Maintaining good health is a marathon, not a sprint. A marathon in the form of a company wellness program benefits employees personally and professionally. It’s also great for business—both yours and your clients’.
Some employees are reluctant to hop aboard a company wellness program. There are a range of reasons and misconceptions causing hesitation to participate, such as:
With that in mind, here are some "do's and don'ts" that you can share with your groups on successful employee wellness programs.
1. Whose idea is it?
For a wellness program to succeed, employees should ideally not view it as a work-related task imposed by management. Include employee feedback in the planning process.
DO use surveys, focus groups, or volunteer employee committees to gauge the right timing to introduce a wellness program, and what it should include and exclude, whether healthy eating tips, a walkers’ club, or a weight loss challenge.
DON’T impose a pre-designed program that might have worked at other organizations. Instead, the program should fit a company's culture, type of work, and the cohort of employees.
2. Clarify the program.
To drive wellness program participation, employees should understand the program's specifics from the start.
DO launch an email campaign, post on the company blog, and encourage department heads to talk directly to their teams. Detail exactly what is included in the wellness program. If there is a smoking cessation component, spell out what that looks like. If there is an exercise initiative, will everyone get up from their desks and do laps every hour? Are there discounts at local gyms? Will everyone sport a Fitbit and track every step?
DON’T leave them guessing. That often leads to anxiety rather than enthusiasm. Make it clear that everyone is in it to win it, and that no employee’s privacy will be violated.
3. “What’s in it for me?”
How can you encourage employees to see the value of a wellness program?
DO ask your clients’ employees how they would like to benefit from a wellness program. Use those surveys, focus groups, and committees as resources for how to craft company health initiatives.
Once a client’s program is available, DO feature the employees' lists of benefits in your brochure and email blasts to encourage participation.
DON’T take shortcuts with communication about the wellness program's benefits. People make unhealthy choices all the time. Trigger changes in behavior by seeing the world through the employees' eyes and offering measurable improvements they are willing to try, along with incentives.
4. Track the results.
Once enough employees in a company sign up for a wellness program and discover it is working, they will spread the word to other employees about their first-hand successful experiences.
DO design ways to track the improvements the employees were looking for and show them—and your client—the successes your program has wrought.