For Immediate Release
Contact: Selma Tucker, Director of Marketing and Communications
Public Sector Consultants
(517) 484-4954
LANSING, Mich.— Public Sector Consultants Inc., Michigan’s premier public policy research firm, was honored April 24 as a recipient of a Diamond Award in the Governor’s Fitness Awards at the 2014 Gala Celebration at Ford Field in Detroit.
PSC, a Lansing-based firm with more than 30 employees and affiliated consultants, was celebrated in the small-employer division of the “Outstanding Healthy Workplace” category.
The Diamond Award “recognizes workplaces that have sustained comprehensive programs providing health and fitness opportunities for employees, and are strategic and integral parts of the organization.”
“We are honored by the recognition given through the Governor’s Fitness Awards for our efforts to create a healthier workplace in Lansing,” said PSC President Peter Pratt, who also leads the firm’s Health Division. “From our own extensive research into health trends, we know how important it is to cultivate and reward good health habits. We have made great strides on this front in recent years, and we plan to do much more in the years to come.”
Since 2005, PSC has operated a healthy workplace program to focus attention on behavior. Each year, the firm sponsors the Healthy Habits Challenge, a game to motivate employees to incorporate positive habits into their daily lives. In 2012–2013, PSC had 93 percent of its workforce take part in a wellness challenge competition with the Small Business Association of Michigan and the Michigan Fitness Foundation.
“As an employee, I appreciate PSC’s dedication to the health and wellness of the staff by providing opportunities to participate in activities that promote well-being. Our Healthy Habits Game, for example, is a great way to engage staffers and encourage healthier eating and physical activity,” said Amanda Menzies, a senior consultant in PSC’s Health Division.
PSC offers this program because it cares about the health and well-being of its employees, but the firm had policy-related objectives, as well. Due to the structure of the health insurance market, larger employers and their employees can directly reap the benefits of wellness programs that lead to healthier workforces that consume fewer health services. Small businesses, however, are pooled together in insurance plans, so a single business’ healthier workforce may not lead directly to lower insurance premiums. The firm believes research drives decision-making, and that our and others’ research on wellness eventually will help lead to policies that extend the benefits of healthier workplaces to businesses of all sizes.
At least one large-scale study of multiple analyses of workplace wellness programs found a $3 return for every $1 invested. Other studies have found positive results for employee health and behavior, though multiple researchers caution that the body of research is not robust enough yet to provide firm conclusions on health and behavior.
In speaking of the Fitness Award recipients recently, Governor Rick Snyder said, “Each has a strong, consistent commitment to physical fitness that has helped transform them, their companies, and their communities. Their efforts are helping reinvent the way they live, work, and do business, and the Governor’s Fitness Awards are a way to recognize the positive contributions they are making throughout our state.”
According to the Michigan Fitness Foundation, “The Governor’s Fitness Awards serve as a platform for recognizing individuals and organizations in Michigan that have made outstanding contributions to health and physical fitness during the last year. For more information on the Governor’s Fitness Awards, visit www.michiganfitness.org/gfa.”
Public Sector Consultants is Michigan’s most respected, connected, and dedicated research and program management firm, with specialties in governance and regulation, health care, education, energy, and environmental policy. PSC is committed to providing objective research and sound solutions to the public and private sector.