Millerwood Communications

Journalism Principles Help Design Corporate Web Site

When you see an organization's home page for the first time, you form an opinion about the company. Is it professional-looking, well-written and attention-getting?

The six principles of journalism -- who, what, why, where, when and how -- can help establish general guidelines to follow when designing a site.

- WHO is the target market your site should appeal to?

- WHAT are the products and/or services you are selling?

- WHY should a consumer buy from you?

- WHERE are you located and how can you be contacted?

- WHEN can the consumer receive a return phone call or email on an item they ordered if they contacted you today?

- HOW will the product and/or service be delivered?

The answers to these questions should drive the design concept to draw someone in.

That said, navigation that makes it easy for a consumer to find what is important reflects the organization and will appeal to the target market.

Stick to the Basics on 401(k) Education

It's important for organizations to provide employees with investment education if they are offering a 401(k) plan.

But here's a key point: When employers offer employee-directed retirement plans, the education should be simple and not perceived as advice.

To educate employees, employers shouldn't endorse any type of investment strategy or product. The helpful information to provide is:

• The benefits of participating in a 401(k) plan (for example, pre-tax contributions and an employer match).
• The benefits of increasing contributions to the plan. Focused communications on compounding over time can show a potential significant increase a small increase can make.
• General financial investment concepts such diversification. Explain how asset allocation may protect savings from market ups and downs.
• Tools to help determine a retirement goal and how much to save to help meet that goal. 

The best way to deliver the information is in a forum where participants can ask questions like seminars, small group meetings and one-on-one sessions. Programs don't have to be limited to just employees either. Spouses and other family members can be invited to help the employee with retirement planning.

Health Coaching Can Help Reduce Health Care Costs

There are a handful of health conditions that can be managed, or altogether avoided, with a little patient knowledge. Health coaches, provided through the employer, can provide employees with guidance and information early to identify potential problems.

According to a National Business Group on Health/Watson Wyatt study, 44 percent of large employers offered health coaching in 2007, with an additional 13 percent planning to offer it this year. Coaches work with employees over the phone or in person to set goals for the treatment of their conditions, and to keep them informed of potential risks.

For example, in 2005 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that nearly 21 million Americans had diabetes, a leading case of blindness, kidney disease, heart attacks and strokes. Six million of those diabetics don't know they have the disease, meaning they're not treating it.

In the remainder of the population, 41 million are estimated to be pre-diabetic, meaning they're at significant risk of developing the disease soon. A health coach can simply help identify symptoms and remind patients to test their blood sugar more often.

A coach's insight could lead to some of those latent diabetics getting diagnosed and treated before further damage happens. The potential savings for companies they work for could be millions of dollars.

Health coaches may help to control health care costs associated with other conditions where the patients' lifestyle can play a key part in avoiding problems such as obesity, hypertension, asthma and lower back pain.

To measure the success of a health coaching program, companies have to monitor their health care costs before and after the inception of the program. Privacy laws prevent employers from accessing information on who is using the program and any related medical data, so the ROI has to be determined on an overall cost basis.

To build an efficient program, it's helpful for an employer to identify the chronic diseases within the employee population that cost the most to treat. Working with the coaching provider to set up clear guidelines on what conditions to help manage may limit the cost of the program, while targeting a population that needs help.