Benefits and Compensation, Talent

Cultivating a Culture of Wellness Is Integral to Employee Engagement

By Heidi Bowman, Weight Watchers Health Solutions

It’s a quandary your company, like many, may be grappling with on a daily basis: How can you attract—and retain—employee interest in health and wellness?

Drawing from Weight Watchers’ extensive experience creating healthier workplaces, we’ve found that in order to reach the highest level of employee engagement, employers need to cultivate a culture of wellness. Such a culture must be embedded in the strategic vision of the organization, stemming from the top. It should entice employees to action with a holistic approach towards nutrition, exercise, and weight loss.

Companies that proactively invest in wellness programs report better results from their health initiatives. In fact, 56% of employers with a wellness culture report that their wellness programs have led to higher employee satisfaction, according to Optum’s Sixth Annual Wellness in the Workplace Study. In comparison, only 15% of employers without a wellness culture believe the same is true for their wellness initiatives.

While the benefits of implementing a culture of wellness are clear, cultivating such a culture remains a nascent idea. The same study also found that while 64% of large employers say that creating a culture of health is a top priority, only 19% of employers boast this culture.

But there’s good news.

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