A wellness program won’t be successful without any type of behavior change from its employees. Wellness challenges are the core of behavior change, and are essential to any winning workplace wellness program. Hosting regular challenges is a fun, engaging way to help employees practice healthy lifestyle behaviors and create new habits – which can lead to the development of permanent healthy habits. 

Wellness challenges can also be utilized to vamp up your company’s wellness initiatives. In fact, hosting a wellness challenge can:

• Help you climb out of a rut in your program
• Be used to celebrate special events, milestones, or holidays
• Provide some momentum after a new program or campaign launch
• Stimulate engagement by instilling a sense of friendly competition among teams and colleagues

Most wellness challenges don’t usually require a big investment on the employer’s part – which is another reason why they are so appealing. However, sometimes it can be a bit tricky to get employees to participate in a wellness challenge. The key is to promote the challenge with some excitement and motivate employees to get involved for their own benefit. Below are a few ideas to help motivate employees to participate in wellness challenges: 

Being happy is an important aspect of health and wellness.

When you’re not happy, your body feels it. It’s challenging to stay productive and focused, and you’re a lot less likely to make healthy choices when you’re feeling unhappy.

Because happiness is so vital to wellbeing, the United Nations declared March 20^th the International Day of Happiness. It’s a day to recognize and celebrate the importance of happiness in lives of all different people around the globe. 

The International Day of Happiness should remind employers of the value of a happy workplace. Since many Americans spend a good portion of their time in the office, it’s important that they work at a company that prioritizes employee happiness. A principal responsibility of an employer is to create and promote a happy work environment. A happy work environment is not only good for a workforce, but it’s good for the bottom line, too. According to LiveHappy.com, unhappy employees cost employers $300 billion each year in lost productivity.

Wellness coordinators don’t always get the recognition they deserve. They are responsible for a variety of tasks, as well as the preparation and evaluation of wellness initiatives. As a wellness coordinator, your attitude can not only make or break employee participation but can impact how well an employee does throughout the wellness program. Taking a positive, proactive approach to your wellness program can make wellness initiatives more popular and effective.

Being a proactive wellness coordinator means taking action when it comes to your wellness program. A proactive wellness coordinator will reach out to employees, encourage them, and empower them to make healthy changes in their lives. Taking a proactive approach to employee wellness is more effective than a reactive approach for many different reasons:

• Health and wellness is an ongoing process – there is always action to be taken.
• Activity is contagious, so the more effort you put into employee wellness, the more your co-workers will, too.
• A positive, proactive approach sets employees up for success by providing a strong foundation that helps employees develop motivation, excitement, and momentum. 

Employee Appreciation Day falls on Friday, March 2nd this year. If you haven’t taken advantage of celebrating Employee Appreciation Day in the past, now is your chance to do so! Expressing gratitude and letting your employees know you appreciate them is one of the best ways to keep employees engaged and motivated in the workplace. 

However, many employees don’t feel appreciated by their employer or company. A report from Globoforce found that 40% of surveyed employees claimed they weren’t recognized at all over the past year. This is unfortunate because both employees and employers benefit from employee appreciation and recognition. Employees who feel appreciated tend to be more loyal to their company, view their boss as trustworthy, and feel more satisfied with their role. 

If you haven’t planned something special for your employees yet, no need to worry. Check out some of these ideas to show your employees that they are appreciated:

It’s no secret that what you eat significantly impacts your health.

Your diet can either fuel your body or drag you down.

Consuming a diet that is mostly made up of “fake food” (or heavily processed food products) can harm your health with its excessive sugar, calorie, and fat content. By cutting back on fake foods and focusing on a diet filled with real foods, you can reduce your risk of chronic illness, feel more energized, and keep your body happy and healthy.

A new study published in the British Medical Journal gave some new insight on the negative impact that ultra-processed food has on one’s health. A group of French scientists studied the diets of more than 100,000 people and found that eating ultra-processed foods (like cakes, chicken nuggets, instant noodles, and mass-produced bread) put people at a higher risk of developing cancer. A 10% increase in the amount of ultra-processed food consumed was linked to a 12% increase in certain types of cancers. The study also found that processed foods make up about 50% of the average person's diet in several developed countries – which could be contributing to the rising cancer levels.

