We throw a lot of wellness advice and information at you every single week. Sometimes it can be overwhelming and tough to take all of that information and apply it to your workplace. It can be difficult to figure out exactly how things work in the real world.
We want to give you a peek at something we know works in wellness—the program we use at TotalWellness! We really try to practice what we preach to all of you. Our program is simple. It’s focused on positivity and inclusivity. We try our very best to include all elements of health.
And, it’s really fun because our employees invest in it! In fact, last year we had almost 100% participation in our employee wellness program. So here’s how it works…
Our Incentive
We do have an incentive for our wellness program. There will always be a debate on whether or not incentives are a good idea. We think—when done right—an incentive can be a great wellness motivator. The key to incentives is ensuring they continue to drive your employees’ healthy lifestyles once they’ve been earned.
Here at TotalWellness, wellness participants receive monthly employer contributions to their health insurance coverage. Those who aren’t on the TotalWellness insurance plan received contributions to a Flexible Spending Account, which can be used to cover a variety of health-related costs. Outside of the financial incentive, employees who take part in the wellness program are invited to enjoy some awesome extra wellness perks.
Our Requirements
Our wellness program operates on a points system. In order to be eligible for the incentives, TotalWellness employees must earn 500 points throughout the year. Points can be earned for a variety of activities. There are some one-off activities like attending a biometric screening, getting a flu shot, going to the dentist or eye doctor, volunteering in the community, and participating in a walk or run.
Each quarter or season, we also have the opportunity to earn points by adopting healthy habits. Here are some of the great activities TotalWellness employees are rewarded for:
- Drink eight glasses of water per day for one week straight.
- Floss each day for one week straight.
- Read 5 books.
- Participate in a stress relief activity five times.
- Get at least 150 minutes of exercise in one week.
- Express gratitude once per day for one week straight.
- Eat a healthy breakfast every day for one week straight.
- Attend a cultural event.
- Compliment one person each day for one week straight.
Each wellness activity in which employees participate is worth 25 points towards their 500 point goal. We ask that employees earn their points by Dec. 1 to receive the incentive for the following year.
Our Perks
Outside of incentives, activities and points, TotalWellness offers a ton of great wellness perks for our employees. The most popular is probably or worksite gym. We’ve converted an unused shipping bay into a gym for our employees. Everyone is allowed thirty minutes “on the clock” to work out at work.
Outside of our gym, employees receive great deals on community race entry fees and a majority of them can set their own hours. We also have an annual company walk and quarterly get-togethers. Our president is also a certified triathlon coach, so employees have access to his training expertise if we need it!
One of our most recently implemented wellness perks is our community garden. We built a sizable garden with raised beds last spring. Our employees are welcome to plant and harvest fresh produce at work so they can get a jumpstart on a healthy grocery list. You can check out how we put our garden together (and some great pictures) in this toolkit!
The bottom line is this. We love our employees. And we hope our employees love their wellness program.
New health and wellness trends flood the market every single day. The best way to weed through them is to return the focus to where it should be—your employees. A steady, strategic focus on employee health will never steer you wrong.
We keep our program simple because that’s what fits our company culture. Feel free to use pieces of our wellness structure and adapt them to your company culture.
Do you have any similar elements to your employee wellness program? Let us know in the comments below!
