Pulse October 2015 | Page 14

PULSE POINTS CO M P I L E D B Y A L E X A N D E R M E N R I S K Y Employees Make Use of Wellness Tracking Devices in Wellness Programs A ccording to a report entitled “Wearables in Wellness: Employer Use of Wearable Tracking Devices in Wellness Programs” by nonprofit health research firm Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), nearly one half of employer respondents offered a tracker as part of a well ness program, ranging from wearables like Fitbit (77 percent) to pedometers (24 percent). Eighty-three percent subsidized trackers for their employees while 91 percent permitted an employee to use a tracker device they already owned. The survey gathered information from 188 respondents representing a variety of industries and sizes. Respondents indicate that they incorporated the use of trackers into their employee wellness programs in order to encourage employees to increase their physical activity (94 percent), increase engagement in health (77 percent), improve wellness program participation (59 percent) and improve employee performance and productivity (51 percent). The majority of organizations offering these tracker-based programs plan to continue doing so due to a perception of genuine interest and enhancement of existing wellness programs. Expectations for Economic Expansion High in North America But Mixed in Other Parts of the Globe R eleased earlier this year, the eighth annual American Express/CFO Research Global Business and Spending Monitor surveys finance leadership around the world to determine how they view the pace of economic recovery in their own countries and what they plan to do to strengthen business in their sector. 12 PULSE ■ October 2015 Results from the annual survey indicate that respondents from North America (the U.S. and Canada) plan to continue building on the forward progress of 2013 and 2014, with 83 percent of U.S. respondents predicting expansion. Outside North America, expectations are mixed, though India leads the world in economic confidence with 94 percent of respondents predicting an economic expansion. In terms of employment growth, anticipation in this area is strongest in India (78 percent), followed by Spain (66 percent) and the U.S. (61 percent). Russia and France had the weakest forecast in employment growth. The survey results are based on the responses of 565 respondents from companies with revenue of between US$500 million and over US$20 billion.