Ms. Holloway

Human Resources, Recruitment & Training

A New Ttake on Creating a Wellness Culture in the Hospitality Industry

By Tracey Holloway, Vice President of Human Resources, Stanford Hotels Corporation

In this business, our over-arching focus is often on how well we are serving our guests. Yet, perhaps an equally important question for management to ask is, how well are we serving our employees? Having a healthy and productive staff is an obvious boon to a hotel. Yet, most often health care benefits fall short of providing all employees with options that truly serve their day-to-day wellbeing.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, about 22.3 million people in the U.S. did not receive medical care in the last year due to cost, and another 15.7 million did not receive much-needed care due to cost. Those with the least amount of education were more than three times as likely to delay healthcare because of cost. These are troubling numbers and show that workers in this country are willing to seriously risk their health because they simply can't afford their share of the expense.

The health care industry has seen double-digit cost increases over the past several years, making it progressively more difficult for companies to offer employees quality medical plans at a low cost. Moreover, most plans are geared towards caring for those who are already ill, or those who need referrals or special tests. Today, 80 percent of the costs are for only 20 percent of the insured population, and 80 percent of the insured are not even using the benefits.

With such a daunting challenge, how can we effectively foster a wellness culture within the hospitality industry through health plans? The current health care push is towards Health Savings Accounts (HSA), which are consumer driven plans, letting companies budget a reasonable expense for health care with the remainder for employees to manage.

With the ultimate goal being employees that are pro-active with their health, one possible down side to the HSA system is that employees may not use the funds on preventative medicine, like well checks or physical exams. Instead, they may decide to save the funds for an emergency, which does not support a culture of health and wellness.

Particularly in the hospitality industry, employees often live paycheck to paycheck and have a difficult time understanding the complexities of health care. Trying to promote health and wellness through an HSA system can take years, as employees learn to change their behavior and focus on prevention versus waiting for a major emergency. Instead of leaving it up to employees, hospitality companies need to manage employees' healthcare allotments and encourage them to focus on their wellbeing.

Not long ago, I attended a three-day conference on the future of healthcare called "Bridges to a Better Health" sponsored by American Specialty Health. The focus was on providing our workforce with integrated health solutions and programs, such as Smoking Cessation; Extreme Fun for Kids; Silver & Active; Fit and Active; Diabetes Management; Stress Management; Preparing for Chemotherapy; and Mind & Body workshops. Communication and education were identified as crucial for instituting these programs effectively.

With communication and education as a cornerstone of this approach, hotel companies need to acknowledge their highly diverse personnel and join forces with healthcare companies to put together products and materials that are multi-lingual (not just bi-lingual) to educate and communicate the importance of staying healthy. And while multi-lingual materials are preferred, if they are not available translators should be on hand to assist with explaining a new program.

Hotel companies also need to offer education in various delivery methods. Relaying information in a variety of modes like signs, posters, CD's, mailers and educational speakers are helpful. Communication boards or campaigns throughout the hotel on a specific topic can work well. Some employees are more visual, others like to participate and be interactive.

Communication, delivery and provider selection are extremely important.

The literature as well as healthcare providers need to be multi-lingual. It doesn't do employees much good if we translate everything for them but when they walk into the doctor's office, no one speaks their native language (Russian, Croation, Spanish, Cantonese, Creole, etc.). Kaiser Permanente does a great job by providing materials in several languages and offering doctors and nurses that speak diverse languages. It also helps to educate and prepare multi-lingual employees for the experience and expectations during their doctor visits.

Most human resource executives are not benefits experts, so I strongly recommend finding the right partner. You need a broker who is going to be there every step of the way, to assist with the ROI information and benchmarking, and to help understand and support a company's strategic plan.

Stumbling blocks can be overcome by fully mapping out the plan and getting commitment from the top. The ROI will happen over time and a culture of wellness can be damaged if it's adopted and then abandoned because of the short-term costs.

Overall, it is extremely important for employees to be proactive about their own health. The hospitality world is an industry in which employees are exposed to all sort of ailments due to constant interaction with other employees and guests. Keeping a healthy immune system is key. Offering employees flu shots is a good start.

To accelerate the creation of a wellness culture, hotel companies should look into ways to integrate an incentive plan to help promote health. For instance, they can offer a Wellness Champion on property to help be the spokesperson on behalf of the company.

In line with Stanford Hotels' philosophy, I believe it is imperative to show care throughout an organization by spending time focused on employees - and offering proper and comprehensive healthcare is one way to do so. I also believe that if employees understand the importance of wellness, and are given the tools plus incentives along the way, it will be a win-win situation for all of us. We need to focus on wellness in a more positive light and support the future of consumer driven plans.

As the saying goes, if you continue doing what's been done, you will continue to get the same results. We at Stanford are ready for a change and are excited about this new direction in health, wellness, communication and education. I recommend that you also review your current healthcare benefits structure - ultimately a healthy and happy workforce is a boost to your bottom line.

Tracey Holloway is VP of HR for Stanford Hotels Corp. She oversees all employee relations, legal issues, compliance issues, benefits and workers compensation. Holloway is a Certified Human Resources Executive. She began with Macy's. In 1998 she joined Kimpton and was instrumental in building the company culture. She has been a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Northern California Human Resources Association, Society of Human Resources Managers and has served on the Hospitality Advisory Board and San Francisco State University. Ms. Holloway can be contacted at 415-398-3333 or tholloway@stanfordhotels.com Extended Bio...

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