Bell Helicopter's Employee Wellness Program

Since the Bell 47 became the world's first helicopter certified for commercial use in 1946, Bell Helicopter Textron, located in Fort Worth, has built more than 35,000 helicopters. The company’s success and reputation for excellence was built with a workforce of dedicated employees, many of whom had worked at Bell their entire career. But as Bell entered the new century, its workforce of 5,700 was older than average, mostly male, and healthcare costs were rising significantly.

So in 2000, Bell decided to explore worksite wellness options.

“We knew that people approach wellness from different perspectives,” says Mark Simeroth, Bell’s manager of benefit plans at that time. “We conducted focus groups to find out what people want. Some of our employees weren’t thinking about it. Some were thinking about it but not doing it. Some had started making an effort to become more fit, and some were true believers.”

Simeroth realized that the key was to develop a program that impacts all four groups. “Our goal was to move people to the next level,” he says. Bell partnered with WinningHabits, now a part of Matria Healthcare, to design a points-based incentive program, Well@Bell. This program is designed to help employees adopt healthier behaviors, including being more physically active and making better food choices.

Program activities throughout the year include online and onsite seminars; four to eight-week challenges that focus on physical activity, healthy eating, and stress management; Wellness Assessments (Health Risk Assessment); onsite biometric screening and counseling; CPR training; annual physicals; safety programs and more. Employees and retirees earn Wellness Credits that translate into cash awards at the end of the year. “The big positive for us was that the focus groups showed high interest,” says Simeroth. “We developed committees to get constant feedback. We now have 11 committees who have become the real champions of the program.” Five years into Well@Bell, 5,300 of the 5,700 Bell employees have participated in the program. The percent of employees at risk from physical inactivity has been reduced from 83 percent to 30 percent, and the percentage of those with five or more risk factors (high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, etc.) has decreased from 62 percent to 22 percent. One of the most impressive improvements is that the number of smokers has been cut almost in half. In 2002, data from the Wellness Assessment indicated that almost 15 percent of all employees smoked cigarettes on a regular basis.

Readiness data revealed that 78 percent of all smokers were thinking about quitting, or already trying to quit. In June 2003, Bell asked its four unions to approve the adoption of a companywide smoke-free workplace policy. The unions responded by approving the new policy by a fourto- one margin. Short seminars were conducted for smokers in the fall of 2003, and free nicotine replacement therapy products (patches, gum, lozenges) were dispensed in two-week supplies. Beginning January 1, 2004, smoking was not allowed anywhere on Bell property, including company vehicles and parking lots. By the fall of 2004, the percentage of Bell employees who smoke dropped to less than eight percent.

“Some people here feel the program has literally saved their lives,” says Simeroth.

“Certainly, we’ve a more productive organization. My observation is that fit people are always at work and more enthusiastic about what the company is doing. Very few of our best employees are not touched in some way by our wellness program.” Simeroth believes the level of employee participation and employee commitment is the real determinate of success. “Your program needs to be adapted to your workforce so there’s something for everyone,” he says. “The goal is to stimulate behavior change. I learned how important it is to have groups of employees who advocate for the program. That’s a real strength for us. Well@Bell is an employee-owned program. Management didn’t impose it, and I don’t think our employees would let management take it away.” Simeroth would encourage other employers to embark on a similar journey.“Get a program going, establish a baseline, and see what happens,” says Simeroth. “Just make sure you keep your program fresh and lively.”

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