Pioneering a country-wide health movement: HYDRO Systems is recognized

Photo: HYDRO Systems KG

Image: From left to right Thomas Besch (Managing Director), Peter Prinz (Managing Director, Speaker of the Executive Board) and Barbara Huttegger (Shareholder and Managing Director) are thrilled about the distinction presented by Steffen Kling and Katja Weigand (both from IFU Institite). The company’s workplace health promotion campaign was represented by Beate I. Höge and Christine Striegel. Biberach Mayor Daniela Paletta was among the first to congratulate.

Award from the IFU Institute for Corporate Values – “Healthy Companies” initiative

More than a million employees are already benefiting of workplace health promotion campaigns. It is an encouraging sign, especially in light of the rapidly increasing demand for skilled personnel and an aging workforce. Companies have eventually realized that it’s not only their appeal as an employer, but also their competitiveness that improves when the wellbeing of their workforce is improved sustainably and typical work-related ailments are prevented effectively. HYDRO Systems, an aerospace industry company from Biberach i. K., Germany, that has locations all around the globe, established its workplace health management program nearly two years ago and has now been recognized for it with the IFU Institute for Corporate Values’ “Silver - Healthy Companies 2017” distinction.

When employees feel that their work is meaningful and their employer is truly interested in their wellbeing, employee health benefits demonstrably. Barbara Huttegger, Managing Partner of HYDRO Systems, was surprised and visibly proud when learning about the distinction being awarded to her company. “The distinction is a strong impetus for us to further develop our campaign”, Huttegger says. Healthy employees are the cornerstone for the commercial success of any company, the entrepreneur expands.
Biberach’s mayor, Daniela Paletta, congratulated the company personally and on behalf of the Biberach municipality for receiving the award on its first attempt. This should come as no surprise, as actions taken in order to help employees stay healthy are an investment that pays for itself and shows that companies take their social responsibility seriously. Accordingly, Paletta made sure to emphasize the trailblazing role that HYDRO has assumed within this context.

Health management has been an important topic for a while now

At the celebration for the award presentation, Barbara Huttegger mentions that HYDRO Systems already sponsored activities and had sports groups for its team members beginning in 2008. However, this support was not formally organized, and instead would be provided spontaneously on a case-by-case basis. Then, in 2014, the tracks for setting up a systematic workplace health management system were laid down.

Partner from the region

A qualified and experienced partner was quickly found in Gesundes Kinzigtal, a company that has the goal of encouraging people to invest more in prevention today and manage care processes intelligently in order to keep people fit and healthy in the long term, improve their quality of life, and eliminate unnecessary costs. An important goal to be sure, and one with plenty of support behind it, as more than 800 individuals are directly or indirectly working to improve the health of the population in the Kinzig Valley region as of this writing.

Fit @ HYDRO keeps growing

The company’s workplace health management program resulted in the creation of “Fit @ HYDRO.” The goal? To promote health within the company, help our team members achieve the work–life balance they want, and raise awareness of the fact that it is better to stay healthy than to try and fix health issues later on.
The fruit baskets, water dispensers, and personalized water bottles for each team member, combined with Nordic walking, mountain biking, and running groups, quickly gave rise to a program that invited team members to a total of 15 activities in the first semester of 2017 alone. The events are clearly associated with the four pillars of the company’s workplace health management program – diet, balance, teamwork, and workplace, and are intended to promote things such as healthy breakfast snacks, improved sleep, and healthy backs. There is also a communication training course available, as is a course for people who want to quit smoking.

Annual Health Day for all team members

A crucial milestone within this context is the company’s Health Day. Since the 2015 event, offerings have gotten fully booked in no time on a regular basis. “Our team members at both Production and Administration both take advantage of the various presentations and join-in activities,” explains Christine Striegel, who is part of the organization team in charge of the workplace health management program at HYDRO Systems. And in order to up the incentive for team members to do something for their health, a reward system was introduced at the beginning of the new 2017 semiannual program. Essentially, Striegel explains, each activity is now assigned a certain number of points. And there is already a prize starting from twelve points, which can be achieved by participating in six Nordic walking sessions and attending two presentations, for example. On top this, the company is part of the Betsi program, a prevention program of Deutsche Rentenversicherung that is designed to help people learn behaviors that promote good health.
HYDRO: Pioneering a country-wide health movement:
Role models are always an excellent source of motivation, which is why ski jumper Martin Schmitt visited HYDRO Systems last year after the company won his visit through a competition organized by the Barmer GEK health insurance fund. The topic? “Top athletes move employees.” The result? Well, all participants remember the presentation and the training bit to this day.

Continued development in 2017: Focus on mental stress

Mental health is coming back to the fore in 2017: The company recently added in-house professional social counseling services in order to support team members who need to discuss stressful issues from their work or private life.
Health approach wins the IFU Institute for Corporate Values over
Katja Weigand and Steffen Kling, both from the IFU Institute awarding the distinction, are impressed by how fast HYRDRO Systems were able to organize and establish a workplace health management campaign. The diversity of initiatives was described as unique.

On June 6, fifteen of the distinguished companies will be awarded the national distinction “Germany’s most active companies 2017” by the Federal Minister for the Economy Brigitte Zypries as part of the “Healthy Companies” campaign. Large corporations such as Rewe or Fresenius SE as well as SME and public institutions are among the companies receiving the distinction in previous years.

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