Building an effective wellness program means we must assess, understand the health situation and think strategically.\u00a0 There\u2019s no one-size-fits-all approach to corporate wellness programming; each organization is experiencing different challenges, they are working with various size budgets, and are at different stages in the building of their corporate wellness program.<\/p>\n
Three basic principles to consider when building an effective corporate wellness program:<\/p>\n
This is a big one!\u00a0 As part of our corporate wellness services, we\u2019ll assess a client\u2019s cumulative biometric testing results (of course there\u2019s never individual employee information shared, just the top line company overview of the health trends).\u00a0 When we go in and share our report with key decision makers, they\u2019ll inevitably say \u201cbut we were told we\u2019re doing so well compared to other organizations our size.\u201d<\/p>\n
The truth is, it really doesn\u2019t matter how you stack up to another company if you still have 45% of your employees with high blood pressure, 60% on track to have diabetes in the next two years, and 70% who report they feel fatigued every day.\u00a0 The only comparison that matters is how you do against your own baseline.\u00a0 Are you creating a healthier work environment, and does it show year after year when you assess your markers?<\/p>\n
Instead of thinking of your wellness program as a \u201cprogram\u201d, consider creating a movement. A program is a planned series of future events.\u00a0 But this isn\u2019t how health works; health isn\u2019t just a goal, or a 30-day diet, it\u2019s a lifestyle. The only endpoint for health is when our day here on earth is done.\u00a0 \u00a0If you truly want to create a healthier work environment and support your employees for the long-haul you\u2019ll need to consider how to help everyone beyond just the series of events they attend to get their points, or win a gift card.\u00a0 It\u2019s about helping your employees create new habits, and as a result enjoy the benefits of increased productivity, lower stress levels, and overall better health.<\/p>\n
Create a wellness movement by getting everyone involved, incentivizing along the way, and focusing on long-term habit change.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s very challenging to expect a return on your investment of a corporate wellness program if there\u2019s been a lack of consistency.\u00a0 Consider this, how many times have you gone to an annual meeting where you\u2019ve learned loads of information to push you forward in your career?\u00a0 You\u2019re excited to make change so you return home and start implementing a new strategy but before you know it life takes over and you find yourself back into the same old routine you\u2019ve been in a thousand times before.\u00a0 Your chances of creating long-term change would increase dramatically if you had weekly check-in calls with your guide after the conference.<\/p>\n
This scenario is no different when you\u2019re thinking about creating your corporate wellness program.\u00a0 You\u2019ll need to find ways to be consistent with program offerings and consistent with the messaging your team is receiving in order to create new long-term healthy habits and see a return on your investment.\u00a0 Education is very helpful, but implementation is the key to long-term transformation.\u00a0 Provide follow up, and encourage your teams to work together to create a healthy work environment.<\/p>\n
Effective wellness movements incorporate a variety of offerings to reach the greater population of your organization.\u00a0 Platforms may include live programming, webinars, health tips and articles, recipes, health challenges, and more.\u00a0 It\u2019s most effective to select one or two wellness companies to work with; each need to support the movement, have consistent messaging to share, and provide a portfolio of offerings that are accessible to all employees.<\/p>\n
Congratulations if you already have wellness programming available to your employees!\u00a0 Health is the greatest gift to be shared with another person and when you have healthy employees your business thrives too! \u00a0We\u2019ll continue with our series on corporate wellness in the coming months; in the meantime here\u2019s an assignment to help you evaluate the effectiveness of your current program:<\/p>\n
Check in to see how you\u2019re doing against your baseline and determine if you\u2019re offerings are creating a movement or just filling a programming need.\u00a0 Education is fantastic, but it\u2019s the implementation of the education that creates long-term change.\u00a0\u00a0 How are you supporting your team in the implementation to create the most effective corporate wellness program?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Building an effective wellness program means we must assess, understand the health situation and think strategically.\u00a0 There\u2019s no one-size-fits-all approach to corporate wellness programming; each organization is experiencing different challenges, they are working with various size budgets, and are at different stages in the building of their corporate wellness program. Three basic principles to consider […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3256,"featured_media":6355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,4],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-6353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-the-job","category-public-sector-trends","tag-government-trends"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n