Wellness programs seem like no-brainers, but easy-to-make mistakes can doom your program before it can gain traction. Here are experts’ Debra Wein and Courtney Hernandez’ 10 key wellness mistakes to avoid.
Wein is founder and president of Wellness Workdays where Hernandez is senior wellness account manager. In their WellNews they refer to their top 10 mistakes details of which are found in a recent issue of Benefits Magazine.
Here are Wein and Hernandez’ top ten mistakes:
Mistake 1: Failing to Plan
As with any significant project, wellness initiatives must be planned. Be sure to establish goals for ROI or for participation or whatever you choose and then structure a program to support the goals.
Mistake #2: Not Gathering Enough Data
Before planning, do some research. Find out what employees are interested in, perhaps by doing a survey, and find out what health risks you’d like to try to deal with, perhaps through health screenings or assessments.
Then see if you can marry the two, Wein and Hernandez say. That will insure the highest level of participation while at the same time addressing important health issues.
Mistake #3: Yoga Is Not Enough
Some employers think that by starting a yoga program and maybe offering a few other programs, they then have a wellness program. However, it takes a lot of planning to have a comprehensive program.
Mistake #4: Targeting Only High-Risk Employees
It’s tempting to focus on those with the greatest number of health risks (5 or more of the standard health risks is often referred to as metabolic syndrome), but it’s important to work with the healthy people as well, to make sure that they stay healthy.
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Mistake #5: One Size Fits All
Variety in programming will ensure that the greatest number of employees participate. Also, say Wein and Hernandez, remember to go for more than exercise: consider programming in stress reduction, mental health, diet, healthy family, and so on.
Mistake #6: No Incentives
It would be nice to think that employees would all participate without an incentive beyond better health, but many employers find they need to use incentives to encourage participation. Incentives range from discounts on health insurance to days off to gift cards, and they do help, say Wein and Hernandez.
Mistake #7: No Budget
Wellness programs can be low-cost, but not no-cost. Make sure you have at least a minimal budget to get things going.
Mistake #8: Lack of C-Level Support
You need management support for number 7, but you also need management as visible participants.
Mistake #9: No Tracking
Along with your goals, develop metrics that will help you to gauge what effect your program is having. The simplest metric is participation percentage.
Mistake #10: No Future Direction
Don’t think the program will run itself once you get it going. you must continue to evaluate employee needs and program results to keep the program meaningful and attractive, say Wein and Hernandez.
Well-structured and well-run wellness programs can generate ROIs of up to 300 percent—music to management’s ears! But the key words are “well-structured” and “well-run.” Poorly structured programs just spin their wheels—no health benefit and no positive ROI, either.
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It’s a comprehensive guide that takes you step-by-step through setting up a program, from convincing management all the way through creating and implementing a viable plan for your workplace. The guide also includes a vast collection of ready-to-use forms, handouts, and checklists that both structure your program and provide the metrics to prove its effectiveness to management’s satisfaction.
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I was surprised by the resistance among many of our employees to our wellness program. They seemed to think we were targeting some of them.
Possibly the best – and most usable – article I’ve read yet regarding employee wellness. Well done!!