AutoZone, turned to Green Circle Life’s SmartFHR™ benefits technology to support its own crew and their families in 2016.
For Memphis, Tenn.-based AutoZone, the largest retailer and distributor of automotive parts and accessories in the U.S., with locations in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Brazil, extending access to benefits and HR resource services was crucial. Reaching its 120,000 plus employees, affectionately known as “AutoZoners,” in over 6,700 stores became even more vital with the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to communicate simply and easily with employees holding a variety of roles was key to record breaking numbers realized by the organization.
Green Circle Life’s comprehensive communication and engagement platform SmartFHR™ enabled the automotive retailer to prioritize workforce well-being, increase employee satisfaction and retention, and improve communication. SmartFHR™ aggregates all employee-facing human resources, wellness, and healthcare services. It operates as a single sign-on, interactive dashboard that’s accessible on-demand from any PC or mobile device.
Tech Drives AutoZone Benefits Engagement
AutoZone’s goal from the outset of its implementation of SmartFHR™ was to use it to help build a culture of health and well-being. The company wanted to create simple user experiences to drive employees’ benefits engagement and an integrated holistic wellness program while leveraging the latest technology. This would help the company differentiate itself in the marketplace, connect with AutoZoners anywhere and allow its employees to get the most out of company benefits.
SmartFHR, more than just a passive information repository, is an interactive behavioral change tool specifically designed to stimulate and reinforce the habitual, proactive engagement AutoZone sought. The healthcare platform made it simple for the auto parts company to share information with employees at any time and integrate it into their daily routines.
Decisions in areas like wellness, condition management, and benefits selection are essentially family driven. Green Circle Life prioritizes whole-family participation by giving family member access to all the resources and benefits provided by SmartFHR.
Green Circle Life delivers the ultimate engagement platform with extensive analytical capabilities on the backend. These include a benefits dashboard that contains all assistances in one place, tracks employees from enrollment to termination, provides details with a click, and uses a single-sign-on experience for everything AutoZone. SmartFHR™ also supplies a communication vehicle, which allowed AutoZone to provide messaging (extremely important during the pandemic) via the app.
Benefits of a HR Tech Connected Workforce
With the help of Green Circle Life’s SmartFHR, AutoZone was able to realize greater employee engagement of the company benefits, lower healthcare costs, and encourage fewer sick and disability days for those engaged. By successfully driving this benefits engagement, AutoZone revealed it also generated increased participation seven-fold compared to prior years, and helped achieve better wellness lifestyle activities and aide in the retainment and recruitment of employees.
Breaking down some outcomes:
- Healthcare cost savings. In 2020, more than 26,000 AutoZoners took part in wellness activities through this platform: among insured members there was a cost saving of $12 per member per month (PMPM) against a negative cost trend of (-2.6%). This showed a total return on investment of $3 per $1 in well-being program costs.
- COVID-19. While AutoZone attributed many factors to the company’s performance in managing the pandemic, it did distribute pandemic related guidance, education and communications through the well-being platform. In a COVID-19 cost analysis for 2020 and 2021, AutoZone had 1,839 fewer COVID-19 related claims than expected among the plan members.
- Recruiting and retentions value. In 2020, among wellness users, the attrition rate was 26%, whereas across the entire population that rate was 63%; and full-time and part-time retention was better when AutoZoners engaged with wellness activities. AutoZone also created a caring company image, which helps attract job candidates.
- Productivity, Reduced Absenteeism and Presenteeism. AutoZone has seen well-being improves productivity and profitability. One way to measure this value is through analysis of absenteeism (by measuring sick and disability time).Among disability benefits users in 2020: AutoZoners who used the well-being services had an average of 158 days off; among non-participants, there were an average of 191 days off. Looking at 2020 sick-leave data: among wellness feature users, sick time eligible people had on average 37.8 unused sick hours per user; among non-participants, sick time eligible people had that number as 33.8 unused sick hours per user. AutoZone did note it cannot be sure how much is attributable to wellness related savings but did say it calculated per $12 of hourly wage rate above resulted in over $1 million in cost savings.
- Improving conditions causing Metabolic Syndrome. AutoZone found a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome (a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes) among members. AutoZone’s philosophy is early intervention improves future results and prevents potential costs. Results showed an average weight loss of 10.7 lbs. among weight-loss program participants; a decrease from 165 to 122 in blood glucose levels among diabetic users; and a decline from 132 to 119 in blood pressure levels among hypertensive users.
Green Circle Life, a Smarter Way, Toward Company Health
SmartFHR™ seamlessly integrates internally and externally managed systems enabling users to perform a range of tasks, including benefits enrollment, personnel record management, payroll, time and attendance, wellness programs, scheduling appointments, and even the managing of health records.
Green Circle Life is differentiated by its commitment to customization – clients can incorporate whichever services they choose to prioritize; they can utilize Green Circle Life’s native components or use the platform entirely as a more integrated point of access to existing systems and programs.
Through SmartFHR™, companies can push timely messages and content to individual employees, specific cohorts, or the entire enterprise driving participation in key programs it prioritizes. The platform features extensive analytical capabilities on the backend, and dramatically reduces the burden on internal human resources teams who no longer have to devote time and energy to repeat outreach and administrative efforts.