Finding Success with an Employee Wellness Program

Did you know that small businesses could save up to $1.65 in health care costs for every dollar invested in a workplace wellness program? Happy and healthy employees make for better companies and communities. Are you interested in starting an employee wellness program at your company? Great idea! But how to get started…?

A study published in 2014 by the American Journal of Health Promotion found quite a few interesting things about how much employee wellness can save businesses:

• 27% reduction in sick leave absenteeism
• 26% reduction in health care costs
• 32% reduction in workers’ compensation and disability management cost claims

But it’s not just about saving money and improving productivity. Employees who are engaged in their health and wellness live happier, healthier lives. This makes for a better working environment all together.

Define Wellness at Your Company

Make sure you take everyone’s needs into consideration, from the top to the bottom. You want them to be engaged so first, try talking to people across the organization by setting up a GetAssist work community where everyone can chime in with their thoughts and ideas. Is it subsidized gym memberships or free health risk assessments via your insurance company? Either way, find out what’s important to your culture and build a program to support your goals.

Develop a Plan

Taking the feedback from executives and employees alike, build out a plan based on best practices for your field, company size, etc. Check out some of the resources at Partnership for Prevention, which can help you learn more about key areas like tobacco prevention and education, health screenings and fitness and nutrition ideas.

Hope Health is also a great resource for workplace wellness program ideas and please be sure to read and understand the privacy information covered under HIPAA before embarking on any programs.

Communicate and Incentivize

Make sure your employees know what’s going on and let them in on the fun, with a clear explanation of why it’s important and how to get involved. Perhaps you can offer weekly reminders of health resources, best practices, fun activities to do as a group, etc. Use your GetAssist workplace community—which is 100 percent private—to keep health and wellness top of mind throughout the company. Check out this employee wellness communications plan from Aetna for ideas!

Dedicating resources to the health and wellness of your employees is just as crucial as the bottom line of a business. Having a program in place, along with the means to quickly and easily disseminate that information to employees, will set you apart from other companies and attract the best employees.

Interested in creating a workplace community for your company? Sign up here on GetAssist and get access to all the tools you need!