the company. Lower injury and absenteeism rates and higher productivity were all goals.

At the core, though, the program was designed for employees — to encourage them to take manageable steps to improve their health. CNH hoped the wellness initiative would demonstrate the company’s concern for the health and well-being of its employees, and that the program would generate goodwill.

The right fit
Amin knew what he wanted: a program designed to address employee needs across the full range of health risks — from healthy employees, to those at risk for chronic disease, to workers living with chronic conditions.

“Our long-term focus is to make sure that people who have low risks for health problems stay in that low-risk category,” says Amin. “Ultimately, health affects every part of a person’s life. Healthier employees are happier, are more productive and have less absenteeism.”

CNH partnered with Watson Wyatt to begin searching for the right vendor to provide a robust wellness program that matched the company’s vision. Watson Wyatt looked to successful past relationships to identify vendors that could fit into the CNH culture.

In 2007, CNH selected HealthFitness as its wellness program vendor. HealthFitness offered:

• The ability to provide programs for employees across the entire health spectrum
• An approach incorporating lifestyle coaching
• Experience in managing complex health management programs

In addition, HealthFitness agreed to provide an onsite program manager.

Watson Wyatt assisted CNH in negotiating the services, fees and contract with HealthFitness to smooth the path for the wellness program.

A call to action
For 2008, the first year of the program, the team set an aggressive goal of 50 percent employee participation in three activities: participating in a health screening, completing a health assessment and talking to a health adviser. Taking these three steps would give employees a thorough baseline understanding of their health and help identify health improvement priorities.

The third step, speaking with a health adviser, served as a key integration point with other CNH programs. If a health adviser spoke to an employee whose results indicated diabetes, for instance, the adviser could transfer the employee to the disease management program.

Strategy for success
Watson Wyatt worked with CNH to develop a communication strategy that would ensure the wellness program participation goals were met. Grounded in change management principles, the strategy emphasized the need for visible leadership and management support, combined with strong local collaboration.

“The right wellness program is important, but a program alone won’t bring about the behavior change that CNH wanted to achieve,” says Watson Wyatt senior communication consultant Kathy Walgamuth. “It takes the right communication strategy — messages, media, timing — along with buy-in from frontline managers to ensure the desired outcome.”

The right messages, the right people, the right time
Together, CNH and Watson Wyatt developed a detailed communication plan to build momentum at every level of the organization, from senior management to employees on the line at every location across the United States.

Having leadership support is critical to the success of any organizational change. Early on, CNH held focus groups with senior leaders to gain crucial buy-in for the wellness program. In the months leading up to the launch (and beyond), CNH kept its senior leaders and HR engaged through updates that emphasized the business case, the goals of the program, the timing and their role in supporting the initiative.

The employee communication strategy included a blend of vendor-provided and custom-developed communication — spreading manageable amounts of information over the five months leading up to the program launch. The campaign began with broad-based communication pieces, such as program summaries in existing benefits newsletters. The newsletters raised employee awareness, built understanding of the coming wellness program and inspired a commitment to action.

To ensure local support, the team recruited 24 employees representing multiple locations and functions to serve as a network of wellness champions. As the program launch date neared, site-specific communication played a critical role in driving participation. Through colorful posters, e-mails, desk-drop cards and postcards, employees had varied and multiple reminders to participate in a health screening, complete a health assessment and talk to a health adviser before the deadline. “The grassroots delivery of site-specific wellness communication was a real differentiator,” says Tom Coogan, director of employee benefits at CNH. “It built up the sense of local ownership.”

CNH offered employees a uniquely designed incentive to participate. By taking three steps — participating in a health screening, completing a health assessment and talking about their results with a health adviser — eligible employees could earn $100, plus an additional $1 for every 1 percent of eligible employees who participated. Including individual and group components drove employees to encourage one another to participate and to work together toward a common goal.

A work in progress
Thanks to a well orchestrated team effort and careful strategic execution, 60 percent of CNH’s eligible employees took all three steps by the deadline and earned the incentive during the first year of the program.

Now in its second year, the wellness program at CNH is focusing on moving employees from health-risk awareness to action steps for improved health. The companywide walking program enjoys 30 percent employee participation. In addition, sites throughout the United States have been busy running their own wellness activities, driven by local wellness champions.

The wellness program has gained traction among employees, and CNH is beginning to see a culture of wellness take root. The company intends to carry the momentum forward and continue to help employees improve their health. “There is a strong business case for having wellness initiatives,” says Amin. “I also believe that if you care about your people, it’s the right thing to do.”