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Teradyne connects the dots between a healthy workforce and a healthy bottom line

In today's hectic workplace, many companies are stretching their resources to do more with less, which sometimes causes health and wellness to take a backseat. Employees may eat too many meals at their desks, feel guilty about taking a much needed five-minute break or become so stressed that after work they hit the couch instead of the gym.

But employees at Teradyne, a Boston-based company that supplies automatic test equipment, are encouraged to make themselves a priority and to stay healthy. And now, thanks to the company's expanded partnership with Ceridian, it's easier than ever for Teradyne employees to learn about their own health and access a variety of resources that can impact their overall wellness.

Putting Ceridian to the test
Although Teradyne has been a Ceridian LifeWorks services customer since 1989, the company only recently integrated Ceridian's health promotion and management solutions to supplement its various health care benefits offered nationwide.

"We added this key component because we wanted our employees to know that it's important for them to find the time to take care of themselves," says Lisa Noonan, a benefits analyst at Teradyne. "Because if they feel good, they're more likely to have a positive outlook and make meaningful contributions at work."

Healthy, productive and upbeat employees are important to Teradyne's bottom line and to its end users. The company tests semiconductor chips that power many of today's consumer electronics products. So, one might say that it's in everyone's best interest to keep Teradyne's 2,500 U.S. employees healthy and productive!

Noonan worked with Ellen Fallon, her Ceridian account manager, to design a health and wellness program that could be accessed by all of Teradyne's employees from coast-to-coast. "They have several health care benefit providers throughout the country, so they needed an umbrella health and wellness program that could be used by all of their employees, no matter where they were located or what insurance plan they had," Fallon explains.

Noonan liked Ceridian's approach to health and wellness programs. "We wanted a program that would educate, create and raise awareness of fitness and health, and encourage and support behavioral changes that may impact medical costs in the long run," she notes.

And that's right on track with what today's forward-thinking companies are doing according to Ronnie Bragen, Ceridian product manager. "Employers are recognizing what has long been known in the industry - that up to 70 percent of health risks are modifiable and can be reduced with lifestyle behavior changes. Reduction of risks will mean reduction of claims, which in turn will help keep cost increases down," Bragen says. "While we can't impact genetic risks, companies can mitigate them by promoting healthy behaviors. Plus, we can help in the area of today's most modifiable health risks, which are weight management, stress and depression, and tobacco use."

Improving employee health and wellness
Ceridian helped Teradyne implement three key initiatives designed to improve the health and wellness of their employees: on-site activities, the Health Risk Assessment (HRA) tool and a walking program.

Ceridian contracted for services for several on-site activities that addressed an individual office's needs based on claims activity, known demographic tendencies and suggestions by nurses. One month they focused on cardiovascular health and offered risk assessments, blood pressure checks, cholesterol screening, nutrition counseling and exercise recommendations. Another month was devoted to back care, where employees enjoyed chair massages, learned how to prevent back injuries and received back screenings.

Next, Ceridian designed a Health Risk Assessment online tool, where Teradyne employees and family members, ages 16 and older, could answer questions related to their individual health and wellness and then receive customized information about their overall status and how to improve their health in the future. As an added incentive to complete the HRA, participating employees received a pedometer and T-shirt. Within the first three months of the program, about 10 percent of the employees had completed the assessment.

Finally, Teradyne implemented a walking program where employees can log their steps and track their progress through an online tool developed by Ceridian. "We ran reports every month to determine our most avid walkers and provided incentives to winners in our various locations across the country," Noonan says. "These types of activities not only promote health and wellness, but fun and camaraderie among the employees as well."

One employee from Teradyne's Deerfield, Illinois office has already logged almost one million steps, or the equivalent of more than 450 miles. According to this employee, "I started walking to lose weight and so far I have lost 60 pounds. And, through walking, I have kept the weight off. I walk about a half an hour at lunch and then I walk at home. The pedometer is a friendly way to monitor how much activity I've had, and if the step count is low, I'm motivated to walk more later in the day. Walking has kept my weight and health in better shape."

An added bonus
A funny thing happened while employees were logging on to complete their HRA or track walking program steps. They stumbled upon an old friend: LifeWorks. Although LifeWorks Online was available to them for years, many employees are only now learning about its rich and vast resources.

"With implementation of our wellness program, employees became more aware of LifeWorks and the many different services, communications and materials that are available to them," Noonan says. "In fact, our LifeWorks participation jumped 91 percent from one quarter to the next and 78 percent of those who logged on were first-time users."

Noonan believes that the health promotion and management solutions are key to helping their employees maintain or improve their health. "It's great to see people getting out from behind their desks and walking during their lunch break," Noonan says. "I'm very grateful for Ceridian's help in making this program a viable part of our employees' goal toward healthier lifestyles."

For more information about Ceridian's health and wellness programs, contact your Ceridian representative.