The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way employers do business, but it has also changed the various demands, wants, and needs of employees. As we enter a new year in 2022, many employees are searching for a job that goes above and beyond in securing their future.
While that often means offering employees a fair wage and providing a supportive environment, it also means offering a number of incentives and programs that improve employee health — mental health, physical health, and emotional health. This can be achieved by designing and establishing an employee wellness program.
Also known as a corporate wellness program, employee wellness programs benefit both employees and employers. It’s a great way for employers to show their employees that they’re invested in the workers’ well-being, but it also leads to a return on investment for the employer.
Why Do Employee Wellness Programs Often Fail?
Implementing a corporate wellness program comes with plenty of benefits, but only if it’s done right. Even if your intentions are good, not all wellness programs succeed – in fact, most wellness programs fail before they ever have a chance at succeeding. It’s a harsh reality.
The truth is there are a number of reasons why most programs fail. Let’s take a look at some of the things that factor into that:
- Dependency on health assessments, biometric screenings, and questionnaires.
- Offering financial incentives in hopes of achieving long-term results.
- Directing employees to a website offered by the insurer.
- Focusing on short-term initiatives and wellness challenges.
- Hiring independent vendors to help change an employee’s behavior.
For the most part, wellness programs fail when they become too dependent on one-time initiatives and events. For example, the program won’t work if you only offer a health assessment. In order for that to work, it has to be met with the right tools and resources.
How to Find Success With Your Corporate Wellness Program
Employers understand the benefits of a corporate wellness program, but they often don’t know how to find success with one. And since most employers center their program around the five initiatives outlined above, they never truly see the long-term results they were hoping for.
The good news is it’s easy to fix if you know how to get the most out of your wellness program. This not only requires the right initiatives but also constant monitoring and evaluations to ensure the program is working as intended. It takes a lot of time, energy, and effort, but it’s worth it.
Since every employer wants their wellness program to succeed, we’re going to discuss some of our most prominent tips for making that happen. By remaining dedicated to these tips, you can put your employees and company as a whole in a much better position in 2022 and beyond.
Leadership Commitment & Support
If your wellness program is going to succeed, it needs both commitment and support from leadership. Owners, managers, and other decision-makers should participate in the program and lead by example. This also means allocating the necessary resources and tools.
Creating a Company Culture of Health
Creating a culture of health plays an important role in a successful wellness program. For example, building an on-site fitness facility will only work if it contributes to the company’s overall culture of health. The wellness program can’t be isolated from the company’s vision.
Strategic Communications
Communication is extremely important to the success of your program. This not only means communicating with employees about the program itself, but also boosting enrollment, answering questions employees might have, and monitoring employee participation.
Implementing Smart Incentives
We mentioned earlier how reliance on financial incentives can be damaging to the program, but that doesn’t mean you should do away with incentives altogether. By choosing smart incentives, you can increase initial involvement in the program, boost enrollment, and encourage employees to sign up.
Employee Engagement
In order for a health and wellness program to succeed, employees must be actively engaged in what it has to offer. Without employees making use of the program, there’s no point in having one. They should be just as involved in the creation and design as they are in the rollout.
Tailoring Programs
Although you’d like to have one initiative that speaks volumes to all employees, that’s not practical in the world today. Since all employees have unique health needs, your program needs to be tailored to each employee. The more options you offer, the better off your program will be.
Environmental Support
A successful wellness program requires a positive and supportive environment as employees attempt to improve their health. By introducing policies, such as a tobacco-free environment, you can create a physical and social environment that falls in line with your company’s vision.
Benefit Plan Design
Health benefits and insurance plans are crucial to a company’s wellness program. With that said, there’s no cookie-cutter solution to make it work for everyone. With so many different benefit plans to choose from, it’s important that you choose the right benefits plan design.
Measurement & Evaluation
If you want your wellness program to work, you need to properly measure and evaluate progress. This means offering recurring health assessments and surveys to employees that take part. If you aren’t measuring progress, you won’t know what’s working and what’s not.
How Can Community Amenity Management Help?
At Community Amenity Management, there’s nothing we enjoy more than watching companies succeed with their employee wellness program. At the same time, we understand that many companies aren’t getting the most out of their wellness initiatives and aren’t producing long-term results.
That’s why we stay dedicated to helping companies design, establish, implement, and monitor their wellness program. Our goals are to increase the health of employees, maintain company fitness facilities, increase recruitment and retention, and improve overall workplace productivity.
If you’re interested in implementing a wellness program with your employees to encourage healthy behaviors and healthy lifestyles, we can help you build a culture of health that speaks volumes to your staff. Contact us today to learn more about our services like lifestyle management and how we can help you succeed. We can’t wait to work with your team!
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