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Treating employees as assets starts with managing their health journey

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In recent years, ‘people centric’ and ‘employee experience’ have become two of the hottest buzzwords in the human resources community. Many enterprises have turned their attention to investing in their greatest intangible asset: talent. For that reason, solidifying the foundation of any healthy organisation begins by managing the health of the employees.

According to the Asia Best Workplace survey 2018, the workforce in Mainland China is leading an unhealthy lifestyle. More than half of the workers in Mainland China surveyed do not exercise regularly, and about a quarter of them rarely eat vegetables and fruits, and frequently indulge their sweet tooth with sugar-laden drinks and snacks.

Hence, it is no surprise that about 30% of the respondents in Mainland China are overweight or obese, and more than a quarter suffer from chronic disease, including gastroenteritis, lumbar or vertebral diseases, anxiety and depression, hyperlipidemia (high blood cholesterol), and hypertension.

On 30 May, AIA, the world’s largest life insurer by market capitalisation, and with more than 60 years of employee benefits experience in Asia Pacific, served as the platinum sponsor for Human Resources’ Employee Benefits Asia 2019’s debut in Shanghai.

More than 100 senior HR professionals and compensation and benefits specialists were assembled for the one-day conference that showcased results-proven business solutions, examined the current compensation and benefits trends, and highlighted new directions through keynote presentations, case studies and panel discussions.

Rae Chen, head of corporate solutions (group insurance) at AIA China, cautioned attendees against an unhealthy workforce.

“Employees simply cannot enjoy their work because of physical and psychological discomfort, and therefore companies should engage them to take initiatives and lead a healthier lifestyle,” she said.

AIA is constantly developing capabilities to help its clients provide interventions that promote behaviour change on employees’ overall health; offer guidance on the prevention of chronic diseases and musculoskeletal injuries; and create awareness on mental health and financial wellbeing.

AIA China Corporate Solutions’ A-Plus Service provides comprehensive medical services targeted at four groups: green channel services, including arranging a second diagnosis with medical specialists, hospitalisation and surgery for employees with critical illnesses; a chronic management service such as offering an online private doctor consultation and medicine delivery for chronic patients; conventional medical treatment such as a nation-wide registration for a sub-healthy workforce; and a customised health management tracking app for healthy employees.

Ambra Debernardi, director of the multinational business and broker development of group corporation solutions at AIA, echoed the importance of developing a healthy and energetic workforce.

“By changing lifestyle behaviours, we can make a meaningful impact on employees’ health and wellbeing and achieve key HR goals,” she said.

An all-encompassing wellness strategy includes segmenting and understanding the population through analytics, developing targeted wellness solutions, sustaining employee engagement and making positive behavioural change.

AIA Analytica is a self-service platform that allows employers the flexibility to track progress, review results and gain data-driven insights of their employees’ physical, mental and financial wellbeing transformation.

It covers all aspects such as claims, the vitality health baseline and workforce wellbeing programmes.

“At the end of the day, we hope to motivate and support workforces in Mainland China to embark on their own health journey,” she added.

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