Happy summer! Or maybe not if your workforce is struggling to stay focused. Sometimes summer can bring some struggles to the office because people are distracted or itching to get outside.

We think summer is a great time to host an office event like a workplace picnic. Now we know picnics aren’t necessarily work-related, but they can be a great idea in so many ways.

Don’t worry too much if you’ve never planned an office picnic before. We’ve put together The Handy Toolkit for a Healthier Company Picnic.

If you’ve checked out any of our employee wellness program content, you’ve heard us mention communication. Communicating about wellness is incredibly important. It can truly make or break how widespread your wellness program is.

Wellness communication is important for a few different reasons.

Wellness and work don’t always naturally combine. Some employees might struggle to see the connection. Effective communication can help you explain to your employees why you’re doing a wellness program – and more importantly, why that makes sense.

As you’ve hopefully figured out, there are plenty of ways to promote your employee wellness program. It’s important to try different things to really see what works best at your company. One very effective method is to use success stories or testimonials as wellness promotion.

Our health professionals are really the experts when it comes to our events. This network of qualified individuals includes the people you see at your events. They know what works, what doesn’t work and what you need to keep in mind.

We talked to a couple different Event Coordinators and our Director of Nursing, and the general consensus was this…you guys rock. Overall, everyone agreed that events run pretty smoothly for the most part.

We did manage to squeeze a few tips out of them. Keep these things in mind to help you and help us in the event planning process.

If you haven’t quite figured it out yet, wellness is a very unique field. In fact, it’s not always even designated as its own field, but it is still incredibly important.

The uniqueness of corporate wellness stems from that fact that not every organization is the same. That means not every wellness program is the same. Programs can vary between organizations, and even over time within one organization.

One thing is certain. Corporate wellness is focused on employees. There is really no other way to do it. If your company is going to consider employee health, they’ll need to focus on employees. This employee-focused mindset usually correlates with the mindset of the HR office, which means wellness is often under the HR umbrella.

Contrary to popular belief, wellness is not just for people who need to make huge health improvements.

Wellness is not a “one and done” initiative.

In all honesty, wellness isn’t even always easy.

We know it might be more natural—and maybe a first instinct—to use your employee wellness program to target the people who aren’t taking active steps towards better health. It’s definitely true that this population needs to be included. But that doesn't cover all of your employees.

June 2015 is the seventh annual Employee Wellbeing Month. As you can probably guess, we’re pumped! TotalWellness is a proud supporter of the month.

Unfortunately, not everyone is bought into the importance of focusing on wellness at work. Employee Wellbeing Month is designed to help educate, spread awareness and gain support for employee wellness. This year, you can follow along with the awesome Employee Wellbeing Month supporters by checking out #EWM15 on social media. Feel free to join the conversation with your own thoughts!

Millennials are slowly but surely infiltrating your workforce with degrees and experience under their belts. Boomers might also be a bit slow to retire, so they’re still doing great work for you too. If the two end caps are now working for your company that means Generation X from the middle ground is probably prominent as well.

It might seem like something weird to have to consider. But, depending on your company, you might be working with one, two or all of these generations. Different generations are motivated by different things. When it comes to designing and promoting your wellness program, this can definitely be a bit of a challenge.

If you’re looking for an innovative way to increase engagement with your corporate wellness program, we’ve got news for you!

Stress is common—especially in the workplace. Your wellness program should address some of the stress-related health problems your employees are facing. Even if it means admitting the workload is a bit rough.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to cut everyone’s workload to something super easy. You can use your wellness program to address stress by educating yourself and your employees, encouraging stress-relieving habits at and outside of the office, and recognizing that stress can play a role on the physical health of your employees.

Check out this infographic to learn how stress can affect the body. There are even some bonus tips for relieving stress at work and at home. Enjoy!