Developing an employee workplace wellness program is an essential step in improving the health and productivity of employees and overall enhancing the cost of employer-provided health care. Employees spend at least half of their lives at workplaces. So keeping them satisfied, happy, safe, and healthy at all times is a massive benefit to your company and them.
Since the ever-increasing costs of health insurance and the importance of employee health, employers should consider implementing a well-thought-out wellness program that benefits both the employer’s bottom line and employees’ health.
Well-designed company wellness programs have been shown to reduce disability management costs and sick leaves, not forgetting health care costs. Beyond this financial return on investment, employers can reap benefits such as:
- Reducing absenteeism
- Improved on the job performance
- Improving employee morale and engagement, and loyalty
- More successful recruitment and retention
- Achieving higher employee productivity
STEPS TO AN EFFECTIVE WORKPLACE WELLNESS PROGRAM
There are many ways to develop a successful wellness program; however, the following steps are vital to putting your program into place:
Get management commitment
Time and resources are essential to making such a program run smoothly. Thus, you will need to buy in from management on board who will help you secure funding, which allows you to move forward with your concepts.
Form a wellness committee
Involve your employees by asking them for ideas before getting your program off the ground. This will help them feel engaged with the program. Select a committed group of employees to help explore and discuss ideas and options, present opportunities and carry out the chosen actions. The committee team can also be responsible for planning activities, promoting the program, keeping in touch with the management and workers, and facilitating program evaluation and implementations.
The committee number will depend on the room of your program and how many employees you have. Typically, a committee of 5 to 12 is suitable. Make sure there is representation from each department or shift. You may also want to consider interchanging committee members over time so more employees and fresh opinions can move the program in new tips and guidelines.
Collect data
Distinguishing your claim costs, health trends of your employees, employee demographics, and attendance records can help you predict what actions will best serve your employees and organizations. As a starting point, look at some of the most common health issues like obesity, high blood pressure, depression, and addiction. You can also ask employees to complete a wellness survey, including questions to help you identify and learn more about your employees and how they want to receive information through gym memberships, seminars and learn sessions, emails, and other meaningful activities.
Develop a plan
Establish specific goals and measurable objectives, set timelines, assign committee member responsibilities, create a budget and decide how you will measure results. Be aware that you will have to be flexible as your plans unfold. You may need to switch priorities if requests indicate that a different focus is required.
Choose action
Whatever you choose, ensure that it supports employees’ mental, physical, social, emotional, and financial state. Establish a plan that balances employee needs with their wants. Select various actions for each priority, i.e., if weight loss is the goal, revamp your vending machine to offer more healthy meals, reimburse costs for weight loss programs, start a lunch break walking group, and you can also start a support group for those trying to aim at losing weight.
Assess and adjust
Regularly regulate your program to see what works best and what’s not, then make adjustments accordingly. Consult your employees for feedback about the program on possible adjustments. In addition, while it is valuable to assess your Return Of Investment (ROI) through lower claims and insurance costs, your most significant savings may be in fewer absences, higher productivity, and employee retention.
Welcome to the site. This post is written by TheWellnessToday (TWT) author.
