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What is an employee wellness program?
Wellness programs are more than just a trending topic in business. Over the course of history, workplace benefits have expanded to include a myriad of insurance offerings – all of which are more expensive when there are a greater number of high claims – leading employers to begin considering the importance of overall employee wellness and the return on investing in wellness as an employer.
As a result, the employee wellness program was born. Wellness programs set out to address health determinants like obesity, which impacts more than a third of all Americans, depression, chronic illness, poverty, and other issues. Wellness programs typically encourage, and incentivize behaviors and habits that drive improved health like walking daily, quitting smoking, eating healthy, losing weight, managing finances, and practicing mindfulness.
Some of these programs cost almost nothing at all and involve sending out motivating messaging, adding wellness content to newsletters, offering walking breaks during the workday, or encouraging adequate hydrating. Others require investment but typically produce a high return on investment. More on that next.
Why are wellness programs in the workplace beneficial?
Employee wellness impacts nearly every aspect of employee performance in the workplace. Employees with chronic conditions may miss more work, be more distracted or absent while at work, and drive up health care costs and subsequently healthcare premiums for all workers.
Investing in employee wellness gives employees encouragement and incentive to make choices that reduce their risk of developing chronic physical or mental health conditions like obesity, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure, and more. It also provides motivation for employees who do have chronic conditions to see their providers for wellness strategies, which can prevent major health crises that occur without careful monitoring and management of chronic illness. As a result, these employees are better able to show up for their scheduled shifts, focus and produce while on the job, and make sound decisions that promote a positive and engaged environment at work.
Additionally, employee wellness is becoming a benefit that candidates expect an organization to offer, which means not having a wellness program in place can make you less competitive when recruiting top talent. Eighty-seven percent of employers have wellness initiatives in place, 73% offer a formal wellness program, and 60% achieved a reduction in healthcare costs as a result of their wellness initiatives.
The key takeaway? Employee wellness programs offer a high return on investment, positively impacting your bottom line.
Challenges behind employee wellness programs
If implementing a wellness program was without challenges, 100% of employers would have an effective program in place. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Some of the challenges employers express when implementing their wellness programs – and ways to mitigate risk – are below:
It’s not in the budget.
Getting an expenditure approved that wasn’t in the original budget can be challenging but building a business case to illustrate the immediate and long-term returns may be helpful in bringing key leaders on board with the plan. If there is no flexibility, be proactive and present a business case now to ensure wellness initiatives make it into the next budget. That allows you to begin engaging vendors to administer the program and go live the day you have funds available.
I can’t sell the ROI.
Having a human resources leader run blinded claims data, workplace injury reports, and absenteeism reports is an effective way to highlight the extensive cost of poor employee health. Sharing this data with leadership teams can help illustrate the importance and urgency of a cost-effective wellness program. Another suggestion is to start small, with encouragement and focus on wellness, before implementing incentives. It might produce the results you need to sell the initiative.
Employees may not even participate.
A common concern among leaders is that they’ll implement a wellness program and employees won’t participate. C.A. Short’s services include assistance in driving participation, but leading from the top – a culture in which even the president participates in the wellness program – is the most effective strategy. Monetary incentives also drive participation quite well.
Employee wellness recommendations for businesses
Organizations must incorporate a wellness component into their benefits offering in order to remain competitive and secure top talent. Working with an expert in wellness like C.A. Short Company can considerably reduce costs as the programs are already built and completely customizable, so you don’t have to hire a specialist or administrator in-house or pay for the research and program components yourself.
Ensure your wellness program is well-advertised, both in-house and in your job postings and recruitment materials. Choose a wellness program that incentive mental, physical, spiritual and financial wellness for overall well-being and whole-person focus. Support wellness in small ways by encouraging sick employees to stay home, providing access to short-term disability and paid time off, and leading the way from the top, involving the business owner or president in any wellness initiatives.
Partnering With C.A. Short Company
At C.A. Short Company we are committed to improving employee health and well-being. We have more than 80+ years of experience helping employers build innovative safety, engagement, and wellness programs. Contact us today to learn how we can help you incorporate wellness into your business programs.
