How to help employees live healthier, longer, better lives

This article is brought to you by AIA Malaysia.

Employers all across Malaysia are sitting up and taking accountability for better physical and mental health of their workforce.

In conversation with Edmund Lim, Chief Corporate Solutions Officer, AIA Malaysia, we find out how AIA is championing the issue.

 

Work hard, play hard

One thing to note from AIA's experience is that health and wellness interventions don't necessarily have to be restricted to the office. Outside the confines of work, AIA has introduced the District Race, which is its way of getting Malaysians to explore their terrain actively and through gamification.

"We’re definitely very excited to bring District Race by AIA Vitality to Malaysia – as a ground-breaking technology platform that provides a fun urban exploration experience for everyone," says Lim.

"District Race combines technology and fitness beautifully, offering a great starting point to motivate people to get out and rediscover their cities in a whole new light. All they need is their mobile phone, the District app, a pair of walking or running shoes, a curious mind, and off they go!"

Since its launch in June, AIA has opened up 'virtual grids' in various locations in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya, Melaka, Johor Bahru and Penang for people to explore and be in the running to win some exciting prizes. There are currently 15 grids available, with more grids to be added every month.

"So far, the response has been very encouraging – we see participants using their lunch time to explore 'grids' near their places of work, while some take their families and friends along during the weekend. Some people have even used District as a platform for team building and small group activities," affirms Lim.

Buoyed by the enthusiasm around the race, AIA is also hosting a series of community events known as #ExploreEvents throughout the country. The first two in Kuala Lumpur and Penang were attended by over 500 people in total, while the main event will take place in Kuala Lumpur on 3 November.

Through all of this, AIA is engaging its corporate Vitality clients and inviting them and their employees to participate in District, as well as supporting them through briefings, communications, and promotions to help promote this internally.

Calculating ROI from workforce wellbeing programmes

Some organisations expect instantaneous results after investing in health and wellness programmes (i.e. lower claims utilisation/reduced in absenteeism and presenteeism). "However, change takes time and patience, and results will come," Lim reminds us.

Studies have shown that healthy employees result in better productivity and ultimately increase the bottom line for the company. This also reduces high turnover rates and results in a positive and motivated environment for the employees to work in. Even so, Lim admits it is challenging to capture the returns through dollars and cents as there are many variables to consider reaching an accurate figure.

Undeterred, he finds a solution: "One way the impact of these interventions can be measured is through the increased of productivity of the workforce, the reduction of absenteeism and presenteeism as well as lower employee turnover rate."

Perhaps, it is time we stop looking at financial indicators as the only measure of an organisation’s success. It is time we monitor global events on a real-time basis and ensure that our organisations are ready to adapt to changes.

And most importantly, it is time we take our employees’ health into our hands, because it is only when you have a healthy workforce can you ensure sustained productivity and optimised performance, for the business to achieve goals in an effective manner.

Working hand-in-hand for a winning result

One example of a partnership which has demonstrated genuine results was Mewah-Oils. The company joined AIA's Employee Benefit Scheme on 1 August 2018. They were sourcing for an insurance provider who not only provided efficient services but also helped them manage their cost, while allowing their employees to continue to enjoy cashless facilities.

AIA identified that Mewah-Oils was experiencing an increase in cost, and through its careful analysis was able to help the organisation identify opportunities to mitigate the risk of cost escalation. Working together, both parties managed to implement initiatives to mitigate the risk without compromising the employee’s experience.

The great partnership between Mewah-Oils and AIA has resulted in an approximately 9%* reduction in the company’s medical cost in 2018. AIA continues to monitor the conduct of the account to ensure that both client and members’ expectations are met.

*Based on nine months' average cost per person.

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Lead image and infographics / provided