Pitney Bowes invests heavily in the health of its employees. The company launched employee health programs after realizing that its profits mainly depend on employees’ productivity. It turned out that the effectiveness of people in the workplace was determined by the state of their physical and psychological health. Pitney Bowes has one of the world’s most effective health programs but faces some restrictions and limitations.
Pitney Bowes’s Health Project offers employees various medical services to prevent and treat disease. In addition, there are incentive programs for quitting smoking and pharmaceutical programs (Porter & Baron, 2009). The project’s main goal was to remove barriers to accessing medical care in the workplace. The goals were achieved, and the project results showed a positive effect of supporting employees’ health.
The first limitation applies to about 12,000 dispersed employees. They did not have access to the company’s health care program and did not receive the same benefits as their counterparts (Porter & Baron, 2009). At the same time, they worked hard outside their homes and cars. The limitation is that there is no specific place where dispersed employees work and receive medical care. One possible solution is to visit dispersed employees at home.
Another limitation concerns interaction with official authorities. The rules partially exclude employers from the healthcare system, which limits employers’ financial and infrastructural capabilities to organize employee health programs. In addition, medical divisions resisted such innovations. They believed that the companies’ refunds would not cover all the additional costs, as funding does not go directly to providers. The Pitney Bowes approach is limited to a model that rewards not the health of the employee who performs better but the healing process. Thus, the company sends a distorted signal that encourages not recovery but their desire to be treated.
Thus, the limitation of Pitney Bowes’ approach to employee health is the lack of primary care for dispersed employees and the cost of health care. The second limitation is to comply with federal government requirements. Pitney Bowes uses incentives to change employee bonuses. The company has reached the limit of its allowable loans set by the government. Pitney Bowes’s approach is limited because healthcare providers do not receive direct funding. The last limitation that can be mentioned is that the Pitney Bowes model does not reward the health of employees but their treatment.
Reference
Porter, M. E., & Baron, J. F. (2009). Pitney Bowes: Employer health strategy. Harvard Business School. Web.