Corporate PT

Building a Corporate Health Business

By Andrew May

Have you ever dreamt about building a career in the fitness industry that extends beyond working in a gym or training clients? There are many career opportunities now available that were not there a few years ago. This is the second in a series of career profiles that will examine different job opportunities that are emerging as the fitness industry continues to strengthen and diversify.

Tapping into the corporate market represents a major window of opportunity for fitness professionals to expand their careers – and their incomes. The future for corporate health is very promising, as an increasing number of companies realise the benefits of improving the overall health of their employees. Right now is a perfect time to broaden your career potential and stamp yourself as an integral value-added commodity to Australian corporations.

7 Steps to Building a Corporate Health Business

So how do you prepare yourself to provide a corporate health or corporate fitness service? The following 7 steps will guide you through the process, from getting ready and doing your initial homework to running pilot programs and continuing the cycle.

Step 1: Do your homework

a) Understand the corporate health industry
• Realise that corporate health is much more than corporate fitness and group personal training
• Read as much information as you can on corporate health
• Find out what other providers are doing in the market place
• Know the components of best practice programs
• Find out what local companies are doing
• Start reading the same material as your target market, e.g., Financial Review, newspapers, magazines, trade publications, OH&S Reviews.

b) Understand Occupational Health and Safety guidelines
• Gain a general understanding of the OH&S Act (1983) and how it is implemented in workplaces
• Investigate the state legislation/policy on rehabilitation procedures and return-to-work programs
• Register with your state Workers Compensation Authority (e.g., Workcover)

c) Develop the necessary skills
As a Corporate Health specialist, it is mandatory to have the following skills:
• An understanding of marketing and promotion
• Good communication skills on a one-to-one level and when dealing with small groups
• Well developed public speaking skills
• Thorough understanding of anatomy, biomechanics, physiology and nutrition
• An understanding of psychology, behaviour change, goal setting and motivation
• Experience working with clients in a health setting (e.g., personal training, corporate fitness, nursing or other forms of health care)
• A generalised knowledge base on all aspects of corporate health, OH&S, injury rehabilitation and organisation theory.

d) Maintain professionalism
When working with organisations, both large and small, it is paramount to establish yourself as a professional from the first contact. Remember 80% of your image is projected in the first four minutes. Make sure your first impressions last – dress in smart attire that is appropriate to the organisation you are working with. Don’t turn up in bike pants if you are addressing white collar workers, but by the same token an Armani suit won’t go down well if you’re talking to a bunch of miners named Biffer, Bluey and Shagger!

e) Suggested career path of the fitness instructor
From personal experience and witnessing other people enter the corporate health industry, the following format is recommended to ensure you have all of the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to successfully begin a career in corporate health.
• Attain base level of accreditation – Fitness Leaders
• Gain experience working on the gym floor
• Make the transition into personal training
• Further study – either tertiary (Sports Science) or Diploma
• Gain experience in injury rehabilitation and corrective exercise therapy
• Develop your public speaking skills
• Commence corporate fitness activities and education seminars
• Develop a range of corporate health products and services

Step 2: Develop a product

Corporate health and corporate fitness activities need to be given an identity. It is well and good to say benefits include reduced absenteeism, decreased stress, improved productivity and better retention levels – yet these are all largely intangibles, items you cannot readily see.

It should be a priority to make your health promotion product as tangible as possible so that it appeals to a range of different populations. Just as a sports store has a multitude of different shoes to cater for a wide range of personal needs and preferences, so to should every corporate health program. To differentiate yourself from the opposition, develop a detailed list and outline of your services. Don’t just say you do fitness activities – explain clearly. Examples of corporate health services include education seminars, cholesterol and healthy heart checks, corporate fitness and yoga/boxing classes, executive medicals, team building, manual handling and ergonomics, functional capacity evaluation and injury rehabilitation, psychology and counseling services, on-site fitness centres, health education materials (newsletters, emails, posters, web based products), massage and natural therapies.

Step 3: Decide how much to charge

If you don’t charge an adequate amount for your products and services you won’t be in business for very long. Likewise, if you charge way too much initially and you are perceived as too expensive, you won’t have enough business to survive! So what is the magical formula to calculate how much to charge for corporate health services?

