Employee wellness programs have often been viewed as a nice to have, rather than a need to have. Wellness programs commonly refer to a combination of initiatives within an organization to promote healthy lifestyle choices among employees and oftentimes benefitting spouses and dependents. The notion of wellness programs is frequently associated with gym memberships or physical fitness. However, in reality, effective wellness programs address employees’ social, mental and physical health.
For millennials, in particular, who take up nearly 50% of the U.S. workforce, physical and mental wellness is a daily and active pursuit. Research has shown that young Americans are struggling with record-high rates of issues like depression, anxiety and loneliness. Given that most of one’s adult life is spent on the job, employers have a unique opportunity to contribute to the solution by creating an environment of health.
The idea of incorporating healthy habits into a workday makes sense, so why aren’t employers seeing the benefits? In this blog post, we will pinpoint why companies have been unsuccessful in getting their wellness program off the ground and how they can combat these struggles.
Get leadership buy-in
With employee wellness programs, most organizations do not have to be convinced of the need. Oftentimes, they can gauge when employees are struggling as it can have a direct impact on the organization’s goals and objectives. But, implementing a wellness program should not be a one-stop solution; it requires a cultural shift. An effective employee wellness plan should be a company-wide mission and emphasized in policies, programs, procedures and behaviors.
Buy-in from the executive team shows employees that wellness is a priority. Executive support is critical in establishing a successful program: In a recent study, the companies with very supportive leadership were 4.2 times more likely to report substantial improvement in employee health risk.
Create a culture of wellness
Helping your employees get healthy takes more than monthly challenges or annual screenings. While these are steps in the right direction, employees need to see the bigger health picture.
To truly make a difference through your wellness program, you must empower employees to be more productive, healthier and happier by creating healthy habits. To yield sustainable results, make fundamental workplace changes such as smoke-free workplaces, swapping out vending machine food for healthier options and encouraging movement throughout the workday.
Educate and communicate with employees
Wellness programs encourage a change, but they do not necessarily explain why or how employees should make that change toward improving their health. While organizations should provide words of encouragement and reward good choices, people need to understand the core reasons why the change is good for them in the first place.
Proper health education can provide the internal will and motivation for an employee to make the change. For example, if an employee needs to quit smoking, they need to understand why it is bad for them, and proper education on smoking’s impact on their health can help motivate them to stop. Education makes the case that the change is necessary and that health benefits outweigh the bad habits, allowing them to consistently make better and healthier choices.
Communication is also important when implementing a wellness program. Having lunch-and-learns for employees to learn about specific topics can help them better understand the need for change. Also, for wellness events, creating posters or sharing newsletters can provide employees with more detailed information. Sharing these events on social media is a great tool for recruiting, as it allows job seekers to learn more about your company and show that you care about employee health and wellness.
For organizations, it is important that your wellness initiative focuses on cultivating happier and more productive employees. Sustaining positive results depends on getting buy-in from your executive team, creating a culture of wellness and providing employees with resources to take actionable steps. Using these three tactics might just be your company’s ticket to a happy and productive workforce.
Recent Comments