Employee Well-being  
Tillie Hidalgo Lima

Can you imagine the stress of leaving work for an appointment and finding your car in the parking lot with a flat tire?  Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone else deal with getting it repaired?  That’s exactly what happened to a nurse at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, Colorado whose on-site concierge came to the rescue and got the car tire fixed while she returned to work that afternoon.

Stressed out Workers

Several factors are combining to increase the stress level in the workplace:

1) Changing Work force

The composition of today’s work force is going through a radical change.  For the first time in history, the current workers come from four different generations:

1. Generation Y (born 1978-89)
2. Generation X (born 1965-77)
3. Baby Boomers (born 1946-64)
4. Silents (born before 1946)

 Each generation has its own characteristics.  For example, in general the youngest generation prefers a fast-paced, multi-tasking lifestyle while the Silents are accustomed to a slightly more leisurely pace.  As another example, Baby Boomers and Silents typically prefer face-to-face communication whereas the younger generations thrive on instant messaging and texting.

Dealing with these multiple generational differences adds an extra measure of stress, for both employees working with their colleagues and supervisors.

2) Shrinking Work force

Compounding the variety of ages in our work force is the fact that the older two generations are poised to retire in the next five years.  As these older employees leave, the overall size of the work force will shrink since the younger generations replacing them are substantially smaller in number.  Ajilon Finance reports that in 2006, two workers left the work force for each one entering it.  As the trend continues into the foreseeable future, vacancies and company changes to deal with the work shortages may put more stress on those still working.

3) Work Intensification

The competitiveness of our business climate today, fueled by global competition, Wall Street pressures and a host of other factors, drives many firms to layoff portions of their work force.  While employees who keep their jobs are grateful, they face a daunting task of balancing new job responsibilities with current duties.

Commonality

All of these factors take their toll on the remaining workers who are continually pressed for more productivity – to do more with less – and to work longer hours to make up for their departed colleagues.  The resultant stress, then, is common to all employees, regardless of generation.  So while there are many differences between the generations, all workers today are time-starved and stressed out.

There is plenty of evidence of this stress in our lives.  The American Psychological Association reports that more than half of all working adults and 47 percent of all Americans say they are concerned about the amount of stress in their lives.  Additionally, according to a recent Harris Interactive Study, one in three U.S. employees feel overworked as a chronic condition.  The Anxiety Disorders Association of America reports that three in 10 Americans say they have experienced persistent stress or panic attacks.

At the same time, as a society we’re coming to understand the negative effects that this pressure has on our health, ranging from high blood pressure to more severe complications such as heart attack or stroke.  The opportunity to ‘get away from it all’ and reduce this time burden can have an important role in keeping stress at bay.

In order to alleviate this pressure, companies are finding various methods for helping employees to cope including:

• Healthy eating/nutrition workshops
• Stress reduction workshops
• Health club memberships for regular exercise
• Promoting a better work/life balance

Help is on the Way

One innovative method of addressing the last bullet above, achieving a better balance between our work and our personal lives, is to offer concierge services to employees.  Hotels have been utilizing this concept successfully with their guests for many years and it is now being leveraged into the corporate and health care setting.

Concierges can offload time consuming chores so that employees are able to use their free time to unwind and to do as they please.  The top five most popular concierge services are:

1. Personal shopping
2. Automobile services
3. Mail/shipping/postage
4. Information referrals
5. Dry cleaning/laundry services

Other types of services are also offered by concierges such as errand running, transactional services (obtaining tickets), home-based help (waiting for a repair or service person), child/elder care research, corporate support (administering recognition programs), convenience services (gift wrapping), guest relations, travel planning, and event planning.

This last service is a good example of a popular and highly valued offering.  Concierges have taken treats to school for holiday parties, and planned birthday parties for busy parents.  One concierge organized a graduation party; offloading the details, even down to balloon delivery, from the parents.  In short, this service is a huge time saver for the employee.

Services are not limited to the above examples.  One employee had the concierge write a treasure hunt poem to lure her husband home early.  Another request was to fill a hot tub with 1600 gallons of water before a tailgate party.  One concierge located five, full- dress Scottish kilts for a wedding.  As long as it is legal and moral, concierges are happy to help out with any request.

Customers Love It

From an executive standpoint, Don Morris, vice president of human resources at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita , Kansas , said, “Our employees spend their energy every day caring for others and the concierge service returns the favor by making them the customer and meeting their needs.  It is a true win-win situation with purely positive results.”

Customers of concierge services volunteered the following comments, among others:

• “I can focus more on my work responsibilities because I am not distracted by my personal to-do list.”
• “It’s an every day reminder that Bronson [my employer] cares about its employees.”
• “I think this is our best benefit.”

Welcome Results

Results are proving the value of these services, for the employee and for their employers alike:

1) Decreased Stress

A national provider of concierge services, Best Upon Request, reports that based on their surveys, over ninety percent of those who used the service say it decreases their stress and helps them balance their work and personal lives.  Another customer said, “Personally, I have become much more efficient in my time off. I now have time to do other things.”

• 93% Strongly Agree/Agree that the concierge service helps reduce their stress level and 0% disagree.

• 92% Strongly Agree/Agree that the concierge service helps them balance work and personal responsibilities and 0% disagree.

2) Improved Productivity

These same survey results tell us that employees save an average of two hours for each concierge request.  More than half of those surveyed say they put that time back into work.

3) Improved Retention

HealthONE of Denver, Colorado, reported an overall decrease in their turnover ranging from 11 to 26 percent across several facilities.  The concierge service was definitely a factor in these improvements says HealthONE.

Bronson Healthcare Group, a Malcolm Baldrige award winner based in Michigan , also documented an overall turnover drop from almost 21 percent to just over 9 percent.  Other organizations are posting similar results.

4) Decreased Costs

Real dollars associated with reduced turnover can be significant as well.  In Bronson’s case, they report that their recruiting costs fell by at least a quarter of a million dollars ($250,000) annually.

Other Results

Although the direct tie between concierge services and improved overall employee well-being has not been specifically documented yet, it is a logical conclusion from the above outcomes.  Additional results, though less quantified, are:

• Improved employee satisfaction
• Enhanced customer/patient satisfaction, and
• Decreased absenteeism.

Anecdotal evidence reasons to support employee well-being abounds from utilization of the concierge service.  Another customer recently wrote a letter saying, “The sinking feeling of ‘I’ll never get caught up in life’ has changed to a feeling of being pulled out of the quicksand … You have given me back my free time and that is invaluable to me … Never in my 20 years has the hospital provided a service that makes as much of a difference in my life as this service does.”

If you have questions or comments on this article, you can contact Tillie Hidalgo Lima, Best Upon Request Corporate, Inc.  President/CEO, at thl@bestuponrequest.com.   Also, feel free to visit her website at http://www.bestuponrequest.com for more resources and information.