Teaming up for successful solutions

Workforce, July, 2002

Unless you're a solitary HR genius, chances are that you confront challenges and solve problems as part of a team. Whether the issue is recruiting, corralling employee information, filling short-term workforce needs, or completing a fast and accurate background check, you might need some assistance in figuring out which solution is best for your organization.

Finding the right company to help you isn't always easy. But when you do find the right match, the outcomes can be transformative. Systems run more smoothly. Employees are happier. You're less stressed. That's what happens when partnership really click--you get a success story.

On the following pages, you'll read about organizations from restaurants to a regional organ back to an Olympic organizing committee that are writing great success stories together--every working day.

UnumProvident helps employees return to work.

COMERICA AND UNUMPROVIDENT SUCCESSFULLY MANAGE COSTLY UNSCHEDULED EMPLOYEE ABSENCES.

Most employers would agree that unscheduled employee absences are costly and disruptive to an organization. But because many companies don't track all their sick time or disability absences, they might be surprised to learn just what a financial and productivity drain these absences actually represent.

UnumProvident, the nation's leading income protection provider, * recognizes that few organizations today can afford the impact of these expenses on their profitability and competitiveness. UnumProvident has been helping employers create effective absence management programs to reduce absence-related costs. UnumProvident customers may achieve up to a 50 percent reduction in lost workdays and reductions in healthcare costs. **

Among the UnumProvident customers successfully managing employee absence is Comerica Incorporated, among the 20 largest banking companies in the United States. With more than 11,000 employees and operations in multiple states, there was little consistency in Comerica's return-to-work and absence management programs as recently as 1995. Aggregate lost time represented the equivalent of enough employees to staff 16 additional bank branches.

Consequently, in 1998 Comerica made a commitment to develop a proactive approach to corporate health management. Among other steps it took, the company decided to invest in a self-insured short-term disability income protection and fully insured long-term disability income protection insurance plan from UnumProvident. It marked the start of a productive and interactive partnership between the two companies.

Comerica developed a medical-leave philosophy based on its corporate commitment to helping employees return to work in a safe and timely manner, as well as early medical management, and the concept of transitional work assignments. Importantly, the philosophy statement also emphasizes that the company not only encourages but expects all employees to cooperate with the return-to-work process.

Comerica partnered with UnumProvident in 1998 to develop an absence management program that included the creation of a disability management/return to work position and an early medical intervention model. Within 48 hours of a disability, a UnumProvident nurse manager contacts the employee, physician, and supervisor to discuss a plan for getting the employee back to work, and then consults with Comerica's RTW specialist. Cases expected to last longer than 30 days, and those classified as "complicated," are referred to a local medical case manager for further RTW planning and follow up.

The results by 2000: total lost-time days reduced by half to approximately 32,600 a year, the average lost time of a medical absence reduced from 50 to 32 days, and disability plan costs reduced by almost $4 million.

Through continuous communication and education efforts linking health promotion and illness management, employee satisfaction with the medical management program at Comerica has been greatly enhanced. Today, employees realize Comerica is committed to supporting them and their supervisors during a work disruption.

* UnumProvident represents multiple insuring subsidiaries of' UnumProvident Corporation, including the No. 1 individual and group income protection carriers in the U.S. and Canada, according to the LIMRA 2001 Issues & In-force Surveys, 2002 and the JHA U.S. 2001 Group Disability Market Survey, 2002.

** Based on results reported by a current customized return-to-work program customer. Individual results may vary.

Serving More Smiles with Direct Reimbursement

WHITE CASTLE PROVIDES TEAM MEMBERS WITH COMPREHENSIVE DENTAL CARE THROUGH DR--AN EASY, COST-EFFECTIVE PLAN.

What do people crave in a dental plan?

Just ask White Castle, a well-known, 81-year-old company with restaurants, food processing plants, and regional offices located throughout the East Coast and the Midwest. Based in Columbus, Ohio, White Castle has approximately 12,400 total team members.

White Castle's dental plan was born after extensive research into dental plan options. According to a company benefit survey conducted in 1997, White Castle had determined that dental was the number one benefit not then provided that team members wanted. Fred Gunderson, senior director of benefits at White Castle, said he had "never heard of Direct Reimbursement" until the dentist of a White Castle team member recommended it. After looking at numerous insured plans--which were "very confusing, difficult and costly, with too many conditions," according to Gunderson--he met with a consultant to gain more information about Direct Reimbursement.