There are lots of things you need to do to have a successful employee wellness program. Not only does your program need to be simple, fun and engaging. But you also don’t want employees to think that the new wellness program is just a fad that will slowly fade away after six months. You want t
hem to take your program seriously and know that wellness is here to stay. You want them to be intrigued and excited. But how can you reach your employees?
Luckily, we are here to help! Follow these tips to effectively promote wellness in your company:
Encourage and Motivate Employees
Use incentives to encourage and motivate your employees to take the plunge into wellness. Try to maintain a balance between extrinsic and intrinsic incentives and rewards. Extrinsic rewards like wearable devices, gifts cards, or a decrease in premiums are excellent motivators for getting employees to take part in your wellness program. They are also needed to help keep them going throughout the year. However, they shouldn’t be the only type of incentive for your employees.
Intrinsic incentives are necessary to create an emotional tie between employees and wellness. Research has shown that people are more likely to make decisions based on emotions rather than logic. Keeping that in mind, make sure you help your employees understand why their health and wellness is so important. Make connections to the benefits of wellness outside of the office and how a healthier lifestyle improves their personal lives as well as professional lives.
Create a Healthy Work Environment
Creating a culture of wellness is a process, and it certainly doesn’t happen overnight. There are many factors that go into building a healthy work environment that promotes wellness. A healthy work environment should be positive, encouraging, and as stress-free as possible. Here are a few ideas that can lead to a healthier work environment:
Team building. Healthy relationships between co-workers of all levels of seniority is a must. Employees should have opportunities to collaborate and grow as a group.
Healthy options. Add healthier options to vending machines, break rooms, and cafeterias. Employees need to have access to healthy food options at the office.
Balance. Work-life balance is a crucial factor in a healthy work environment. You will need to do some research to determine what work-life balance means to your employees. Remember that not one size fits all when it comes to promoting a healthier work environment.
Keep in mind that not every idea should be applied at once. Too much change may overwhelm or trigger stress for employees, which will not result in a culture of wellness. Start slow and continue to add healthy activities into your workplace overtime.
Take a Holistic Approach
When promoting wellness, companies should take a holistic approach. “Health” or “wellness” cannot be narrowed down to only nutrition and physical activity. Provide resources and education on a variety of topics including stress, sleep, financial, time management, and mindfulness.
Keep in mind that emotional and mental health can sometimes have more of an impact on the human body than you may think. It’s important that employees know that they are supported in all aspects of their health. A holistic approach will help promote the message that wellness affects every aspect of life.
Value Leadership
To effectively promote wellness at your company, you nee solid leadership. A wellness leader should be resourceful, energetic – and most of all – passionate about health and wellness. In some cases, depending on company size, promoting wellness shouldn’t be limited to one wellness leader.
Leadership should noticeable throughout all levels at your company. It’s important to develop wellness champions across your organization to serve as ambassadors of your wellness program. These informal leaders can help encourage healthy habits in their departments and motivate employees to participate in wellness activities.
Encourage Feedback
Not seeing the participation you were hoping for? Make some effort into determining why. Instead of nagging employees who aren’t participating in your program, ask them for some feedback about why they are not interested.
Find out what changes you can make to drive more participation and appeal to your employees’ wants and needs. Consider sending out surveys or hold a meeting with employees to have an open discussion about your wellness initiatives. Encouraging feedback will help you shape workplace wellness program into something that will get everyone excited.
When it comes to promoting wellness at your company, remember that no plan will stick unless you determine what your employees want to gain from wellness. Encourage your employees to discover why they want a healthier lifestyle and healthier office environment. Once your company and your employees genuinely want to work towards workplace wellness, you will start seeing the positive results.
How does your company promote wellness?
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