If you want to drive a successful employee health and wellness program at your company, you’ll want to follow Gillian Plummer. Responsible for the health and well-being of 50,000 employees as Director of Employee Health and Wellness at Quest Diagnostics, she can walk you through the steps of what works.
Or should we say run? Plummer is also a competitive athlete, who’s always pushing the limits of what’s possible in health and well-being.
For example, at Quest Diagnostics, she proactively brings oncology screening to the employees so no one has an excuse for not staying well. Plummer says 80% of Quest Diagnostics’ workforce is female, and the company has been launching mobile mammograms to this segment across the country.
“We’re trying to get in front of our female employees and we’re meeting them where they are. We’re going to the labs, patient service centers, and we’re hoping that we can get our employees taken care of in that sense.”
“I am very passionate about the topic and when we think about employee health and well-being, we’re changing lives of individuals. That is one of the strongest, most powerful tools ever,” she says.
To jump-start your health and well-being program, here are four steps Plummer says are critical:
1. Use predictive analytics to meet employees where they are
Data-driven insights can create “smarter, targeted strategies that can accommodate your employees where they are. That’s very critical,” Plummer says. Besides the mobile mammogram intervention program, analytics helped her company discover a trend among the employees regarding rising medical costs and mental health. “When you’re stressed about finances … it creates a whole cycle and it can cause depression and anxiety, and then you’re not as productive as you could be at work,” she says.
Data is also used to support the well-being of remote or hybrid employees. Plummer says Quest Diagnostics’ call center employees are remote, and the company analyzes employee engagement and productivity through metrics that identify burnout risks. They can then create tailored programs to support remote workers’ well-being.
2. Create a “state of employee well-being” scorecard
Plummer says Quest Diagnostics created a scorecard to measure employee productivity, mental health, and financial health, as examples, and it’s broken up by region and job family. “That’s how I slice and dice the information, so we’re able to go to the leaders in certain regions … [and] figure out an action plan and work together [to] reinvigorate and engage the workforce within those different regions. You have to segment that approach per job function,” she says.
3. Craft an employee wellness network for organizational buy-in
Plummer says, “That’s critical to get it across an organization and also create a culture of health and well-being because it has to stem from a culture perspective as well. So, for example, we have created the HealthyQuest Employee Business Network. Thousands of our employees are part of this network and it’s supporting each other in our journeys. It provides educational pieces, and a safe place for employees.”
4. Don’t set it and forget it: Measure the impact
Plummer says, “You need to define your audience and the intervention strategy that you’ll use to seek out better health outcomes for your employees. There’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. This is so critical because sometimes I feel like I hear a lot of organizations put a vendor or program in place and they set it and forget it. You have to keep tabs on your metrics and your engagement.”
Want a deeper dive into data-driven employee wellness programs? Join Gillian Plummer at the upcoming Spark HR conference at Lake Buena Vista, April 30–May 2, where HR professionals will hear her full presentation. You’ll also hear about engagement, leadership, and workplace culture from speakers at NASCAR, Chobani, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and more. It’s not just another conference. It’s going to be hands-on, interactive, and a chance to connect with people who really get it. Plus, we’re adding some Disney magic, so you’re going to have a great experience. See you there!
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