Getting more than 7000 employees and their Spouse/Domestic Partner across the nation to engage in their healthcare benefits is no small feat—especially when those employees are spread across manufacturing lines, office desks and time zones. For
Despite offering a wellness platform centered on gamification, employee engagement remained stubbornly low. Fewer than four in 10 had logged in to manage their benefits and seek proactive care. The platform wasn't reaching the people who needed it most.
To re-engage employees and refocus on proactive care, Danone partnered with
The Challenge: Post-Pandemic Health Declines and Low Engagement
Like many employers, Danone saw a steep decline in preventive care during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the U.S.,
Despite rolling out an interactive well-being platform that was centered on gamification three years earlier, only 37% of employees engaged with it. Part of the problem: the platform wasn't mobile-friendly and didn't account for the needs of frontline workers in manufacturing who lacked computer access.
Traditional methods of benefits communication—email campaigns, printed materials and gamified platforms—weren't moving the needle. A significant portion of Danone's workforce in manufacturing are not computer facing, and offering digital benefits via a smartphone is a critical component of Danone's benefits strategy.
"We were looking for a solution that offered employees targeted outreach about our benefits programs based on personalized claims history,incentives to participate in existing programs and resources to help manage these conditions," said Urvashi Saigal, Danone's Sr. Director, Head of Benefits.
As Danone explored new approaches, the company needed a way to ensure employees could easily discover exactly what benefits were available to them and resources to help them manage chronic conditions and improve overall health. And the solution should be personalized, proactive and—above all—easy to use.
The Solution: Digital Navigation to Reshape Engagement
To meet these challenges head-on, Danone implemented Be Well with Castlight, a digital health navigation tool from apree health that is reshaping how Danone employees engage with healthcare.
With Be Well with Castlight, Danone doesn't just remind employees of their benefits; it guides them through personalized health programs and resources. Through features like claims intake, targeted nudging and mobile accessibility, Danone ensured that all employees, regardless of location or role, can easily engage with their health benefits directly from their mobile phones.
"We are looking to ensure all employees across our manufacturing and corporate locations have easy access to [our] benefits; benefits that they might have not even known that they had," Saigal noted. "The best part of the Be Well with Castlight platform is the digitization. Giving employees customized health reminders based on their health history is the most critical feature."
The Results: A Surge in Engagement and Program Participation
Danone is fulfilling its mission of engaging employees in their healthcare with Be Well with Castlight. The two top clicked programs include "Health Assessment" and "Get Your Annual Check Up," with top searches focusing on primary care, obstetrics and dental.
Danone also introduced new incentives tied to preventive health actions and partnered with a preventive health center of excellence to deliver comprehensive annual physicals, and deployed programs like
- 1,387 employees engaged with Care Guides, with 36% returning for additional support.
- 65% of households registered with the Castlight platform in first year, nearly double what Danone had achieved after three years with its previous platform
- 77% of registered employees searched for care in 2023
- 900 additional people joined the diabetes and hypertension program within 90 days of rollout
One of the most transformative features is Be Well with Castlight's Care Guides—live healthcare concierge who help employees understand their benefits, get recommendations for specialists and clinical guidance, and solve healthcare billing issues. This was a game-changing shift in how Danone employees sought healthcare guidance rather than solely going to HR for assistance. In just the first year, 1,387 employees used services with 36% of them returning for additional guidance.
Beyond the Numbers: A Sustainable Healthcare Framework
The success of Danone's healthcare initiative isn't just measured in engagement—but also the visible impact it has on employees. With pandemic-era delays in diagnosis or continuity of care, the company saw first-hand the worth of investing in Castlight to drive greater engagement. Without such intervention, the long-term costs of neglecting preventive care—both the human and financial tolls—were steep.
The decision to deploy the Castlight digital navigation platform enabled Danone to achieve its goals and more. The results are undeniable. Danone's approach—grounded in data, backed by accessible technology and strengthened by personalized support—resulted in a sustainable framework that empowers employees to prioritize their health—now and in the future.
"The ROI here isn't just in claims data," said Danone's benefits team. "It's in the trust we've rebuilt, and the momentum we've created around engagement in prevention and well-being for all of our employees."
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