How Hess Engages Employees with Health and Wellness Program and Activities

Two years of the COVID-19 pandemic have shifted the dynamics in the US healthcare system. We have seen an increasing emphasis from Americans to put health, both physical and mental, first. As the strain of a drawn-out pandemic took its toll and stress levels rose with each new tragic event in our communities, our company intensified its focus on employee wellness.

Hess Promotes Wellness in the Workplace with POWER UP Program

For the past five years, my company, Hess Corporation , has offered our employees and their partners a program called POWER UP, a nationally recognized framework for enhancing emotional, social, physical and financial wellness.

With POWER UP, we have found a way to provide our Hess extended family with solutions to practical and often life-changing issues, such as improving nutrition, quitting tobacco, enhancing mindfulness, and remaining fit.

POWER UP offers an array of easy-to-access information and tools that address the complexity of Hess employees’ lives beyond the workplace. In our personal lives we may be caring for elderly parents, supporting at-home children, coping with mental health issues, or trying to manage a balance between home and work life, while remaining fit. For many employees and their loved ones, POWER UP is the kind of support they need, and it has been widely recognized by organizations outside our company.

Hess Nationally Recognized for Employee Health

Springbuk, a health data analytics company included Hess among its Top 100 Healthiest Employers and the American Heart Association also highlighted the Hess POWER UP program on its annual Index.

Each year, we have offered more tools and resources that Hess employees and their spouses or domestic partners can use to make their lives run more smoothly and with greater satisfaction. Besides those available virtually, Hess offers access to trained counselors, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help with stress, anxiety, legal issues, family problems and financial concerns. And we host events that bring Hess employees together to share information on food, fitness, or other wellness issues, such as wellness trivia contests and Wellness Weeks.

Hess Employees and Families Can Earn Points to Support their Wellness Journey?

To reinforce the value of wellness, we offer financial rewards that accumulate either in an employee’s Health Savings Account, if they participate in the Hess medical plan or in a separate recognition program, we call Kudos+, where employees can trade in points they earn for items in an extensive online store. Spouses earn extra dollars, too, by engaging in the program, getting a free preventive annual physical, using the resources or participating in activities that promote wellness, such as a Fun Run, a nutrition class or a meal-planning program. Company sponsored volunteer activities with colleagues like the Hess Houston Corporate Run 5k, the MS150 bike ride, mentoring middle school children and reading to elementary school children, support social interaction and earn wellness points too.

As a result, Hess’ POWER UP program has attracted an ever-growing number of participants. Enrollment has reached 74% of our employee base and 39% of spouses and partners.

Of course, we know that offering financial incentives has been an essential ingredient to POWER UP’s success, but we also know that by having a wide range and variety of programming that addresses so many aspects of our lives, we have opened the doors further to Hess employees who can use support, encouragement, and solid information to benefit their everyday lives.

Providing Flexibility and Resources for Personalized Wellbeing

Through strategic partnerships with companies that specialize in programming in particular areas of wellness, Hess offers more than 700 on-demand fitness, mindfulness and nutrition classes that are available anywhere, anytime.

We offer a digital tobacco cessation program powered by the Mayo Clinic and Truth Initiative; the largest nonprofit organization dedicated to a smoke-free future.

There is also a selection of digital cognitive behavioral therapy videos that address a wide range of emotional and behavioral issues, such as stress, anxiety, and depression.?

Have time for a 10-minute workout or a longer, more vigorous one? We have videos and articles that can help and training modules for those interested in something less strenuous like yoga, meditation, and mindfulness.

Prioritizing Individual Employee Health

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many of us worked remotely or had limited access to group activities, POWER UP thrived because so much of it is virtual and available when most convenient. We’re seeing medical costs moderate, but more importantly, hearing more and more heartwarming personal stories about the positive impact on the lives of our friends and colleagues. There are many reasons I feel proud of Hess, but one that stands out is the focus on each person as an individual with a full life to be celebrated, nourished, and supported.

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