When it comes to recruiting top talent, competitive health insurance and gym membership reimbursement may not cut it anymore. Facebook and Apple recently made headlines with the news that they will now offer financial support for female employees who wish to freeze their eggs.
Topics: Wellness at Work
We’ve all heard the age-old question. Is your glass half full or half empty? Whichever you say helps to indicate if you're an optimist, or a pessimist. But being a positive thinker can impact your life (and your employees) more than you realize. Did you know that positive thinking can make you healthier? Numerous studies have shown that optimists are physically and psychologically healthier than pessimists.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces, Wellness at Work
As a corporate wellness program provider, it probably seems slightly counterintuitive for us to suggest that you stop forcing employees to participate in your wellness program. In fact, the idea of "disincentivizing" employees is actually growing in popularity; an Aon Hewitt survey demonstrated that 53% of employers plan to begin implementing disincentives in the next 3-5 years.
Topics: Wellness at Work
If you're reading this blog, we know that you're ready and willing to devote the time, energy and money that it takes to build a brilliant worksite wellness program. Here's the rub, though: out of all of the companies that have wellness programs, only 24% of employees are participating (according to a Gallup study). Less than a quarter. We know that's not enough; you want your entire workforce to be engaged in their work and enabled to be productive and successful, whether that's physically, financially and/or emotionally.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces, Wellness at Work
Topics: Wellness at Work
When you think of company culture, Clif Bar is one of the first places that comes to mind. The healthy snack and drink company has truly set the 'bar' for America's workplaces, from a robust wellness program to an incredible list of perks and benefits.
In an organization that cites athletes and health nuts as its demographic, Clif Bar understands the importance and the value of corporate wellness. Clif Bar employs a "Wellness Diva" whose job is purely to find ways to keep Clif Bar's 200+ employees healthy and productive.
Every employee can exercise for two and a half hours each week on company time. They can work out with one of five on-site personal trainers, participate in one of the 32 free fitness classes offered each week at the on-site gym, or take one of the in-house bikes out for a ride. Clif Bar also offers wellness seminars, an annual health fair with biometric screenings, and a reimbursement of up to $350 for participating in athletic competitions like marathons or triathlons.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces, Wellness at Work
Health promotion and workplace wellness strategies stretch across the globe.
Although the U.S. is home to most of the world's companies with corporate wellness programs, these initiatives continue to gain popularity among foreign businesses that are searching for ways to out-perform their competitors. The goals, implementation and communication of these programs vary widely from country to country.
By looking at the larger picture of global workplace wellness initiatives, we believe there is a lot we can learn from the strategies of our international neighbors.
Topics: Wellness at Work
School is officially back in session for much of America’s youth, but we’re looking at adult education in a whole new light. In discussing health care and hosting biometric screenings, we often find that many individuals have difficulty understanding their diagnoses. We dug a little deeper and discovered that nearly 9 out of 10 adults have trouble using the everyday health information that is available at their doctor’s offices, in their communities and throughout the media.
Topics: Wellness at Work
With Labor Day weekend right around the corner, many of us are getting ready to enjoy some well-earned vacation time. In today's world, however, breaking away from the office means more than physically not being there. Between waking up with our smartphones to checking social media, most of us will find ourselves responding to emails, returning voicemails and interacting with Facebook when we should be soaking up the paid time off. In fact, a recent TripAdvisor survey of 16,100 employed respondents reported that 77% percent of U.S. respondents say they have worked on vacation during the past year, with 91% stating that they check work e-mail while they're away.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces, Wellness at Work
American workers don’t use all their vacation days, leaving an estimated 577 million unused days on the table each year. Even when we do get the chance to get away, most of us take our work along for the ride, toting our laptops along and keeping our smartphones glued to our sides.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces, Wellness at Work
