Increasing Healthcare Costs
Ranked #590,855 in Business & Work, #3,567,865 overall
BMW Empowers Employees While Managing Increased Healthcare Costs
Executive Summary
Faced with healthcare costs that were increasing more than 10% a year, BMW of North America wanted to inform their employees of how those costs were affecting the BMW company, and consequently BMW employees. Projections helped BMW management communicate with their employees about ways to manage healthcare costs that would benefit the employees as well as the company. BMW implemented a program that not only cut costs but helped employees to become better healthcare consumers. By using a member of upper management as a narrator, who was straightforward and open about changes BMW would have to make to adjust to rising costs, the video proved to be credible and effective in communicating with employees.
About BMW Manufacturing Corporation
In 1992, BMW announced that it would build a manufacturing facility in the United States to strengthen its international production system. The location, a 1,150-acre site in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, remains the only plant located in the US, and now serves as an integral part in the company's five-plant production network. BMW builds some of the world's finest luxury performance vehicles, and unlike many other automobile factories, all of the manufacturing processes in the South Carolina facility are under one roof, creating an open communications environment that enhances the focus on quality.
Benefits Crisis
BMW of North America, like so many companies, needed to address the problem of rising health care costs. Healthcare costs were becoming a dangerously large part of their operating budget, and they needed to develop a plan to prevent these costs from interfering with their business success. BMW management wanted to keep their employees informed of changes taking place, and also to enlist the support of the employees in the installation of the new plans.
The Right Approach
To communicate the information with employees, Projections worked with BMW to create a custom video that would help BMW employees understand, believe, and accept all the challenges facing the company. The underlying reasons for the national healthcare crisis were explained, and BMW stressed how they could manage rising healthcare costs by working together. BMW utilized unique solutions to not only lower costs but to enable employees to become better health care consumers.
New programs, such as an on-site pharmacy, flexible benefit plan, and an emphasis on prevention (including a full-service family medical clinic), were being planned. These changes would not only lower costs but benefit the employees. BMW also reassured their employees that no cost-shifting would take place in the upcoming year, and the employees would be informed in a timely manner of any impending changes.
Communication Helped Employees Feel Empowered
Because BMW took a proactive approach to educate their employees before the changes took place, the employees could have a part in the transition and therefore be part of the solution. By using the Spartanburg VP of Human Resources as a narrator, the video showed important information was being communicated to them in a straight-forward, credible fashion, and that management trusted the employees to take responsibility in the choices about their health.
Read more whitepapers and case studies from Projections at our Squidoo homepage
Faced with healthcare costs that were increasing more than 10% a year, BMW of North America wanted to inform their employees of how those costs were affecting the BMW company, and consequently BMW employees. Projections helped BMW management communicate with their employees about ways to manage healthcare costs that would benefit the employees as well as the company. BMW implemented a program that not only cut costs but helped employees to become better healthcare consumers. By using a member of upper management as a narrator, who was straightforward and open about changes BMW would have to make to adjust to rising costs, the video proved to be credible and effective in communicating with employees.
About BMW Manufacturing Corporation
In 1992, BMW announced that it would build a manufacturing facility in the United States to strengthen its international production system. The location, a 1,150-acre site in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, remains the only plant located in the US, and now serves as an integral part in the company's five-plant production network. BMW builds some of the world's finest luxury performance vehicles, and unlike many other automobile factories, all of the manufacturing processes in the South Carolina facility are under one roof, creating an open communications environment that enhances the focus on quality.
Benefits Crisis
BMW of North America, like so many companies, needed to address the problem of rising health care costs. Healthcare costs were becoming a dangerously large part of their operating budget, and they needed to develop a plan to prevent these costs from interfering with their business success. BMW management wanted to keep their employees informed of changes taking place, and also to enlist the support of the employees in the installation of the new plans.
The Right Approach
To communicate the information with employees, Projections worked with BMW to create a custom video that would help BMW employees understand, believe, and accept all the challenges facing the company. The underlying reasons for the national healthcare crisis were explained, and BMW stressed how they could manage rising healthcare costs by working together. BMW utilized unique solutions to not only lower costs but to enable employees to become better health care consumers.
New programs, such as an on-site pharmacy, flexible benefit plan, and an emphasis on prevention (including a full-service family medical clinic), were being planned. These changes would not only lower costs but benefit the employees. BMW also reassured their employees that no cost-shifting would take place in the upcoming year, and the employees would be informed in a timely manner of any impending changes.
Communication Helped Employees Feel Empowered
Because BMW took a proactive approach to educate their employees before the changes took place, the employees could have a part in the transition and therefore be part of the solution. By using the Spartanburg VP of Human Resources as a narrator, the video showed important information was being communicated to them in a straight-forward, credible fashion, and that management trusted the employees to take responsibility in the choices about their health.
Read more whitepapers and case studies from Projections at our Squidoo homepage
by Projections
Hello, my name is Walter Orechwa, CEO of Projections, Inc. Thanks for checking out our Squidoo page, and please take the time to check out our company... more »
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