Company: AECOM, Los Angeles, CA
Company Division/Group: Blue Communications
Company Description: AECOM is a global provider of professional technical and management support services to a broad range of markets including transportation, energy, water, sports arenas and government, to name a few. With expertise in architecture, design, engineering and construction, our 45,000 global employees serve clients in more than 150 countries and generated revenue of USD $8B in 2014.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign/Program of the Year - Internal Communications

Nomination Title: Wellness at AECOM

Tell the story about this nominated campaign since January 1, 2014 (up to 650 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms.

Wellness at AECOM is an annual program designed to improve the overall health of AECOM’s workforce and reduce health care spending for employees and the company. The 2014 campaign theme, ___ and be well, featured healthy behaviors and actions to explain a wellness program that was more involved and more demanding than in years’ past.

BUSINESS NEED and COMMUNICATION OPPORTUNITY

AECOM’s wellness program encourages and rewards employees for practicing healthy behaviors. Today, as health care reform continues to take hold in the U.S., Wellness at AECOM works in sync with the law’s basic tenets: it encourages involvement in personal health care choices, promotes wellness and rewards those who take steps to improve or maintain good health. Wellness at AECOM succeeds by linking completion of the program to eligibility for the Wellness medical plans. When employees participate in Wellness at AECOM, everyone saves: recent claims analysis shows that health care costs among participants in the Wellness medical plans are less than for participants in the Non-Wellness medical plans. This is critical, because the need to manage AECOM’s overall health care budget is more important than ever:

• At the launch of this campaign, AECOM’s U.S. health care benefits covered about 10,000 U.S. employees and their families, and represented an annual health care spend of approximately $X million. Globally, AECOM had 45,000 employees serving clients in more than 150 countries.

• Mid-way through the campaign, AECOM announced plans to acquire URS Corporation. The integration of URS employees, as well as Hunt Construction Group, has since quadrupled AECOM’s U.S. workforce to 44,000 and its worldwide workforce now totals 100,000 employees. Facing this significant increase, laying the groundwork for a healthy workforce and managing the company’s health care budget were critical financial objectives.

OBJECTIVES

1. To achieve the same level of participation in the wellness program as in 2013 (64.7%) or better, thereby maintaining or preferably increasing the number of employees who qualify for the Wellness medical plan options.

2. To achieve the same level of participation in the biometric screenings as in 2013 (30.2%) or better, thereby maintaining or preferably increasing the number of employees who understand their biometric numbers and increasing AECOM’s data pool.

3. To encourage employees to improve their health and work wellness into their lives.

4. To better manage AECOM’s overall health care spending.

EXECUTION

The campaign explained the new, more complex wellness program with clever headlines, simple language and beautiful imagery. The concept played off of the long-established tagline of Wellness at AECOM to “be well.” Each campaign element featured a single action word in the headline and “be well,” for example: “Play and be well,” “Screen and be well,” etc.

Through use of a variety of media, the campaign helped employees recognize the many ways they can fit wellness into their lives, and the advantages that a life lived “well” can bring to them, their families and their health care spending. Specifically, messaging focused on three primary advantages of completing Wellness at AECOM: better health, better medical plan choices in 2015 and cost savings opportunities (through eligibility for the lower-cost Wellness medical plan options). The design execution was an evolution of their existing health care branding, creating a campaign that was both welcome and familiar. For those who chose not to complete the program, we included details about the only 2015 Non-Wellness medical plan that would be available, the Basic High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).

RESULTS

• A nearly 8% increase in employee participation over the previous year.
• A 7% increase in biometric screenings.
• A 3.1% decrease in high risk factors among those who completed screenings or health assessments.
• Projected cost savings for 2015 of $X MM!

See page 26 of work sample for more details on results. ??

In bullet-list form, briefly summarize up to ten (10) of the chief features and results of this nominated PR program since the beginning of 2014 (up to 150 words). ?

The campaign featured clever headlines, simple copy and beautiful imagery to convey key messages and encourage participation. Various communications—including print, online and video— were targeted to senior management, mid-level management, employees and family members over a four-month period.

Objective 1 Results:

• 6,275 employees, or 72.5%, completed Wellness at AECOM and became eligible for the 2015 Wellness medical plans. This is up from 64.7% participation in 2013—a 7.8% increase!

Objective 2 Results:
• 37% of employees received a biometric screening, up 7% from 2013.

Objective 3 Results:
• 39.1% of participants received a preventive exam.
• 54.1% completed a video series.
• 70% said their experience encouraged them to better manage their health.
• Survey results indicated that 56% exercised more, 40% lost weight and 26% took steps to manage stress.

Objective 4 Results:
• 2015 projected cost savings is $X MM!

See page 26 of work sample for more details on results.