With the rise in health care costs across the nation, companies are now incentivizing their employees to lead healthier, more active lifestyles in an effort to contain costs. Wellness programs have become a quick response to change poor-health habits and identify risk factors of the company population. According to a RAND employer survey, 80 percent of employers with a wellness program screen their employees for health risks and use the results for program planning and preventative interventions.
Adding Wellness Into Your Workforce
So what puts the “well” into “wellness programs”? There are varieties of pre-developed wellness management systems, like Power of Vitality and ShapeUp, which provide companies with a fully mapped out program in one single interface. These programs offer everything from personalized employee assessments to healthy eating webinars.
If you’re looking to create and maintain your own wellness program, smaller more home-grown programs work as well! Try incorporating these features to get employees motivated and on the path to health:
- Smoking cessation programs
- Healthy eating seminars
- Fitbit or other wearable step tracker challenges
- Reimbursement for healthy purchases like weights or fitness classes
- Stress management techniques
If your office offers lunch or vending machines, try adopting a more balanced menu or meal options. Even making the smallest changes to food offerings can help have a positive impact on your company culture.
Incentives for Employees
How can you reward employees for healthy behavior? Many companies, including IWP, offer reduced premiums on health insurance once a certain level of participation has been attained. Others reward employees with gifts and raffles for partaking in wellness events.
Whatever the incentive, motivation is key in changing the habits of your workforce. Promoting the program through your company’s intranet, bulletin board or monthly newsletter can be the driving force behind an employee’s motivation to participate.
Incorporating wellness programs into your companies benefits can not only have a positive impact on employee health, but also help increase engagement and productivity. For now, data shows the benefits of having a wellness programs far outweigh not having one. Practicing and promoting good eating habits, active lifestyles and attending routine exams will help improve your teams quality of life, while helping your bottom line.