Start an Employee Wellness Program

A majority employers don't realize that they pay far more in productivity than in medical costs when their employees are not in good health. Starting an employee wellness program will not only help your employees, but it'll also help your company's bottom line.

Steps

  1. Conduct a survey to find out what types of services and programs your employees would be interested in. It is often helpful to form a committee of employees to conduct a survey. Form a committee of representatives from all organizational levels, areas, and other groups, so you can have a range of opinions represented. In this committee, think about including people from your organization or corporation that have responsibility for some aspect of employee health or well-being, such as human resources, employee benefits, occupational health and safety, the employee cafeteria, and employee unions.
    • This committee should meet regularly to ensure the program's success. They should write a mission statement based on the results of the survey.
  2. Determine what type of lifestyle your employees are leading. How many employees take smoke breaks throughout the day? If you have a vending machine, how often does it need to be refilled? Do your employees exercise regularly? Do they eat 3 balanced meals a day? Do they go to the doctor regularly for checkups? Looking at questions like that will provide you with a better sense of the types of programs from which your employees would benefit.
  3. Have a kick-off "healthy living fair". Offer employees free flu shot, blood pressure checks, cholesterol screenings, BMI assessments, smoking cessation programs. Work with your local hospital to coordinate these events.
  4. Have a health or wellness event every week. One idea is to use Monday as the day for all things health and prevention. This will start the week out on a good note and employees will appreciate the opportunity to improve their health on their company’s dime! Employers could organize Monday walks, free fruit on Mondays, or Monday health screenings.[1]
  5. Encourage physical activity outside of the office as well. If employees want to enter a local run or walk for a charity race, run a marathon, or take a fitness class, sponsor them!
  6. Set up a program to assist employees suffering from problems of abuse or addiction depending on the policies in your workplace. While some companies may choose a zero-tolerance policy for drugs, other companies may choose to offer on-site counselors to encourage employees to quit smoking, drinking, or using drugs. Using work site health promotion to help as many employees overcome their addictions will benefit the entire company.
  7. Offer healthy incentives. If any employee achieves a health goal, reward them with an item that is useful and further promotes their health such as:
    • pedometer
    • microwave vegetable steamer
    • good athletic socks
    • orange peeler
    • dyna bands
    • stress balls
  8. Follow up. Find out what's working, what isn't. Are employees losing interest? Continue taking surveys and adjusting your program so that it remains effective.

Tips

  • Keep healthy snacks (like fruit and cereal bars) in the lunch room at all times.
  • Encourage employees to commute by bicycle, and give them the means to do so.
  • A wellness program can cost $150-300 per employee per year in a large company, and the savings won't be noticeable for several years.

Warnings

  • As an employer, you need to be careful to make sure that none of the employees feel like they're picked on, alienated, or discriminated against.

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.healthymonday.org/
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