Commercial construction company McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., has always worked hard to provide exceptional benefits for its employee-owners. It consistently ranks as a Best Place to Work, and according to the company’s 2013 Employee Engagement Survey, 86 percent of respondents agreed that “their benefits met my (and my families) needs well.” This result is 17 percent higher than all other construction companies benchmarked. McCarthy believes its benefits are a differentiator, making it an employer of choice in its industry and contributing significantly to its recruiting and retention goals.
In 2009, McCarthy’s ability to continue delivering these benefits faced a challenge. Health-care reform, increasing premiums, and decreasing coverage all began to put pressure on the level of benefits employee-owners could expect for their and the company’s investment. How could McCarthy successfully mitigate rising health-care costs without significantly impacting coverage? The answer: an innovative and employee-focused approach to wellness.
Launched in 2010, McCarthy’s “Build For Life” Wellness approach is built on proactive tenets such as training for both awareness and behavior change, and a mix of both positive and negative reinforcement (positive reinforcement for creating new behaviors and negative reinforcement to stop unhealthy behaviors).
Program Details
Since the program’s inception, McCarthy has offered comprehensive Wellness training through bi-monthly virtual instructor-led sessions, instructor-led sessions, and online courses. The centerpiece of the program is continuously promoting the use of an online portal where employees are able to develop a personalized wellness plan, access Wellness training materials, earn premium reductions and other rewards for participating in educational sessions, and set/achieve personal goals.
McCarthy continues to see growing participation in:
- Virtual Instructor-Led Training: While keeping the number of offerings the same each year, participation has increased 125 percent.
- Instructor-Led Training: Due to increased demand, McCarthy increased the number of annual offerings from 15 to 70 (367 percent), with the number of participants increasing 266 percent.
- Online Training: The number of online course completions has increased from 379 to 1,372, a 262 percent increase, with the number of participants increasing 215 percent.
Results
Through this focused effort on employee-owner education, McCarthy has achieved the following results:
- 100 percent of McCarthy employees participated in one or more wellness activities in 2013
- 87 percent completion rate of Health Risk Assessments
- 64.9 percent completion of the biometric screening
- 52 percent of spouses/domestic partners are engaged in the program
- 5 percent reduction between 2012 and 2013, contributing to plan savings of approximately $1 million per year
- 50 percent reduced health-care spending trend (medical and prescription) from 7 to 9 percent to 4.8 percent for 2013
