Back on March 25th, we discussed the first story that centered on the Wellness Committee within the Germantown employee ranks. The committee was about to make a request for up to $20,000 to be used in a wellness program for village employees. This proposal was sent back by the General Government and Finance Committee at that time for more work by the group. I had mentioned at the time that there seemed little enthusiasm for a $20,000 expenditure but that the committee had been encouraged to formulate more detailed plans and return.
That return visit is scheduled for tonight according to a Journal Sentinel article this morning. That article stated that the committee will be returning with a proposal for the expenditure of $14,495 this year on wellness activities. The key here will be the plan of action that they present.
Wellness programs can be very good for employees and their dependents if managed correctly. Many private sector employers use them and have had good results. Among the keys is that employees have to be engaged. They have to be challenged. Some private sector employers have used incentives to get the employee's buy-in. The incentives are legal if put together correctly.
In other instances, smaller groups have managed to create sound wellness programs with the expenditure of relatively few dollars. By few dollars, I am talking about a few hundred dollars that is leveraged using the resources already available within the community. Many wellness programs have begun on a smaller scale and then expanded as ideas were proved to work.
Other wellness programs see the gradual decline of participation by employees. That seems to happen when the programs become old and stale; when there are no new ideas or approaches being developed year after year.
And, it is very important that wellness programs are available to dependents of the village employees. Dependents typically outnumber employees especially in a more mature workforce such as seems evident in Germantown.
Finally, negotiated agreements may need to be revisited should the village decide to proceed with a wellness program.
I hope that we do not see blanket approval without some in-depth study and analysis. These programs can be good or bad; they are never guaranteed to work.
In the final analysis, the purposes of wellness programs also include a return on investment. What will the investment of $14,495 this year do, if anything, to reduce costs in the health care programs next year or in the next five years? Who has put the plan together? Are they qualified to do so? If a professional group, does it have a track record that can be reviewed by the Board before moving ahead?
