Concordia Plans named ‘healthiest employer’

Concordia Plan Services (CPS), the LCMS benefits provider, is one of St. Louis’ “healthiest employers” for 2013.

Employees of Concordia Plan Services — named one of St. Louis’ “Healthiest Employers” for 2013 — participate in the Ragnar Rally, a 32-hour, 200-mile race from Madison, Wis., to Chicago. (Concordia Plan Services/Nicki Kirk)

CPS won the “Healthiest Employer” award from the St. Louis Business Journal among entries in the category for those with 100 to 499 employers.

CPS President and CEO James F. Sanft accepted the award at an Oct. 10 banquet in St. Louis, accompanied by nine other CPS employees.

Although this is the first time that CPS has won the top honor in its category, it was a finalist for 2012. The St. Louis Healthiest Employer awards were first given in 2011.

According to an Oct. 14 CPS news release, the Healthy Employer awards “recognize companies and nonprofit entities that commit to making wellness a priority and proactively shape the health of their employees.” It also lists six “key categories” the Business Journal uses to evaluate those who enter the awards competition. They are:

culture and leadership commitment,

foundational components,

strategic planning,

communication and marketing,

programming and interventions and

reporting and analysis.

An insert with the Oct. 11-17 edition of the St. Louis Business Journal features CPS and four other winners in their categories, along with finalists in those categories. That edition also includes a write-up about Lutheran Senior Services — an LCMS Recognized Service Organization based in St. Louis that is one of this year’s finalists in the category of 1,500-4,999 employees and is cited as the St. Louis “area’s largest nonprofit organization, with 2,759 employees in more than 20 facilities in Missouri and Illinois.”

The Business Journal article about CPS features Sanft and the “Be Well Rewards” program that CPS administers, “which provides gift cards to participants for different types of healthy behavior.”

That article also notes that about 80 percent of CPS employees take part in the program, compared with a participation rate of between 25-30 percent synodwide.

“The Be Well Rewards incentive program supplements [the CPS] ‘Be Well … Serve Well’ programs,” according to the CPS news release. It explains that “the goals of the ‘Be Well … Serve Well’ health and wellness programs are to help workers understand their health risks, provide tools they need to make and sustain lifestyle changes, and support healthy lifestyles that will benefit their lives and the lives of the people they serve.”

Also, the release points out that “CPS has noticed a positive change in its corporate culture due to the wellness programs.” It continues that a CPS staff survey revealed that “as a result of the health and wellness programs provided, over 90 percent of staff feel happier, 86 percent report that they are more productive at work, and 93 percent said they are in better overall health. The most effective tool in creating a culture of wellness has been the Be Well Rewards program. These incentives, in addition to existing programming, support of leadership, and ongoing communication, proved to be the push that many people needed to change their behaviors and health habits.”

The news release notes that more than 70 percent of CPS staff completed the “Go St. Louis Mile-by-Mile marathon,” in which participants “walk or run 26.2 miles over 6 weeks. … In addition, CPS sent a team of 12 employees to participate in the Ragnar Relay in Chicago — a 32-hour, 200-mile race that runs from Madison, Wisconsin to Chicago.”

For more information about Concordia Plan Services and the Be Well Rewards program, click here or call 888-927-7526.