Workplace wellness isn’t just a buzzword anymore. Employee health and wellness programs have existed for decades now, but today, they are viewed somewhat differently in the workplace. They are quickly becoming game changers and a fundamental strategy for employers with respect to attracting and retaining employees. And as far as wellness programs go, the size of your organization doesn’t matter anymore. All businesses, of all sizes in all industries are facing the same HR challenges, just to different degrees.
It’s no secret that unhealthy behaviours and health risk factors – including poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, excessive stress and smoking can lead to serious and expensive health problems that decrease the productivity of your workforce, ultimately impacting your organizations bottom line. Employer sponsored wellness strategies and incentives encourage employees and their families to adopt healthier lifestyles through various programs. Whether it be providing healthy snacks, on-site fitness facilities, smoking cessation programs, flu shots, flexible working schedules or walking groups. When it comes to wellness initiatives, pretty much anything goes and the more creative you are, the more your employee morale and productivity goes up. If implemented properly it can be a win-win solution. You will not only benefit from a healthier and happier workforce, you could also realize substantial savings with reduced health care costs, fewer short and long term disability claims, less absenteeism, employee retention and increased employee engagement and productivity.
To many employers, implementing a wellness strategy can be an overwhelming and daunting task, but it can be easier than you think. Designing a wellness program should be broken down into 6 simple steps:
1. Understand the issues – look at your data - employee sick time, disability claims, top diseases states in your workplace etc. Identifying and analyzing this data should help you determine your overall strategy.
2. Talk to your employees – this will get them engaged from the beginning. Survey them, ask questions, encourage them to contribute their thoughts and ideas to the program.
3. Develop a plan and identify resources – identify short and long term goals that align with your company culture. Determine if incentives and rewards will contribute to the success of the program, and if so, establish what those will be.
4. Get Employee buy-in - Probably the most difficult step. Establish wellness committees and engage employees of all ages, departments and levels of the organization to encourage other employees to participate and ensure they have the necessary resources and leadership support for the program to succeed.
5. Communicate clearly – Have a clear communication strategy that focuses on the wellness plan and the related benefits to employees. A wellness program without a clear communication strategy will negatively impact the success of the program.
6. Measure and track success – continue to talk to employees, ask for feedback and suggestions for improvement, review your employee data again ie. health costs, attendance, disabilities etc. A key success factor in the program will be continuing to update and communicate successes to employees.
Wellness and its long term benefits are for every size company and the best way to achieve success is by working the wellness program into an organizations overall strategic plan. Businesses must understand that when it comes to health and wellness, they must invest now to save later.
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Laurie Bortolotti, GBA, PMP
Division Manager, Benefits
EasyInsure | P: (800) 679-2640 ext 416