NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second year in a row, the American Heart Association (AHA) has recognized EmblemHealth as a Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Company, a program that honors companies committed to helping their employees improve their health by eating better and exercising more. EmblemHealth is the largest regional health insurer in New York State, providing coverage for 2.8 million people through its companies Group Health Incorporated (GHI) and HIP Health Plan of New York (HIP).

According to William Gillespie, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for EmblemHealth, Fortune 500 employers are sponsoring wellness programs because they translate into short- and long-term cost savings and employee retention, while enabling employees to take important steps toward feeling better and living healthier. Dr. Gillespie notes that EmblemHealth has adopted a culture of wellness and has a longstanding tradition of providing diverse health and wellness offerings to its employees.

"We are delighted that the American Heart Association has recognized EmblemHealth for its ongoing commitment to employee wellness and physical fitness," says Dr. Gillespie, who notes that since being recognized by the AHA in 2010, EmblemHealth's wellness program has continued to evolve and grow. "Our employees have embraced the opportunity to get healthier. In just one year, our employee participation has grown nearly 400 percent. Most importantly, our employees have made impressive strides in changing their behaviors and adopting healthier habits."

"The Fit-Friendly Companies Program offers a unique, easy-to-implement opportunity for corporations to increase employees' physical activity, which will help improve their health and their employers' bottom line," said William Borden, M.D., American Heart Association spokesperson. "Even people who haven't exercised regularly until middle age can reap significant benefits by starting a walking program. A study published in 1986 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that some adults may gain two hours of life expectancy for every hour of regular, vigorous exercise they performed."

EmblemHealth provides broad incentives for employees who adopt healthy behaviors. Employees earn points by participating in workplace wellness programs, including quitting smoking, getting a flu shot and attending a health-related lecture. Points are also given to employees who adopt healthy behaviors, such as joining an exercise class, meeting with an on-site registered dietician, participating in a disease management program, seeing their physician for an annual visit or for scheduling a necessary test or preventive screening.

In 2011, the company expanded its wellness program to address key health challenges. Of 1,628 employees who completed health risk appraisals (37 percent of the company's employees), a large percentage reported issues that put their health at risk, including high cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, depression, unhealthy stress levels and back pain. By increasing the number of programs with incentive points by 45 percent, by allowing employees to earn points for covered dependents who participate, and by offering American Express gift cards up to $750, EmblemHealth boosted its employee participation 398 percent in 2011, with 25 percent of all employees now enrolled. EmblemHealth's employees have reduced their total cholesterol, alcohol consumption, smoking, substance abuse, stress and depression levels.

Building on this experience and using this program as a model, EmblemHealth is exploring how it might include a range of employee health incentive programs as a benefit option for its group plan offerings in the future.

About EmblemHealthEmblemHealth, Inc., through its companies Group Health Incorporated (GHI) and HIP Health Plan of New York (HIP), provides quality health care coverage and administrative services to approximately 2.8 million people. Groups and individuals can choose from a variety of PPO, EPO and HMO plans, as well as coverage for prescription drugs and dental and vision care. We offer a choice of networks, including quality doctors and other health care professionals throughout the region, leading acute care hospitals across the tristate area, and physicians and hospitals across all 50 states. For more information, visit http://www.emblemhealth.com.

About the American Heart Association (AHA)The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke America's No. 1 and No. 4 killers. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation's oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or visit http://www.heart.org.

About the AHA Fit-Friendly Companies Program The Fit-Friendly Companies Program provides a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce by helping companies make their employees' health and wellness a priority. Participating companies get free access to program resources such as a free Walking Program, materials to help promote company wellness programs to employees and internal newsletter templates.

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American Heart Association Honors EmblemHealth for Promoting Employee Health and Wellness for Second Year in a Row

After the former world road champion was able to complete fewer than three dozen days of racing for BMC Racing in 2012, he underwent four days of medical tests at the Salt Lake City Health and Fitness Institute under the supervision of the team's chief medical officer Dr. Max Testa.

"The purpose of the tests was to explain his reduced exercise tolerance that has been limiting his performance throughout the season," Testa said.