Every company you come into contact with has different needs – and more often than not, different budgets. How much you charge will largely depend on your qualifications and experience. As you refine your services and gain more experience, you can start to set your own price.

If an organisation believes your services are too expensive for their budget, you can decrease the investment slightly (if you feel you really need the job), or give a discount for purchasing your services in bulk. However, in general stick to your base price because if you are seen to be a pushover from day one, it will be very hard to establish credibility long-term when you want to on-sell your entire range of products and services.

Remember the ‘big picture’. If your rate is $150 to train a group, break this down into real terms – only $5 per person! The company would never be able to find a program this affordable outside their organisation so emphasis the savings represented by delivering the service on-site (savings in travel, time off work and replacement wages).

Also factor preparation and travel time into your service rates. Even though it may only take you 60 minutes to present a seminar, how much time has it taken you to prepare your materials? How much has it cost you up until now to attend courses, workshops and to gain an education so you can deliver these services? Be rewarded for your expertise and the benefits you can provide.

Step 4: Prospecting and Promotion

Prospecting
This is not as difficult as you initially think. If you are currently training a company manager, CEO or Human Resources Manager on an individual level, you are half way there. Inform your client of your intentions to move into the corporate market and send or deliver your information package. If you do not know any company heads or human resources staff, you can try cold calling. Start by calling the personnel office and ask for the name and address of the managing director or the OH&S officer. If the company doesn’t have anybody in this role, ask for the name of the HR manager. Call the related person directly, introduce yourself and ask if they see a need for a corporate health program, or if they are currently utilising any WHP services.

Contact your local Chamber of Commerce to enquire about publications they issue to local organisations. Often they are willing to employ you to submit regular articles confronting current health issues and you may be able to attach contact details at the end of your article. Organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Vocational Rehabilitation Provider groups all have regular meetings to which they invite guest speakers. Send your information off to all of these groups to try to gain speaking opportunities. Attend these sessions regardless as they are a prime opportunity to network and get to know key industry personnel.

Sending information
Once you have briefly highlighted the benefits of your services, ask the manager if you can send a proposal outlining your services/product. Better still, deliver your package personally and introduce yourself. In the proposal be sure to include:
• An overview of your business
• Benefits of WHP programs
• A list of services that you provide
• Background / qualifications
• Relevant experience
• Testimonials (from either personal or corporate clients)

It is not always necessary to send an outline of the price in your first information package. If the contact asks for specific rates, include them. If not, wait until your draft proposal or when you meet with the appropriate decision maker/s.

Step 5: Presentations and proposals

Presentations
Most health fitness professionals will have experience dealing with clients both individually and in groups. Your communication skills will be well developed at this level, so the next step will be to learn to present your information in an informative and motivating manner to large groups of people. It is a good idea to seek some professional training to improve your presentation skills, as these skills will be useful in many areas of your future work.

When dealing with management you will need to have a strong grasp of the health and safety issues confronting best practice organisations. Do your homework on workers compensation issues and legislation, duty of care and occupational health and safety practices. Demonstrating a clear understanding of a broad range of health issues will promote your status in the eyes of management. Look beyond fitness courses – contact your state Workplace Standards Authority, Workers Compensation Board and local TAFE colleges to investigate some interesting educational alternatives.

Talk the managers language
Ask specific questions related to the company – areas that may need addressing in the future. How is the overall health of the workforce? Remember to talk about ‘investment’ not ‘cost’. A successful corporate program will actually generate savings and represent a true long-term investment. The bottom line in starting a corporate program is to make sure you contact and liaise with the decision maker/s, otherwise you may be wasting your time and effort.

Arrange a presentation
Organise a convenient time to meet with the chief decision makers. Before the presentation do your homework, if possible access relevant company statistics (the Organisation Stock take process). Present your product in a clear, comfortable manner, again highlighting bottom line benefits (the bean counters will love this!).

Step 6: Pilot program

Companies love the term ‘pilot’ because it only involves a small amount of risk and up front dollars on their behalf. Trial your program with a select group, use the Pareto Principle focusing on the 20% of the workforce who incur 80% of the total costs. After your pilot is successful, implement the program on a much larger scale.

