Operational Excellence

July 9, 2010

Kaiser Permanente Speakers Address Strategic HR Issues, Workforce Health at Society for Human Resource Management Annual Conference

Kaiser Permanente executives last week spoke at the 62nd annual Society for Human Resource Management conference in San Diego, a gathering of more than 11,000 international human resource professionals.

The program included a keynote panel with Paul Records, senior vice president and chief human resources officer, Kaiser Permanente, discussing how companies can remain successful while facing challenges during tough economic times. In a separate session, Christine Paige, senior vice president, Marketing and Internet Services, Kaiser Permanente, offered an expert view on health and wellness and creating a culture of health.

In addition to Records, the keynote panel included human resources executives from Northrop Grumman Information Systems, Google and Deutsche Bank AG, and was led by moderator Angelia Herrin of Harvard Business Review. Records covered several topics including health care reform, the importance of diversity, changing workforce demographics, and best practices in the human resources field. Records encouraged employers to learn about health care reform and to work with their providers and encourage transparency to achieve optimal health outcomes for both employers and employees. He discussed Kaiser Permanente’s strategy to embrace the requirements of a multi-generational workforce, including how to appropriately leverage social media to support creativity and innovation. In addition, he addressed the importance of a diverse workforce as a business imperative.

“A diverse health care workforce makes communication with, and ultimately the treatment of, a diverse patient base more effective,” Records said. “I encourage every HR leader to think about their business strategies and what role diversity plays in supporting their organization’s success.”

Paige addressed the growing need for businesses to encourage employees to take an active role in their health and to integrate wellness into the workplace. In a session titled Total Employee Health: Creating a Culture of Health, Productivity and Next Generation Strategies for Integration, she reminded the audience that “an employer is uniquely positioned to help its employees make healthy changes to positively impact their health behaviors and decisions.”

Paige outlined four steps for building a successful workforce health program:

• Create the right environment in the workplace
• Continue to build on wellness programs;
• Encourage the use of available technology; and
• Make tools available by choosing partners who can enable care integration with technology.

Paige underscored the importance of integrating technology into programs that support self-management and behavior change, pointing to Kaiser Permanente’s success in engaging members online through health encyclopedias, health-management tools, the ability to email one’s doctor and view lab results, digital coaching and more.

Paige also referenced Kaiser Permanente’s free HealthWorks workbook for companies to build or enhance a workforce health program.

Following Paige’s session, conference organizers provided complimentary copies of Healthy Employees, Healthy Business (Nolo, 2009) at the SHRM bookstore. The book includes low-cost tactics to create workforce wellness initiatives, with chapters contributed by Kaiser Permanente physician experts.