Employee wellness used to mean providing complete healthcare benefits. Yet, today, healthcare is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to providing wellness to the workforce.
Corporate employee wellness programs now typically promote a more nuanced understanding of well-being. As opposed to only focusing on physical health, whole-day programs now provide support for mental, emotional, and financial health, too.
Corporate wellness programs have proliferated at companies of all shapes. But what are they and how are they perceived?
Employee well-being has a significant effect on the workplace. Find out how to create a wellness program your employees will find pleasing.
How do you define employee wellness?
Even in the modern work environment, employee and workplace burnout is more than just a buzzword. The stressors of a modern office environment and workplace can begin to wear on employees. This stress has an effect on their mental and physical well-being.
Employee wellness involves activities and programs that aims to increase employee health and well-being. Prioritizing employee well-being is the most important way an employer can support employees handle stress, build friendships, enhance productivity, and reduce burnout.
As we continue to learn more about how stress and fatigue have an effect on the body, it becomes obvious that more focus is needed on employee mental health. After all, when employees feel supported, they’re more motivated to do excellent work. Wellness programs can have a significant effect on enhancing employee engagement and reducing employee turnover.
Only 46% of employers say they offer products and services for their employees’ physical and emotional wellness, but just 80% of employers believe they do so effectively. Employee wellness programs must endeavor to learn what services will work best for the needs of your employees.
Examples of employee wellness programs
Figure out what you can do for your workforce to improve your workplace wellness. The following list contains a few approaches to each area of employee health to get you started.
Physical health
Create healthy competition in the office by introducing fun fitness challenges. These challenges will keep employees engaged, and may therefore promote participation in less popular initiatives, such as wellness screenings.
Mental health
Yoga and meditation are popular choices for reducing stress and improving mental health. Counselors and resources are readily available to help employees in need of additional support.
Emotional health
Coaching, by serving as a resource for personal development, can help your employees meet their emotional and practical objectives. Revibe Health and Wellness offers coaching programs that benefit your employees personally and your company as a whole.
Volunteer days are another way by which you can encourage employees to tap into their personal meaning. While social challenges enable your staff to break free from your comfortable area.
Financial health
An employer-sponsored personal finance lunch-and-learn event is a great way to support employees who struggle with money management. Hosting staff portfolio reviews may help improve financial literacy among your team.
Why employee wellness is a priority in the workplace
Happy and healthy employees are not only nice to be around. They can also contribute to your company’s profitability and desirability to new talent. Employee wellness programs are growing hurdles for businesses looking to attract top employees. 58% of companies are currently providing some kind of health program to support their employees and decrease stress.
Having a psychiatric issue was something obvious to think about during the pandemic. Mental health plays a significant role in an employee s performance at work. There’s no doubt that industrial demands are a customary source of anxiety for employees.
Companies like Chevron are pushing employees for improved quality of life and health. Their wellness program is a great example of healthful development done right. High-quality mental health screenings and on-site child care help employees handle adverse situations, even when times are tough. Campaigns involving our collective effort to encourage awareness of mental health issues are reducing self-doubt.
What the research says about employee wellness
Many employers already had access to employee assistance programs. Only 20% of employees felt that their needs were addressed in the months following the crisis. According to research, companies that prioritized employee health saw an increase of 33% in employee trust.
Based on some studies, some wellness programs do not achieve their intended benefits. With that said, there’s the possibility that many employees might not know what wellness benefits are available to them.
According to a study, many companies that establish wellness programs report that fewer than 10 of their employees use their insurance. Employees avoid using healthcare programs when business leaders do not support the initiatives.
In order to promote advantages and encourage employees to use them, it’s vital to promote host benefits. Offering a wide selection of benefit types will help engage workers looking for psychological support.
Companies like Noodles & Co. are leading the charge in financial wellness benefits. They have lower turnover and greater financial wellness ratings. They achieve this by providing pay-on-demand access to their financial management services and providing these services to their employees.
The benefits of employee wellness programs
It’s possible for businesses to gain surprising benefits from developing attractive fitness programs. A happier, healthier office is a big asset for growing companies. Here is information on how offering advantages to your employees can help your business.
1. Higher employee engagement
Workplace stress is among the top causes of lack of engagement and absenteeism. Addressing mental health through wellness programs can reduce stress among employees.
If you manage your stress, employees will have lower absenteeism rates and higher morale. Higher employee morale leads to better relationships with teammates and established projects.
2. Lower turnover rate
Employees are more likely to continue working in businesses that show appreciation for them and appreciate them. Wellness programs can be an excellent way to show your employees your dedication to them. While human wellness programs also help to retain top employees.
