We get it. You are working hard every day to help your employees at your worksite. You want to ensure they are healthy and productive, and you decide to work on an annual Health Fair. You spend hours working on the Health Fair for your employees – you confirm which vendors will be there, you book the room, you send out the marketing communications, and more. The day of the Fair rolls around, and you are exhausted… and then less than 10% of your employees show up.
What gives? With all of that hard work and effort, why aren’t your employees excited about the program?
If you want your efforts to be successful for your corporate wellness program, keep reading.
Traditional wellness programs focus heavily on physical health and fall short on customization. Last-minute initiatives that are misaligned with corporate objectives also fail to live up to employee expectations. In order to have a successful corporate wellness program, it must be customized to fit the culture of the company and the needs of the employees. It must be strategic, fully planned out, and woven into your corporate culture. Many times, the Human Resources Department is tasked with developing a corporate wellness program for employees, but does not have the time or background to do this.
So, what should you avoid and what should you do?
Step 1: Do NOT ignore your employees and what they are interested in!
What Works: Learn more about what employees are interested in, and the status of their health and well-being.
When employees are stressed out, the last thing they want to do is go to an all-day Health Fair or even an hour-long workshop (even if the program will help them, they are not in the right frame of mind for this type of event). Conduct a brief wellness interest survey to learn more about what your employees are interested in learning about. Review aggregate data from your Health Insurance provider to learn about the health concerns that your employees face. And last, and certainly not least, have informal chats with your employees about what areas of health and well-being they are interested in!
Important aspects to consider:
- Accessibility: Ensure the program is accessible to all employees, regardless of ability level or location.
- Flexibility: Offer a variety of options to cater to individual needs and preferences.
- Confidentiality: Ensure that employees feel safe and that all personal health information is kept confidential (your wellness vendor should be helping with this).
Step 2: Do NOT move forward with a program without agreement from senior leadership.
What Works: Get senior leadership buy-in.
For your corporate wellness program to be successful, you must also have your senior management believe in the program and participate. When leadership demonstrates that they practice well-being and engages with the program, employees will follow suit. This sets an example, and it shows employees that they can take a little time out of their day to improve their health. Leadership buy-in for the wellness program doesn’t just drive engagement, it boosts employee morale.
Step 3: Do NOT Operate in a silo, without cross functional team support.
What Works: Build a wellness committee.
A wellness committee should be made up of employees across your organization, with a diverse representation from different departments to guide program strategy and communication.
Key reasons to have a wellness committee:
- Employee engagement: By involving employees in the committee, it fosters a sense of ownership and participation in wellness initiatives.
- Effective communication: The committee can effectively communicate wellness information and updates to employees across the organization.
- Leadership and support: A committee can advocate for wellness initiatives to leadership, ensuring necessary resources and support for program implementation.
- Data-driven decision making: By collecting feedback and monitoring participation, the committee can evaluate the effectiveness of wellness programs and make data-based adjustments.
Step 4: Do NOT try to plan and develop the program yourself/in-house.
What Works: Partnership with a holistic wellness vendor who can develop the program for you, market it, and help you manage the projects.
For the past ten years B.Komplete Corporate Wellness has been motivating employees into positive physical, mental, social and environmental habits. We take the wellness work off of the plate of our HR partners, and do the “heavy lifting” to bring the corporate wellness program to life.
This life fulfilling synergy of engagement, personalized services, and ongoing programs is our company’s stock in the trade. In a symbiotic way, appropriately designed corporate wellness programs enable employees to dramatically improve their health, stress, energy, sleep, well-being, and workplace efficiency.
B.Komplete offers a variety of services including:
- Seminars and Webinars on topics such as general nutrition, mental health, financial well-being, disease prevention and stress reduction.
- Cooking Demonstrations (both onsite and virtually) on a variety of topics including heart-healthy, gluten-free and plant-based recipe items.
- Nutrition and Wellness Counseling including in-person or telephonic counseling, review of client history and current eating habits, guidance on mindful eating, goal setting and health management.
- Health Fairs and Wellness Awareness Stations.
- Stress Reduction Workshops including yoga, acupuncture, massage and interactive workshops.
- Healthy Happy Hours including workshops and physical activity.
- Tobacco Cessation Programs to provide accessible solutions for employees to quit smoking, vaping, and more.
- Wellness Challenges with custom programs that offer solutions for disease prevention, mental health, financial well-being and more.
- Wellness Comedy Shows helping groups laugh across the Country!
- Incentive Management and Program Consultations.
B.Komplete Corporate Wellness and our positive influence is highly regarded in the industry.
Step 5: Do NOT forget about your own well-being.
What Works: Allow Yourself to enjoy the program, and take part in wellness!
As a leader in Human Resources you deserve the wellness program activities just as much as your employees do. The quote, “you can’t pour from an empty cup” rings true in this scenario. When you make time for your own well-being, your ‘cup’ is full and you have the energy to do your job well. If your well-being cup is empty, you won’t have energy for the everyday demands of your job. It may seem counterintuitive, but you’re actually more productive when you make time for well-being.
And last, but not least, do NOT close this blog post until after you have emailed us at beryl@bkomplete.com to schedule a Corporate Wellness Consultation, to take this work off of your plate, and let us start empowering your employees to take control of their health.
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