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Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Brands that can connect with their audiences more viscerally and more authentically will always be successful. With the Insights Out podcast, you will get access to deep and detailed conversations with the heads of leading organizations to understand how they are making their customer relationships work best and how we can all become more aligned to deliver strong value exchanges and better realize the benefits. I’m your host, Dr. Natanya Wachtel. Welcome.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Welcome to another episode of Insight Out, where we focus on how customer-centricity has a business value. Today, I have a very special guest, his name is Torrey Davis, and he’s going to share his experience and insights in one specific area around corporate wellness programs and their impact on the corporations, as well as the employees in which they’re supposed to serve. Welcome, Torrey.
Torrey Davis:
Hi, how are you?
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
I’m doing great. Thanks for joining me today. I was wondering if we could start, as we all wouldn’t do, with a little bit of a background about you and how you got here today.
Torrey Davis:
All right. I’m Torrey Davis, Davis IOP Strategy Consulting. A little bit of background about me, and I’ve spent roughly 15 years in the field of HR. I’ve worked in various capacities within the human resource field, but I recently became more interested in the side of what’s called industrial organizational psychology, which really deals with more of the strategic side of HR and the strategy within a business in all areas of the business. So I’m not just limited to the HR scope, but the IO psychology is really, again, a strategic approach. And where I come in is helping organizations strategize about where they’re trying to move forward with their goals and objectives, their mission and their vision, and then making sure they stay aligned with their mission and vision, so that, A, the employees understand the impact and purpose of their work. That’s important, that helps with retention, that helps with the employee saying, “Hey, I know the impact of my work, I know what I’m coming to work every day to do, I know what the purpose is,” and that’s rewarding from an employee perspective. And then on top of that, building processes and dealing with change, you know, changes ever happening in an organization. So understanding how to communicate and build strategy around change and having employee buy-in and leadership buy-in. Those are areas that I focus on specifically, especially in the space of wellness, because we all know that’s an ever-growing field. Roughly 66% of employees feel that employers are actually responsible for providing some sort of wellness or healthcare-related benefits, and whether that’s via application or some other modality to them. So that’s a little bit about me and what I do.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
That’s great. Can you tell us a little bit about your actual background? I think that would be great to frame it up, and then we’ll get a little deeper into what we can learn from you about the insights around these building, and executing, and maintaining these kinds of programs.
Torrey Davis:
My background is I actually started out in HR in the space of benefits, so that’s a lot of where my interest in wellness, and well-being, and health came from. And then, from there, actually, the Affordable Care Act came into play. So then I was responsible for helping those who may not have been eligible for healthcare, obtaining healthcare, understanding rules and regulations. Then, I actually came into the wellness space, and that’s when I took a deep dive. I became a corporate-certified wellness specialist, so now I can really help create wellness programs for companies and really dive into strategically helping companies integrate wellness programs into all areas. More about me, I like to golf, so that’s a hobby that I took up over COVID, and I really enjoy that. It’s a peaceful game. I didn’t know that I would because I originally played basketball, and I like that fast-paced. But golf is just a really nice, calm sport, allows me to get out there and think, and that’s where some of my best strategy thoughts come from.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
That’s awesome. Getting that oxygen to the brain always helps, right?
Torrey Davis:
Yes.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
So, as you know well know, and most of our listeners probably do as well, But if not, we want to talk about how the effectiveness of a wellness program, it relies heavily on understanding those employee needs, those insights of the core drivers, and aligning them with the organization’s overall strategy and culture, as you mentioned. So how do you allocate appropriate resources as an organization, manage that change effectively, measure the impact of that change across a number of parameters, including absenteeism, presenteeism productivity, life cycle management elements? And so the interview questions today are going to examine a few of the approaches and processes that you’ve seen employed that achieve these objectives and a few examples of how you’ve seen that work. So for the first question, it’s sort of been touched on a bit, but how do you personally, when you’re working with clients, how do you ensure that the development of the wellness program is based on those needs and preferences of the employees as well as the corporation who is sponsoring it?
Torrey Davis:
So, first and foremost, I believe in assessing an organization. So, some sort of assessment has to be done. So, for me, I’m going to look at claims data. I want to know from the last three years what is prevalent from a metabolic syndrome in the organization. So, are we seeing an increase in diabetes or neoplasms or whatever else? What are we seeing in the organization that is starting to affect, A, the cost of healthcare, and B, how many employees per 100 per 1000, depending on the size of your organization, are starting to come into, I wouldn’t say contact, but experiencing these types of diseases that they need help with? And I think you can look at that across the board and really get a sense of what you need from a well-being program. And then also look at your disability, long-term and short-term disability programs. We know long-term programs, disability programs, are causing employees to not come back to work, and that’s cost to the organization because then you have to try somebody out. Then you got to create a rec and then hire somebody in, or either you got to try to consolidate that work, which could be stressful for an employee picking up new tasks and ownership. So we want to definitely look at long-term disability and what is plugging an organization that standpoint, which generally you’re probably going to find some detail of that in your short-term disability program as well, because that’s going to lead people to long-term if they exhaust short term. If you understand, if you have a large area and let’s just say you have a company that has white-collar workers and blue-collar workers from a short-term disability, you may have different areas where blue-collar workers are affected. If you’re actually tracking that information so you know what areas they’re coming from, what their jobs are, and things of that nature, then you can really start to hone in on, okay, what programs can we provide for our employees that are out in the blue-collar space? What programs can we provide for employees who are in the white-collar professional space? Because they have different needs.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Yeah.