"At the end of the four days, we determined Thor suffered a post-viral syndrome with secondary myositis or muscles inflammation. His medical condition is currently improving, and a full recovery is expected for next season."

Norwegian Hushovd expressed his relief at the diagnosis.

"It's a really big relief that I've been fighting all year with these bad sensations on the bike," Hushovd said.

"After a while, you lose some confidence. But now that I've finally found out why I had this weakness, I'm relieved.

"Now I know that I can come back strong for next year."

Hushovd, whose best result was fifth on stage 7 of Paris-Nice in March, did not compete in the Tour de France for the first time since 2000 and withdrew from the Giro d'Italia after five stages.

He also had to miss the London Olympics.

He is to begin training again on October 1 in preparation for 2013.

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Hushovd's poor season down to virus

WESTLAKE, OH--September 7, 2012: TravelCenters of America LLC (TravelCenters), operator of TA and Petro Stopping Centers branded travel centers, is teaming up with The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) to host Health & Wellness events at twelve TA and Petro locations. The events will include a Health Fair and an organized driver walk.

All the events will take place on Tuesday, September 18, 2012, during National Truck Driver Appreciation and Wellness Week. The Health Fairs will be held from 3-6 p.m. at each location, where information on how to live healthier will be provided to all professional driver attendees and families. At 7 p.m., walks will commence at all 12 locations' StayFit walking trails. The walks will be in one-, two- or three-mile lengths.

The 12 TA and Petro sites that have been selected for the events are:

Celebrities, local dignitaries and senior TA executives will be on hand to mingle with professional truck drivers and lead the events at many of the locations.

A partial list of key participants includes:

"We are thrilled to participate in the TCA's special focus on driver health during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week," said Tom O'Brien, President and CEO of TravelCenters. "Our locations are uniquely qualified to host these driver walks and health fairs," he continued. "We launched our own StayFit program nearly three years ago to assist professional truck drivers in their quest for better health. Today, we have better-for-you meal and snack options, and free fitness rooms, walking trails, basketball courts, pet areas and more. We support the TCA's effort to raise awareness of health issues affecting professional truck drivers and are active in the effort to improve their lives."

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TravelCenters of America and TCA to Host Health & Wellness Events During National Truck Driver Appreciation and ...

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTIlORfjnnQ

06-09-2012 13:58 Like us on Facebook: Follow us on Twitter: Mel Gibson has one of the most expensive divorces in Hollywood history. Mel Gibson was already reportedly ordered to fork over half of his 800 million dollar fortune to his ex wife Robyn Moore. But since these two had no prenup, she will also receive a large portion of his retirement benefits.

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Mel Gibson's Ex-Wife Gets $400 Million And His Retirement Fund - Video

Does your retirement plan consider tax issues? It should -- or it could cost you valuable post-work money.

Taxes don't end when you stop working. Federal and state tax issues come into play in several retirement income areas.

Retirement savings

The key focus of all retirement plans is ensuring you have enough money to live the retirement lifestyle you want. While you were working, you took advantage of workplace savings accounts such as 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts.

If your IRA is a Roth account, you don't have to worry about tax issues with the Internal Revenue Service. You paid taxes on the money before you put it into your Roth IRA, and its earnings have grown tax-free. That means you don't owe the IRS anything on your withdrawals once you retire.

But if you're depending on traditional IRA or 401(k) funds, you will owe taxes. You never paid income taxes on the workplace plan or deductible IRA contributions. Plus, the earnings of these accounts are tax-deferred, meaning you owe tax at your ordinary income tax rate on money you take out in retirement.

And if you've delayed distributions so as to postpone those taxes for as long as possible, remember that the required minimum distribution, or RMD, rules compel you to withdraw certain amounts when you turn 70 . The IRS has life-expectancy charts, the most common one being the Uniform Lifetime Table, that help you calculate how much to withdraw. Traditional IRA, 401(k) withdrawal rules

Withdrawals are required from all tax-deferred retirement accounts once you turn 70 . The account distributions are taxed at ordinary income tax rates. If you made nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA, information on IRS Form 8606 you filed reporting those contributions will help you avoid paying taxes on that money again when you withdraw it. The IRS has three required minimum distribution tables to help you figure the amount to withdraw. Basically, the longer you are expected to live, the less the IRS requires you to withdraw, and pay taxes on, each year.