Step 7. Continue the Cycle

Learn from your experiences, and build on your strengths. Evaluate every aspect of the program and work out how you can improve it the next time. Once you have completed a successful corporate health program, ask the program coordinator (company CEO, Human Resources Manager etc) for a testimonial explaining the benefits their organisation received by investing in your program. A great testimonial is worth its weight in gold!

As you feel more comfortable with what you are doing, you can tackle your next project and before too long you will have a range of corporate health products and services. It takes at least five years to achieve a robust business template, so be systematic, be patient, and get going!

Case Studies
Need some ammunition to convince a potential business client of the value of corporate health? The following ‘real-life’ case studies provide tangible bottom-line evidence.
• Wrest Point Hotel Casino in Hobart, Tasmania, reported a return of $4.87 for every dollar spent on their pro-active Health Management program with Healthy Business. Wrest Point now reports an average of 950 less sick days each year, a decrease of 62.1% compared to previous years. Add to that a total of 48 less workers compensation claims each year, a 36.4% reduction. This program focused on high risk populations, including cleaners, house-keeping, coin clearance and maintenance/cellars and the emphasis was on education programs, immunisation, integrated return-to-work plans and injury prevention/work hardening strategies.

• Providence Health System-Everett (USA) saved an estimated $1.5 million or a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 4.24 over the three years of an outcomes-based employee health benefits program called the Wellness Challenge. By offering financial incentives to employees who demonstrated responsibility for their health and fitness based on set criteria, the program showed reductions in the use of health benefits, lower medical claims, less absenteeism, and improved health habits. Health care claims were 33.6% lower for employees at Providence Health System-Everett than at nine other similar hospitals.
• Each dollar invested in workplace health promotion yielded $1.42 over two years in lower absenteeism costs at Du Pont Co (USA). Absences from illness unrelated to the job among 45,000 blue-collar workers dropped 14% at 41 industrial sites where the health promotion program was offered, compared with a 5.8% decline at 19 sites where it was not.
• Superior Coffee and Foods, a Bensenville-Illinois-based subsidiary of Sara Lee Corporation, attributes impressive results to the success of the company’s comprehensive wellness program. Superior showed 22% fewer admissions to a hospital, 29% shorter hospital stays, and 42% lower expenses per admission when comparing costs for this division’s 1,200 employees with costs for other divisions. Long-term disability costs were down by 40%.
• With medical costs per employee at $6,000, nearly twice the national average, Union Pacific Railroad (USA) introduced the concept of personal health management to its 28,000 employees, mostly union and blue collar. Beginning with a modest medical self-care initiative at an annual cost of $50 per person, the program achieved net savings of $1.26 million. In addition, a voluntary program to help employees lower health risks projected a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.57 after one year. Employees in a treatment group lowered their risk of high blood pressure (45%) and high cholesterol (34%); others moved out of the at-risk range for weight problems (30%); and 21% stopped smoking.

SIDEBAR

Corporate Heath Benefits

for the organisation:
• Improve productivity
• Reduce workers compensation claims and premiums
• Increase recruitment potential
• Reduce absenteeism and disability time
• Reduce staff turnover
• Develop a strong sense of camaraderie
• Provide a set of future health indicators (KPIs)
• Positive return on investment

for the employees:
• Maintain balance between work and home
• Improve health awareness
• Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension
• Stress management strategies
• Increase satisfaction
• Able to manage priorities and time
• Behaviour and habit modification
• Improved strength, mobility, fitness and energy
• Enhanced self-esteem, motivation and long-term happiness

by Andrew May
Andrew is an international expert in corporate health having already built and sold two successful companies (the last one to the Accor International Hotel Group for more than 7 figures!). He is the co founder of Good Health Solutions; Australia’s leading Health Promotion consultancy. Good Health Solutions owns and operates the Executive Health Assessment Centres at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney and Melbourne and consults to some of Australia’s largest organisations in both the private and public sectors. Andrew speaks at conferences across the globe, appears regularly in the media and is the author the best selling book Flip the Switch. He is the founder of PT Plus and over the past 2 years has worked with more than 40 ‘fitnesspreneurs’ to help them earn 6 figures and well beyond.

http://www.aipt.com.au/blog/articles/building-a-corporate-health-business.html