Torrey Davis:
But to definitely explore those two areas. And then lastly, you always want to ask your employee population what they want to see. And so think if you combine those three areas, and that’s what I’ve done, you have a lot of buy-in from leadership and the employees for the programs that can come out of that type of research.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Excellent, that makes a lot of sense. So, layering on to that, how would you or how have you seen and maybe provide an example, if you’d like, of a wellness program that contributes also to promoting the overall company culture? Then, once it’s implemented, there are sort of culture and values, whether those be about individuals, about certain groups and inclusion, or just about support for a whole person. Any examples there?
Torrey Davis:
Yes. So when it comes down to a well-being strategy, it has to, it must be incorporated into an organization’s culture, into their value system, into whatever principles they have. Otherwise, the program just becomes a box-checker, right? We don’t want a program to become a box checker because it loses its value. So essentially, like a heart attack and stroke prevention program, okay, you want to have your leadership participate in any type of program.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
I just want to pause you right there. Small detail, but I bet you would say because we’ve found as well, right? That’s not always the case.
Torrey Davis:
It’s correct.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Box checker applies through all aspects, including participation of the actual senior leadership, yes.
Torrey Davis:
Yes. So having senior leadership, the C-suite participate, that actually helps the employees feel more comfortable. Hey, they’re doing it. They believe in it, then we can do it. And we stand behind it too, making sure that senior leadership gets involved in any program that you have. But again, for a heart attack, a stroke prevention program that I’ve helped before with leadership had to be involved. And then, on top of that, we had to communicate out the specifics of program. So, what I tend to lean on is what’s called self-determination theory, which deals with autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy is providing choice, so by providing a heart attack and prevention program to the population, there were different levels that the employees could participate in, which they may or may not comfortable at a higher level versus the lower level, so they had options. Competence, we made sure they understood what was happening to their data, what they needed to do to get involved in the program. Those are two big areas when you’re talking about a corporate program that employees really want to know and understand. And then, when you get into the area of relatedness, that is my co-workers doing it, so I’m going to do it, too. I saw my leadership do it, so I’m going to do it, too. You end up having that type of synergy happening. And if you can put those three aspects in place, then your participation levels are going to be high. In a thousand-person company, they did have a heart attack and stroke program before, but it was maybe, I don’t know, ten years before I got involved, and they only had 13 people participate. When I implemented the elements that I’m talking about here, literally within two months, 233 or so people participated in the program and ended up saving 33 lives who were on the verge of heart attack or stroke.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
That’s incredible.
Torrey Davis:
That’s a testament to how these elements really work when you really put the effort in to understand how to make a well-being program effective and incorporate it with your mission, vision, and corporate strategies.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
That’s incredible. And thank you for that. And I’m sure most of those people don’t even know you exist. I know that us working in the background have that often, but I understand and support and I really admire some of those outcomes that you’ve been so responsible for, so thank you. Layering onto that, can you share, I know we’ve talked before, so I thought maybe you could share with the listeners, I know there’s some diabetes and metabolic programs that led to positive, measurable outcomes aside from just also health outcomes for the corporation that was sponsoring them. Could you maybe share another example of that?
Torrey Davis:
In the space of diabetes, there is a lot of programs that are out there. A lot focus on, I won’t say a lot, but some focus on the diet, and a diet is a crucial point when it comes to any metabolic syndrome, it doesn’t just relate to diabetes. However, as we know, diets are generally hard to keep up with. Okay, so.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Diets don’t work, basically.
Torrey Davis:
Yes. What I’ve seen over the years is diets as fast as you start them, as fast as they end. Well, because you end up more or less looking at things you don’t enjoy eating or having as an option to eat. First, from a diabetes management program, I don’t generally look at programs that are heavily diet-focused. I look at programs that are more focused on managing the chronic illness, okay? And the reason is when we talk about managing, we’re really getting into what’s called lifestyle changes. And when we manage, that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Right. Using positive psychology. If you eat the, more of these foods, it will help your blood sugar and you’ll feel better because, rather than don’t eat this, don’t eat that, is that essentially, I’m oversimplifying, but for those who are not familiar in the space.
Torrey Davis:
Yes, essentially, you want to really hone in on what someone can do, not what they shouldn’t do.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Right.
Torrey Davis:
Then you want to provide those support mechanisms. I know there’s a company out there that they actually will call in, or a participant if their sugar reading is too high or too low within two minutes. So you want to make sure that.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
You mean is it via a connected device, like a glucometer, or? Basically, you’re monitoring your blood sugar with a connected device, meaning it’s over the internet can transmit your data to a trusted source. And so that’s monitored, and then an alert, I’m assuming, to an allied health professional nurse, RN, PA, whatever, would then get an alert that this person is in a not-good zone, and then they would get a phone call to help redirect them and check-in.