Taxable Social Security

Your private retirement accounts are designed to supplement your Social Security benefits.

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Tax Issues You Could Face in Retirement

There are two sides to every story: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times; you take the bitter with the sweet; every rose has its thorn. However, in leadership, we often miss out on half the story. Most discussions focus on what leaders "should do" rather than on what they "should avoid." The result? We talk about success, but seldom talk about failure.

In The Wisdom of Failure, we discuss a common theme among industry's greatest leaders--their most important lessons have come from trial and error. Unfortunately, many of us don't pursue the trial because we are fearful of making error. Jim Owens, former CEO of Caterpillar Inc., told us we actually learn more from our failures than we do from our success. He states that our most important lessons as leaders come from our toughest losses.

Mistakes are part of taking healthy risk. They provide us with new ways of thinking and give us new insights into how we can improve as leaders. Real failure doesn't come from making mistakes; it comes from avoiding errors at all possible costs, from fear to take risks and from the inability to grow. Being mistake free is not success. Still, we avoid challenges and hide mistakes. We don't like to talk about them and bring attention to them. It's safer to look the other way or sweep them under the rug. That's why so many leaders have the same struggles over and over again.

So, why don't we embrace challenges and become accepting of mistakes--to learn from them and ultimately grow from them? And if learning from mistakes has so much value, why is it taboo to even talk about mistakes in the context of business and leadership?

We are all evaluated on how well we perform our jobs. Not surprisingly, companies pay their employees to succeed, not to fail. The better the performance review, the better we are compensated. However, performance reviews inherently reward us on our short-term success and penalize us for our short-term mistakes. Rarely does someone receive a performance review spanning several years. And personal growth from mistakes is an evolutionary process. It takes time. Mistakes today usually hurt our performance evaluations in the short term. Moreover, in entrepreneurial firms, making leadership mistakes are not only amplified, they can destroy an entire company.

So what do we do? We avoid them. Consider the Thomas Edison quote "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Do you think he would have lasted in today's business environment? We have created an evaluation platform where successes are celebrated and failures are not. Remember, "failure is not an option."

IDEO founder David Kelley believes failure is not only an option, it is a necessary ingredient for success. Rather than punishing employees for failure, he and his leadership team encourage employees to be comfortable with bad ideas--one of the reasons IDEO is one of our most innovative companies. He believes that without freedom to pursue bad ideas, employees will miss many good ideas.

We live in a culture that values perfectionism. As children, we were told "practice makes perfect." We learned that making mistakes was bad, that we need to always "color inside the lines." We learned that to succeed we needed to "strive for perfection."

Perfectionism is one of the biggest deterrents of learning from mistakes. People become so fixated on not failing that they never move forward. They focus on the upside risk associated with failing, rather than the downside risk of not trying at all. How did Tom Watson, former CEO of IBM, react when one of his executives made a $10 million mistake? Instead of firing him, he viewed the mistake as an investment in training and development. Why? Watson realized taking healthy risk will often result in failure, and that a culture of perfectionism can be paralyzing to progress.

To advance our careers, we are encouraged to build social capital, to gain respect, and to create an image of professionalism. Managing the way others view us becomes larger than reality. The result--we become overly concerned with achieving the goal rather than considering the process--and the goal is to succeed. Rather than focusing only on the what, great leaders also focus on the how. If aspiring leaders are too driven to succeed, they may lose sight of what is most important. They become so enamored with success that they avoid failure. What was once considered a strength, eventually becomes a detriment. The more success they achieve, the more failure becomes unthinkable--and the downward spiral begins.

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Failure Is The Only Option, If Success Is The End Goal

WELCOME to our special monthly series called Bible School Business School (BSBS). BSBS takes insights from the culture and history of the ancient near East as depicted in the Bible and applies these insights to business, leadership and personal development. BSBS aims to broaden our mindsets beyond the Western paradigms on business, leadership and personal development.

Report by By Brett Chulu This article seeks to show how the active involvement of the chief executive is critical to driving a successful performance management initiative that yields above-market returns. The following excerpts from what is famously known as the parable of talents will be used to draw insights on how business leaders can strategically manage performance.

