Wellness initiatives are on the rise, but it can be a challenge to craft a program that will actually engage employees. To help, we present an article by Alan Kohll, founder and president of corporate health and wellness service provider TotalWellness®, with ways you can improve wellness programs at your company in the coming year.
Wellness programs have become an increasingly popular trend among businesses of all sizes. In fact, one survey of more than 400 employers found that 80% of respondents offered wellness resources and information to their employees. In addition, 5% planned to offer those wellness services in the next 12 months.
It’s great news that employers are recognizing the need to address employee health in the workplace. Of the large number of employers offering wellness programs, however, how many will actually be successful? And even if a program is successful, how long can an employer sustain that success for its evolving workforce?
It’s likely that at some point in its existence, every wellness program will need to make some changes. Wellness managers need to analyze the efficiency and efficacy of these programs to assess their progress and recognize where improvements can be made.
While each wellness program is unique in how it functions at a given workplace, it’s important to start with basic improvements that apply to a majority of stagnant wellness programs.
Out with the Old
And, of course, in with the new! Falling into the trap of organizing the same wellness activities and challenges over and over can definitely spell trouble for a wellness program.
One way to manage this stagnancy is to develop a cross-departmental taskforce charged with brainstorming new and exciting wellness ideas. This type of taskforce is beneficial because each member can bring a unique perspective from his or her own department.
Another method for garnering new ideas is to survey the employee population. Some people have great ideas for wellness activities, but they don’t know with whom they should share them. From the survey results, popular or customizable activities can be chosen and implemented.
While it is important to mix things up, it’s not always a bad thing to repeat the most popular wellness activities. The activities employees truly enjoy and value can be repeated periodically. If it’s an activity employees are indifferent about, it’s probably beneficial to swap it out with something new!
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
A wellness program designed and promoted by one lone individual is going to be very one-sided and, quite frankly, unappealing. It’s absolutely necessary to make wellness a team project.
When it comes to designing and planning a wellness program, it’s best to form a wellness committee. This team is tasked with implementing wellness activities throughout the company. The group concept means committee members will have other people to bounce ideas off of or even to pick up the slack when they get busy with everyday work tasks.
When it comes to promoting a program, every company should identify wellness champions. In any wellness program, there are employees who have found success. It’s very likely that they want to share their stories. Finding out who those individuals are is the hardest part.
Once wellness champions are identified, the wellness committee can recruit them to help promote wellness activities to their coworkers. It’s much easier to see how a program works—and how it can actually be beneficial—when a colleague has experienced real health changes.
Entrusting a wellness program to a team can really encourage the best possible results. Teamwork allows for better ideas, more relatability, and a much more efficient approach.
In tomorrow’s Advisor, Kohll explains how to redefine wellness to engage employees.