An increased risk of cancer is just one of the many reasons why heavily processed foods can be dangerous to your health. A diet high in processed foods is also linked to obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and nutrient deficiency. This is why it’s important to strive for a healthy, balanced diet filled with more real foods and less fake foods.

Engaged and motivated employees are the heart of a successful corporate wellness program. They tend to gain more from their company’s wellness initiatives and serve as an example for other employees in the office. This is why HR professionals and wellness professionals are always on the lookout for new ways to maintain and increase employee engagement throughout the year. 

Keeping employees engaged in your workplace wellness program is no small task. Employees can easily lose steam and motivation once wellness activities become repetitive and unchallenging. And without employee engagement and participation, a wellness program would be worthless.

So, whether you’ve had your wellness program up and running for years or if you’re launching your program for the first time, try out these seven tips to help keep your employees engaged in your wellness program all year long:

When you first started your job, you probably felt excited, enthusiastic, and optimistic about your future at your company. But after a few years, that excitement might have started to dwindle, and you might feel a bit less happy in your role that you once used to love. This is a normal feeling for many full-time employees – especially for those that work in high-stress roles or at high-stress companies.

If you dread going to work and feel like the work you do has become meaningless, you might be suffering from the effects of workplace burnout. Mayo Clinic defines workplace burnout as a special type of stress; it’s a state of physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about the competence and the value of one’s work. Burnout usually occurs when a person experiences long-term stress at their job or feels their role is emotionally and/or physically exhausting. 

Some typical signs of workplace burnout include:

• Feeling negative or cynical at work
• Having trouble feeling focused or productive
• Feeling irritated with colleagues or clients
• Lack of energy
• Poor sleep
• Changes in diet or appetite
• Taking more sick days than usual
• Feeling unsatisfied with your achievements
• Unusual chronic aches or pains – like headaches or backaches 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), six in 10 people – have one a chronic health condition, and one in four adults had two or more chronic health conditions. These chronic diseases and conditions – including diabetes, heart disease, obesity, arthritis, and certain types of cancer – are some of the most common, deadliest, and costly health issues in the United States.

The good news is many of these chronic diseases and conditions can be prevented. However, many adults don’t practice preventative behaviors to help lower their risks for these diseases. This could be because many people are uneducated about the power of prevention or how to live a healthier lifestyle to combat these risks. One possible solution for this is developing a workplace wellness program that focuses on prevention. Focusing on the power of prevention could help educate employees on how to reduce their risk for these serious health problems before it’s too late.

Employers should view prevention as a priority for employee wellness. Not only do these chronic diseases and conditions slow down a workforce, they’re extremely costly too. In fact, the CDC states that 86% of the nation’s $2.7 trillion annual healthcare expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions. Because many of these costs can be reduced through preventative healthcare, it’s crucial that employers emphasis prevention in their employee wellness programs.

With approximately 48.3 million adults in the United States experiencing a mental illness each year, prioritizing mental health and practicing self-care is essential. However, finding time to prioritize your mental health and practice self-care can be difficult for most full-time employees. Busy schedules and long hours can make it difficult to schedule therapist appointments or find the time to read a self-help book. 

Luckily, you can now use your phone to boost your mental health. Technology has come a long way in the last decade, and there’s now an app for almost everything – including mental health and self-care. Using apps is an easy, convenient, and affordable way to boost your mental and emotional health. Plus, it’s not nearly as time-consuming as other alternatives. 

Below are seven of the best mental health and self-care apps that you should utilize to feel less stressed, improve your mood, and feel happier and healthier.

We are all guilty of being a Negative Nancy every once in a while. But being a pessimist can have some major health consequences. This is because a negative attitude and mindset can increase tension and stress in the body. In fact, studies have found that the potential health consequences of pessimism can include: 

• A weaker immune system
• Chronic stress
• Higher risk of heart disease and stroke
• Chronic aches and pain 

In contrast, a 2015 study found that optimists were more likely to eat healthily, keep a healthy BMI, exercise regularly, and maintain a healthy blood pressure. Keeping a more positive and optimistic attitude can help you feel happier and healthier.

Unfortunately, we can’t always control our negative thoughts or attitudes  –  especially if we’re unaware of them! But with a little bit of practice and some self-awareness, you can learn how to identify negative thoughts and transform them into positive ones.