Matthew 25:14 (KJV) reads: For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightaway took his journey.

Matthew 25:19-22 (KJV) continues: After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoned with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord you delivered unto me five talents: Behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee a ruler over many things: Enter into the joy of thy lord.

Likewise the servant with two talents gained two more and was commended like his five-talent colleague. In sharp contrast, the one-talent servant buried the resource he had been given by the master, accusing his master of being a tyrant.

Matthew 25:26-28(KJV) continues the narrative: His lord answered and said unto him: You wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strowed (scattered seed): Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury (interest). Take therefore the talent from him, and give, it unto him which hath ten talents.

Talent-culture-leadership integration The primary takeaway from this parable is that the chief executive (master in the parable) should intertwine talent, culture and leadership to drive organisation-wide performance. In other words, the chief executive fully embraces the strategic HR agenda. Strategic HR is concerned with how talent, culture and leadership can be harnessed to meet or exceed the expectations of external customers, investors, regulators and the community.

The parable of talents demonstrates how talent, culture and leadership must be fused together to deliver on superior business performance.

First, for performance management to permeate the entire organisation, the chief executive must set the tone. The chief executive in the parable did not leave it to the formal HR function to champion performance management. Performance management initiatives in which the top leaders of an organisation do not take a primary role are doomed to fail. The master in the parable embodied what is referred to as the leadership brand. Leadership brand is a concept birthed by the RBL Group, a US-based strategic HR think-tank. A leadership brand occurs when the expectations of customers, investors and other key external stakeholders at all levels of an organisation are converted into thinking patterns and behaviours of executives and managers.

Second, the leaders at all levels in the organisation must turn the expectations of customers and investors into consistent employee behaviours. Put differently, the leaders must translate the leadership brand into a company culture by influencing employees to think and behave in ways that deliver on the expectations of customers and investors.

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CEO’s critical role in performance management

NEW YORK, Sept.7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --From the convenience of the desktop, the beauty and personal care industry will be able to source new products, learn from top beauty experts and make new business connections when the HBA Global Digital Trade Show takes place Thursday, September 27, 2012.

(Logo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120907/NY70367LOGO)

This free-to-attend interactive online event for manufacturers of beauty and personal care products will use video, animation, digital effects, real-time chat and social media to give visitors the experience of a real trade show. Featured at the HBA Global Digital Event will be:

"Hundreds of motivated decision making professionals have already registered for our 2nd Annual HBA Global Digital Event. Last year's event visitors really enjoyed the experience of interacting in this format," said Jill Birkett, Brand Director, Beauty & Wellness Industry. "This innovative event platform makes it convenient for the worldwide beauty and personal care industry to meet and make vital business connections and advance professional development."

Registered attendees to the HBA digital trade event will also gain on-demand access to the information for up to six months after the event and are eligible for giveaways and prizes for participating. For more information and to register for free to HBA Global Digital Event go to: http://www.hbaexpo.com/reconnect.

About HBA Global Expo & Conference http://www.hbaexpo.com produced by UBM Live, is the premier product development sourcefrom concept to marketfor the cosmetics, personal care, skin care, fragrance and wellness industries and features a comprehensive educational program and exhibits floor. HBA visitors comprise the top prestige, mass and emerging beauty and personal care brands worldwide. HBA Global Virtual Trade Show will take place September 27, 2012 and the next HBA Global Expo & Conference will take place June 18-20, 2013 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. Connect with the HBA Global communities on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.

About UBM Live UBM Live connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands and expand their markets. Through premiere brands such as MD&M, CPhI, IFSEC, TFM&A, Cruise Shipping Miami, the Concrete Show and many others, UBM Live exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across more than 20 industry sectors.

Contact: Annie Scully, 908-824-7938, annie.scully@ubm.com

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Digital Trade Show For The Beauty & Personal Care Industry To Accelerate New Product Development

Seaford, East Sussex (PRWEB UK) 7 September 2012

As the holiday season draws to a close many people are returning to work full of good intentions aimed at helping them hang onto that holiday feel-good factor. Holidays are a time to refresh and renew, a chance for many of us do a little inner exploration, and to reconnect with ourselves and our families. So whether it is creating space for a hobby, time out for personal development, or simply slowing the pace, it is almost inevitable that we return from our break with personal goals for improving our quality of life. It is equally inevitable that within days many people will be wondering just what happened to that good intent. and some will even lapse into post holiday blues.

