The simple fact is that promoting wellness within your company is an investment in your biggest asset – your employees. This post will dive into the benefits of promoting and implementing a wellness program for a company and how to begin your efforts today.
The Benefits Of Promoting Wellness:
At its core, the idea is simple – a healthy workforce is a productive workforce. Studies have shown that between 70%-90% of health care spending is caused by preventable and modifiable health risks. Unhealthy lifestyle choices often lead to chronic issues and ultimately can cost businesses millions of dollars in lost productivity. Meaning, promoting wellness is not just about your employees’ health, but about the long-term cultural and financial benefits to your company.
Below are 6 key ways a wellness program can benefit your company:
Lower health care costs – promoting wellness will lead to a healthier workforce and improved disease management.
Enhanced recruiting – Wellness is a top priority for many. Creating a successful wellness program will help attract the most talented workers to your company.
Reduced absenteeism and improved productivity – A successful program will not only increase the health of your workforce but will lead to more engaged workers.
Improved on-the-job time utilization, decision making, and productivity – to repeat what’s above, a healthy workforce is a productive workforce.
Improved employee morale – A well thought out wellness program will ultimately create a more engaged culture within a company.
Reduction in turnover – If an employee feels valued, taken care of and supported, they will be less likely to want to move onto other opportunities.
Ultimately, a wellness program can, and should, create a healthy cultural shift at every level of an organization. Because of the importance of employee health and the always increasing cost of health insurance, it is vital that employers consider implementing a well-thought-out wellness program that will positively impact your employees and the company’s bottom line.
How To Design A Wellness Program
The Wellness Council of America (WELCOA), is an organization dedicated to the promotion of worksite wellness. WELCOA has identified seven best practices (“The Seven Benchmarks”) for a company to follow when putting together a wellness program.
Ensure Senior Level Support – The viability, success and longevity of a wellness program depends on the support of the leadership team.
Create Your Wellness Team – Your wellness team will be dedicated to building and sustaining the program. It should be made up of key stakeholders at all levels of your organization to ensure cooperation and company-wide buy-in.
Collecting Meaningful Data – It is key to amass data from both employees and management to understand health and operational concerns, risks and goals. This data will allow the program to be relevant and effective.
Create The Operational Strategy – Putting together a formal plan that dictates the vision, values, and purpose of the initiative will help the team and company measure success and manage the long-term evolution of the program.
“Hot Tip – Your operational strategy will be the backbone of the program. Be sure to include a Vision Statement, Goals, Objectives, Timeline, Budget, Implementation Plan, Communication Plan, and evaluation strategy. For more in-depth resources click here.”
Choose Relevant Wellness Initiatives - Your initiatives should come directly from your data. They should address current prevailing risks and support the ultimate goals of your employees and the organization as a whole.
Build a Culture of Support - A supportive environment is one that encourages, incentivizes, and rewards a wellness-focused mindset. Whether it is something simple like adding healthy snack options or more personal like offering health and wellness-focused incentives, the success of the program is rooted in the support and engagement of every employee.
“Hot Tip – Support is as much about actions as it is about communication. Be sure to incorporate wellness-focused rewards for all types of behavior and achievements. Looking for a go-to wellness reward solution? Check out The Spa & Wellness Gift Card.“
Communicate, Evaluate and Celebrate - Always be evolving! Your employees’ needs will be changing often. The company’s goals will evolve over time. Both of these factors mean program success is dependant upon the communication of needs, evaluation of initiatives and strategies, as well as the celebration of goals achieved.
“Hot Tip – Embrace experiential value adds. Gifting access to unique experiences or events helps a consumer create an emotional connection with your company as they tie your brand back to these positive memories. “
There is no doubt that supporting employee wellness has far-reaching positive effects for both a company’s culture and bottom-line. Whether you are evolving an already existing wellness program or looking to build one from the ground up, your efforts are sure to pay off.
