All across the nation, employers are scrambling to get on “Best Employer” lists—such as, Glassdoor’s annual 10 best places to work list, Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For® list, and others. Not only do these lists showcase the “best of the best,” but they also show other employers what’s working to get talent in the door.
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As wellness continues to be a hot topic for a variety of reasons, more employers are taking active measures to stand out as healthy companies. In honor of these employers, Interactive Health annually recognizes the “Healthiest Companies in America.” Through year-round, personalized digital tools, coaching, wellness challenges, and fresh medical information, Interactive Health taps into innovative ways to help companies improve the health of their employees.
To be recognized, awardees must reach or exceed a 70% participation rate in their workplace wellness program, and their workforces’ overall health risk must be established as low—based on the results of an annual health evaluation, conducted by Interactive Health.
For employers, the benefits of offering wellness programs are transformative. Companies who invest in the health of their employees enjoy higher productivity, lower medical costs, fewer workers’ compensation and disability claims, and reduced absenteeism. Furthermore, these companies are attracting top talent who are also interested in getting and remaining healthy in the years ahead.
If you’re interested in offering a wellness program to attract talent, be sure to consider the following six things if you want your program to be as comprehensive and competitive as possible.
1. Stress Relief
In 2019, you’ll want to make sure your wellness programs focus on helping employees identify, mitigate, and eradicate their stress levels. Why? Because stress in the workplace is becoming a widespread epidemic and is likely decreasing your organization’s employee retention rates while increasing its presenteeism and absenteeism rates, as well as its number of healthcare claims—which is costing your organization a whole lot of money.
2. Mental Health
Moving forward, your organization will need to take an all-inclusive approach to promoting and implementing mental health wellness initiatives. It will need to make sure employees have access to comprehensive mental health benefits and programs. And it will need to train all managers to better identify mental health concerns in the workplace.
3. Emotional Self-Care
As more employees are trained to be emotionally intelligent, they are more likely to get emotionally drained. So, you’ll want to make sure your wellness programs are run to endorse empathy but that employees (especially managers) are also encouraged to take care of themselves and consider their own emotional limitations and wellness.
4. Lifestyle Wellness
Maintaining a healthy diet, exercising, and practicing healthier lifestyles overall will be extremely important for your employees’ wellness in 2019 and beyond. Consider doing things like revamping your reimbursement programs for employees who want to join a gym or yoga studio.
5. Flexible Work
You’ll also want to make sure your employees are permitted to work from home when they need to and that they can work different hours when appropriate, as well. Otherwise, they may not be able to alleviate their stress levels or practice emotional and physical self-care. Research has continued to prove that employees who have flexible work options are happier, more productive, and healthier.
6. Financial Health
Employees who have financial worries are less healthy and more stressed while at work. In 2019, learn about the importance of financial wellness training and how you can develop a successful financial wellness program.
Focus on the six things listed above, and you’ll have comprehensive wellness programs and initiatives in 2019. You could also end up on the “Healthiest Companies in America” list in 2020!