Taking a “public health” approach at Danone

Citation

Mayor, J. (2015), "Taking a “public health” approach at Danone", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 14 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-06-2015-0048

Taking a “public health” approach at Danone

Article Type: HR at Work From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 14, Issue 4

John Mayor based at Danone, London, UK.

For an organisation like Danone, taking health and well-being seriously is a given. There is nowhere to hide. Danone only produces food that has some kind of health benefit. It was ranked top of the Access to Nutrition Index (ATNI – which assesses the nutrition-related policies, practices and performance of all the major food companies).

Consequently, while other organisations might struggle to build a case for investment into well-being, our strategy dovetails naturally with business goals and organisational ethos. The challenges are different. Danone needs to ensure the external messages about healthy lifestyles are reflected by what is really happening internally and in terms of staff behaviours – and that the organization is continually ahead, setting the benchmark for others to follow. At the same time, there is a need to find ways to demonstrate the impact of well-being activities on the organisation over time.

Danone has attempted to address all of those needs by introducing a “public health” approach. National public health initiatives are based on assembling data and intelligence from across the whole population, identifying what really matters to people, the specific health risks, and investing in awareness campaigns and support initiatives that will have the greatest impact on society. The aim has been to be able to offer comprehensive health screens, annually, for all staff – not just as a benefit for senior levels.

Danone first began to explore the value of offering health screening for all employees in 2011. Since 2013, we have been developing the public health approach with a partner, Bluecrest Wellness, finding ways to offer large-scale health screening that can be both affordable for the organization and practical in terms of fitting into working lives.

Checks are wide-ranging, including areas that are not covered as standard by the National Health Service (NHS), aimed at picking up on any early signs of issues that could affect health for the future: the basics such as body mass index (BMI), cholesterol and blood pressure, but also critical checks for different forms of cancer and areas like musculoskeletal health and psychological well-being. The screening relating to heart diseases – atrial fibrillation (AF) and peripheral artery disease (PAD) – are particularly important, for example. Problems are relatively common, an estimated 20 per cent of AF cases go undiagnosed, and AF is a major risk factor for heart disease and strokes.

Danone has four business units based on two main sites: water and dairy based in London; and early life and advanced medical nutrition in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. There are also field-based employees working on the move around the UK. The service is voluntary, and around 60 per cent of Danone staff currently take the health tests.

Employees can call up the health check service to make a booking, and the most convenient location will be found for them. Often that is in the office, and Bluecrest will regularly have a presence there for appointments, or be running whole day sessions. Checks can also be provided at partner clinics in different locations around the country, which is useful for field staff who work. It has been found that even when people feel perfectly healthy, the tests can pick up on serious conditions which can go undiagnosed. In one case, for example, we had an employee who was outwardly very healthy but following the check needed to go straight for surgery. Individuals get detailed reports written in plain language without the medical jargon. These are confidential, and anonymised data are then provided for strategic planning for the organisation, for the creation of an annual health plan and to tailor the most effective initiatives. Employees are able to download an app with their personal data, which can then be used as a reference point, link to specific health advice content, and used alongside their own health and fitness app data.

The organisation collects the usual information on sickness and reasons behind it and also, run focus groups with staff to explore issues. But it is the Bluecrest data that provide the breadth and depth we need for forming a clear picture of actual needs and issues, solid enough to make a strong case for investment in specific areas. By providing health checks for everyone, you can get a picture of what is required in each division or location and tailor the response appropriately. Stress might be the issue in head office, but within regional offices it may be obesity, alcohol, smoking or musculoskeletal problems.

The data have led to new insights. We know that issues of weight and obesity are a problem in the UK population generally, but we were not perhaps expecting the kind of results we have seen within the organisation. Now we know it is important and still needs to be high on our agenda. Danone responded by looking at the food provided in cafes, and the types of physical activity being offered. We set up a walking club, with genuine exercise involving a fitness instructor, but with no need to get into a gym kit. It is an approach that introduces the idea of regular, enjoyable exercise. We were also surprised by the levels of Vitamin D deficiency. Coming out of the winter months, the company was providing Vitamin D sprays and supplements in the offices. There have also been higher levels of unhealthy liver cases than expected, and that is something else we will be looking at. More specifically, the screening has picked up high readings for 2 per cent of the population screened with high glucose readings (and therefore, the risk of diabetes); 0.8 per cent with readings suggesting they might have coeliac disease, and a member of staff was shown to have a reading which is an indicator of ovarian cancer. With high readings, all the individual staff were contacted by a general practitioner (GP) to allay their fears and to refer them for more detailed testing.

Our budget for this year includes funds for ideas initiated by employees, and that will cover activities like entrance fees for charity running events. Danone’s health and well-being programme of support ranges across four broad areas: physical, nutrition, emotional well-being and health and safety. This is backed up by more specific activity for families, with particular help for pregnant staff and their spouses on nutrition and food for weaning.

Anecdotally, the introduction of screening has led to new attitudes and awareness of personal health issues, meaning less absenteeism and a more productive workforce generally. The universal health-screening offer is also an important engagement tool. Employees lead very busy lives, both at work and at home, so health can become de-prioritised, fighting for attention. This way we can get as many staff as possible interested and actively thinking about their health. We make it as easy as possible, and then there is hard evidence that cannot be ignored, and there is no waiting for problems to develop.

There is a general acceptance that well-being is important for productivity and performance, but how do we know? Greater tracking of data over time is needed, alongside stronger connections being made between well-being data and information on business performance. By quantifying the impact of health initiatives, there is a powerful basis for continuing and developing the good work that is being done by HR and rewards departments. And that means something far more sophisticated than just tracking absence figures.

In future, as the health data set grows, we will be able to track progress of individuals over time. We will be able to see where an issue has been identified, how we have tried to help them address it and the outcomes. We will also be able to use data to quantify the value of health and well-being to the business in terms of performance and productivity.

In terms of development of the public health approach, we will be looking at ways to better focus the number of tests provided, based on a growing understanding of those we know are most significant and have the greatest importance to staff. The biggest area of attention is likely to be around the area of emotional well-being, and how this can best be done. Psychological testing is less black and white than physical health and needs more subtlety in how it is approached. We also know that emotional “resilience” is bound up with physical health – the two interacting with each other – and underpins performance and engagement at work. The relationship needs unpicking and understanding in more detail.