3. Better company culture
Wellness programs frequently represent the organization’s values. Corporate support for employee well-being is a strong sign that an organization is a good place to work.
A clear commitment to employee wellness indicates your respect for happy, healthy employees. Over time, your respectful approach to employee well-being becomes an integral part of your company culture.
4. Higher productivity
Fifty-seven percent of employees see a connection between their well-being and work performance. It makes sense that morale is that low when employees don’t prioritize their well-being, which can affect job performance.
Supporting employees with physical, mental, emotional, and financial well-being services puts their focus away from their struggles and enables them to focus on their jobs.
4 elements of a successful employee wellness program
The right promotion and sponsorship is quite effective in setting up a successful health promotion program. But, without clear sponsorship and promotion, there’s a substantial chance your program could fail.
Here are 4 tips to help build engagement and drive employees to prioritize their personal health.
1. Awareness of benefits
Clear, regular communication ensures that employees fully understand their benefits. They’ll also be more inclined to use them as a result.
2. Participation in challenges
A wellness competition is a fun and easy way to drive employees to develop healthy habits. Design appropriate challenges that appeal to different employees. These challenges can address many areas of wellness.
These fun challenges are a great way to engage your employees:
- Month-long yoga challenge for physical wellness
- 3-month automated savings challenge for financial wellness
- 7-day meditation challenge in the office for mental and emotional wellness
- One-time “pay it forward” challenges for social wellness, like paying for someone’s drink behind you in the drive-thru.
Depending on the personnel, some workers may profit from competing in physical or emotional challenges while others may like competing in social or financial security challenges. Competitive challenges that help team members to become more familiar with the educational resources can boost the success of your wellness program.
3. Strong leadership sponsorship
If employees see leaders using employee wellness programs on the job and using health benefits, they are more likely to try them. This is especially true of health initiatives that happen during work hours. Seeing or reading about leaders participating will put employees at ease about stepping away from their desks.
For example, if your firm wants to offer mid-day online yoga classes, encourage managers to invite team members to take part. This will keep team members from feeling punished for using their benefits.
4. Requesting regular feedback
When developing a program, knowing your staff’s wants and needs is quite important. Don’t stop to consider the possibility of lower costs and help your team grow. You may also create regular employee surveys to find out what is important to each employee. This will help you figure out which resources each team member needs.
5 steps to starting an employee wellness program
A corporate wellness program stays updated as it evolves. Thus an office health program does not have to start by building a comprehensive wellness facility. Begin by making minor changes to encourage your employees to adopt healthy choices, for instance, exercising, eating better, and quitting bad habits.
Now you have five steps to create a corporate wellness program your workers will love.
1. Survey employees
Anonymously inquire what services employees would find most valuable. Inquire as to whether they seek onsite solutions, external referrals, or reimbursements for external resources that employees provide.
2. Identify program sponsors
Find employees who are dedicated to promoting staff wellness and eager to find creative solutions to workplace health. Executive involvement is necessary for a successful employee wellness program. Sponsors join by promoting wellness behaviors and taking part in wellness programs. Ultimately, this will inspire staff members to take better care of themselves.
3. Form a wellness committee
Establish a group of various employees who specialize in bringing well-being into your workplace. Have them form a committee to serve as a change champion for developing a program that best suits your employees. This committee is responsible for handling reviewing survey data, selecting very popular initiatives, creating challenges, and more.
4. Define your goals
Set up your objectives with backers and volunteers. For example, if your employees want to increase your overall health, set one goal for how many team members participate in an initial health screening and another goal for how many teams enter a competition.
Create goals for all the wellness initiatives in your program to track your success.
5. Find the right wellness resources
Contemplate services that other vendors offer so as to acquire more desirable additions to your program. It makes no sense to choose one vendor and implement all the services they provide just because they are part of a bundle.
You should consider including smoking cessation in your corporate health plan if smoking isn’t more common in the workplace. At the same time, you should consider making more nutritional resources available. Think about which benefits will be most beneficial to your team, instead of those that are focused on altering your corporate health plan.
Conclusion
In conclusion, employee wellness is a critical component of any successful business. It not only promotes a healthy and productive work environment but also fosters a sense of community and care for employees. By implementing the tips, ideas, and best practices discussed in this blog, employers can revamp their employee wellness programs and create a positive impact on their workforce.
Don’t hesitate to contact Revibe Health and Wellness for solutions tailored to your company’s needs and goals. Together, we can prioritize employee wellness and achieve a thriving workplace.