Workplace wellness programs are meant to promote health within an organization. Much like training and employee assistance programs, wellness programs are set in place in the hope of enhancing performance and overall productivity of workers, thereby leading the organization to reach its goals in a timely manner.
The infrastructure of wellness programs are the main factors that determine whether or not it would work. In order to make these wellness programs work, employers need to be aware of some important aspects. Here they are:
- Health Assessment With Practical Solutions
A wellness program would usually involve employees filling out questionnaires or forms or being asked about their diet, activity level, lifestyle, etc. The biometric testing such as blood pressure and sugar levels are also part of the routine checkup.
Smoking, sedentary lifestyles, high stress, unhealthy eating and sleeping routines are obviously negative indicators of wellness. The wellness program of an organization should be aligned to alleviate these issues.
For example, if the majority of your employees mention the high blood pressures, then it is quite possible that their stress levels might be off the charts. Instead of simply telling the workforce members that they should not take so much stress, the company should come up with a wellness program to proactively overcome such concerns.
For high stress, the company might sponsor a bi-weekly meditation program for those who are stressed out. In addition to this, the routine of the affected employees should be rechecked to eliminate or cancel out the stressful elements, such as constant over time or workplace conflicts.
- Keep An Eye On Your Long-term Goals
A workplace wellness programs focus too hard on the short-term benefits of making their employees healthier. For example, when a company is getting reviewed by a journalist or being checked by the higher authorities, they may make an especial effort to present themselves as being a health-oriented organization, especially when it comes to their employees.
As a result, many wellness programs make the mistake of offering financial compensation for adopting healthier habits. These could be eating healthy, getting enough exercise, or quitting their smoking/drinking.
Financial compensation might be welcomed by employees at first, but long-term results are not achievable in this manner. In fact, offering financial compensation for changing personal habits could even result in irritation and resentment on the part of employees.
According to behavioral economics, people also don’t focus on long-term rewards so much as the immediate temptation. Employees thus might prefer to continue the habits that give them instant joy or relaxation rather than wait to be given money for avoiding them.
- Including the Employees
Herding employees into forced wellness programs may not be the best idea. In fact, the investment set aside for wellness programs could possibly be given to a committee made up of the workers themselves. This would achieve a whole lot more engagement with wellness programs, and thus more positive results.
If employees are given their own budget and their own voice, they would start taking more interest in achieving their own health goals and those of their colleagues.
For example, instead of the company arranging for meditation sessions or anti-smoking workshops, the employees could arrange for a mini-gym with regular workouts. This would lead to lower stress levels as well as a healthier lifestyle for many employees who might be in great need of it.
Also, employees could all come together to help one of their own quit smoking by keeping them away from other smokers and offering them alternatives like nicotine patches or gum.
- Work From Within
There are certain professionals who are hired to enhance wellness programs. If some employees have a specific and unique problem, there are counselors, life coaches, health & safety experts, disability managers who can work help your team overcome these issues. While such outsiders may be of help on a short-term basis, they should not be viewed as a permanent or even the only solution.
The people involved in running the wellness program of an organization must be loyal to the company and be someone that the employees feel an affinity with. If employees are constantly exposed to a string of strangers, the feeling that they are not being heard or cared about may arise.
The financial and time resources for hiring outside professionals would be better devoted to embedding health goals into the organization goals at all levels.
The leaders of the organization would do well to lead their workers or employees by example and facilitate healthy changes through providing the necessary arrangements. This could include communication programs or events where the leaders get together with their subordinates to promote health values in general.
Wrapping Up…
Wellness programs in general often require a holistic approach in order to give a decent return on the resources devoted to them. The programs should be run by people who are absolutely sincere to the company and to humanity in general. Proper research and experience would show the organizers of a wellness program how to run it successfully, but the tips above would hopefully set them in the right direction.
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