5 Steps to Creating a Wellness Program

//5 Steps to Creating a Wellness Program

According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. health care expenditures are estimated to exceed $4.1 trillion in 2016–19.6% of our nation’s GDP (Wellness Council of America). Faced with increasing costs and an ever changing insurance industry, many companies have turned to workplace wellness programs to help control cost.wellness02

Here are 5 steps to consider when building a wellness program:

1. Understanding your company culture

Not all wellness programs are created equal, because not every organizational culture is the same. To suggest that a walking club or smoking cessation program would work for every employer is to say that every culture wants the same things when it comes to health. In order to understand the needs of your company culture, you need to consult the people that know it best. It wouldn’t make sense to only talk to the HR team, department leaders, and such. Consider the amount of valuable insight you would gain with a company-wide wellness survey to get an idea of what your employees need or would be interested in so you don’t waste time on failed programs that lack relevance for your population.

2. Set goals

When you set out to launch a wellness program, it’s important to have goals in place. Like the popular saying, you don’t know what you can’t measure, you must have a way to gauge the success of the program. Are you working towards a healthier population to cut down on specific claim costs? Are you looking to create a team-building environment and promote healthy living to decrease absenteeism and presenteeism? Whatever the goal may be, set a specific goal for the company, and then make sure the program is designed in such a way that each employee can reach their own individual goals as well.

3. Incentives

Offering incentives to encourage long-term healthier behavior can boost the morale of everyone involved. Whether a team of employees is working towards a common goal or incentive, or each employee is working to earn their own, there is a way to motivate everyone. Choosing the right incentive depends on your organization and ideally should encourage and reward positive behavior changes. Common incentives include a premium reduction, cash or gift card incentive (taxable to employees), or extra earned PTO time. We generally see the most success with incentives that have a dollar value of $500-$800.

4. Flexibility

Be flexible. Don’t be afraid to change directions in order to fit the needs of your employees. If they ask upper management for permission for a yoga program, be flexible enough to incorporate that into the plan. If a program failed this year, be flexible enough to examine the failure and change directions with your end goal in mind.

5. Have fun!

A workplace wellness program is created for a health and business purpose, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. When you set out to start planning, remember that as you find this program enjoyable, so will your employees.

 

For more information about our wellness programs, vendors, and how we can help, please contact Lauren Simonetti at 248.594.5550.

 

2022-02-22T14:04:12-05:00 Health & Wellness|