Torrey Davis:
It could be a phone call. It could be a text.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
A text, right? Outreach. Yeah, that’s incredible. So it’s really real-time monitoring.
Torrey Davis:
It’s really real-time. So that is what really helps manage chronic illness like a diabetes, is that real-time intervention where they’re getting a certified person coaching them through what have you eaten in the last two hours, or did you sleep well last night? Or just asking those questions, trying to figure out what’s going on, and then creating a path forward to help that individual.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
That’s awesome. And can we talk a little bit about either from that example or another about sort of the outcomes in terms of impact to the corporation as a whole? So things like we were talking about overall maybe stemming attrition rates where a lot of mainstream news talks about the great resignation and people are leaving their jobs more than ever. And I know you have some experience in data, that’s why I’m asking you to share it around how the companies benefit by investing in their employees. So obviously, it should feel good because if you’re actually helping your employees, that’s wonderful, but also how it helps them in terms of a performance and a retention perspective.
Torrey Davis:
Yes, so when an employee feels, like me, employer, cares for them, they’re more apt to stay. So when you’re offering these types of programs to employees, you’re really also affecting your retention rates.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Right.
Torrey Davis:
Your attrition rates, your bottom line, your productivity, your absenteeism. If you provide the space for employees to be well, then you should see a reduction in your sick time, but you may see an increase in those who are actually seeking to go to doctor’s offices and doctor’s visits. Those are positive things because you want your employees to see their physicians go and get the treatments and things that they need. So you will see an uptick in maybe your lead from that perspective, but as far as lost work, lost productivity because someone’s out sick or they’re just disengaged because they don’t feel the organization really has their best interest in mind, you’re going to see that go down drastically.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Yes.
Torrey Davis:
From an actual ROI, you’ll start to see maybe your spin for medical claims either stabilize or decrease. I know for a couple of organizations, I’ve seen them stabilize and then eventually start decreasing. They didn’t see that.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Because it takes a little while. We’re talking about shifting to proactive health management and addressing things, which takes a little bit of resource to do, but it avoids hospitalizations. It can be deprescribing happening so that overall their medication benefit decreases as well, less medication. So yes, obviously, there is a longitudinal value curve here, but yeah, I think that’s really a powerful message for employers. That it’s, yes, hopefully, you do it for the right reasons in terms of the heart-centric approach, I want to make everyone feel supported in my organization, but also when they are supported, therefore, I get essentially a better ROI on all the investment in that retention of that employee, in their productivity, in their potential ability to advance within the organization, because these are also cognitive impairments, right? If you have, whether it be in mental health or other diseases that are putting essentially a block between your best self and what you can bring to your work. Thank you for sharing all of this. This is really. Sorry?
Torrey Davis:
You said something insightful there.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Oh, okay. That’s great.
Torrey Davis:
So, a lot of times, you may hear an organization talking about mental health. If someone is diagnosed with cancer, or diabetes, or any other type of chronic illness, that is almost an immediate impact on their mental health.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Yes.
Torrey Davis:
And offering these programs where these employees feel supported wholeheartedly, that’s going to impact their mental health tremendously. But they’re also going to take that home if their dependents can’t participate in some of these programs. You must remember, the employee has an ecosystem, so it’s not just about them. If you’re taking care of them and their dependents and providing that mental health benefit across the board, you’re winning. And as I was saying earlier, you can see that 5% year over year, that’s that inflation cost built into healthcare from an organizational standpoint, you can actually see that flatline over the course of three years, which means you’re not experiencing that 15% increase over that three-year period. What can you do with premiums? You can stabilize them, you know? So all of that’s a trickle-down effect to why employees want to stay right with their employer.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
That’s awesome. Thank you for that. So that kind of falls into the whole reciprocity, right? We talked about autonomy and self-determination and then reciprocity. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. And it’s implicit, but no, that’s fabulous. This was quite illuminating. And I know we were talking a bit above before, but around and through, so we could spend a lot of time together, but we have to wrap up today, unfortunately. I’m sure the listeners would really love to connect with you and learn more. So can you just briefly tell us what is the best way to get in touch with you?
Torrey Davis:
Yes, yes. The best way to get in touch with me is to visit my website, DavisIOPllc.com. You can click on business services, and then under business services, click contact us, and that will allow you to at least start the process of contacting the organization, and then we’ll reach back out to you and service you and get whatever you need taken care of.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Thank you so much for being my guest today. It was really a pleasure and we look forward to hearing and seeing more from you around the globe soon.
Torrey Davis:
Sounds good, and thank you for having me.
Dr. Natanya Wachtel:
Thank you for listening to Insights Out. We hope you enjoyed today’s episode. If you have a specific topic in mind and you want us to discuss, please reach out to us by visiting NewSolutionsNetwork.com. See you next time!
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