It is easy to plan to lead a better life when real life the daily demands of work, family and all the rest are put on hold for the holiday. But things are quite different when we step back into our routines. Pressures of being back at work aside, there are also the stresses of how and where we live our lives which contribute. For example, most holidays are pleasant and relaxing because of where we choose to take them. Time in the mountains or on the beach is qualitatively different from time spent on the school-run or in the office. While there may be stress involved in navigating a foreign menu or entertaining the kids, this is quite different from the monotony of the daily commute, dealing with demanding colleagues, being indoors all day or looking after a home and family.

While one answer to this quandary is to take time by taking regular breaks, for many this falls into the 'good intentions' category; it is easily trumped by the daily life demands. So the dilemma is to find a way of taking care of oneself that brings some of the benefits of a holiday into the routine side of life, to create the personal space to pause, reflect and refresh.

The Inner Landscapes approach uses short personal development retreats that combine thought-provoking workshop activities with walking in inspirational settings. These events bring together three advantageous elements: the transformative power of a group, the natural environment, and the opportunity to step off the treadmill. Taken together these combine to help foster processes that aid focus, reduce stress, and clarify thinking. In short they provide a supportive and convivial setting to indulge in some effective personal development.

The concept is the result of two years study and preparation by psychologist and personal development consultant Barry Winbolt. After 20 years as leading workshops aimed at helping employees beat stress and lead more productive working lives, he has turned his attention to helping people achieve better understanding of themselves, so that they can take control of their lives. "In all the years that I have been training people, it became increasingly obvious that the real answer to wellbeing lies within us. When it comes to a sense of personal fulfillment, the successful people all have insight into what makes them tick and where they want to go in their lives", he said. This line of thinking led to a radical new concept that has become Inner Landscapes. Carefully developed personal development retreats and workshops provide attendees with the opportunity to pause and reflect. The purpose, says the founder, "is to guide people to greater satisfaction and fulfillment in their lives through an understanding of life changes, transitions, meaning and purpose." So those good intentions don't have to vanish just because the holiday is over.

About Inner Landscapes East Sussex based Inner Landscapes was founded in 2011 by Barry Winbolt, to provide retreats and workshops to enable people to find greater satisfaction and fulfillment in their lives. The organisation uses reflective personal development techniques, that include walking in the natural environment, combined with carefully structured workshops and exercises held indoors, in settings chosen for their comfort.

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New Approach to Personal Development Helps People De-stress and Keep their Lives on Track

Durham, NC - The Duke Professional and Personal Development Program is taking reservations for a four-week reflective workshop, "Knitting the Fabric of Your Life, One Stitch at a Time."

The four-session workshop will use the knitting process as a metaphor to examine how we cope with four recurrent themes in life: starting something new, repeating a pattern, changing things, and making an ending.

"Like many creative processes, knitting not only requires us to learn and repeat basic skills, but also to explore variations on those `stitches'," explains group facilitator, Stephanie Jenal, Ph.D., a counseling psychologist for Duke Professional and Personal Development Program. "We are excited about the prospect of helping participants gain greater understanding and mastery of the stitches they use daily to create the fabric of their lives."

The series begins Sept. 26 and continues Wednesday evenings through Oct 17. The group will meet from 5:30 P.M. to 6:45 P.M. in the fourth floor conference room of the Erwin Square building, 2200 West Main St. in Durham. The cost is $75 for the four-week workshop.

Participants are invited to bring a handiwork project such as knitting, sewing, or beading to work on during the workshop. Registration is open to employees and the public, but class size is limited. To register, call (919) 286-1244.

The Duke Professional and Personal Development Program (Duke PPDP) is one component of the Duke Occupational and Mental Health Programs. Duke PPDP offers fee-for-service coaching, talks, workshops, and other professional programs that promote work/life balance for individuals, groups, and organizations.

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Knitting as Metaphor For Personal Development