6 Tips on Creating a Business Wellness Program for Beginners

0

Are you starting a business and want to keep your employees in good shape while avoiding lawsuits? Here are tips for creating a business wellness program.

According to the Harvard Business Review, A comprehensive, well-run employee wellness program can have a return on investment (ROI) as high as 6 to 1.

Employee wellness programs not only benefit the employee but the business as well.

There are just a few things you should keep in mind when developing the program.

If you are ready to improve the lives of your employees while potentially saving the company money, keep reading to learn essential tips for creating a business wellness program.

Tips for Developing a Business Wellness Program
You may have heard of some extreme examples of wellness programs. Like Google, for example, having a dedicated lab called People & Innovation Lab to research and propose new ways of keeping employees healthy.

Another famous example of successful wellness programs is Zappos. They have many programs in place to keep employees happy and healthy. One of those is called “recess Tuesdays,” where employees are encouraged to play with playground toys.

If you are considering developing a business wellness program, check out these tips to make it fun and efficient for employees and leaders alike.

1. Establish Leadership
For your wellness program to be successful, you will need employees to buy into it. It is vital for employees to feel apart of the program as they are the ones who will be participating in it.
You can try to appoint “ambassadors” or wellness leaders who will be in charge of the program. The ambassadors can then communicate with staff and recruit others to join the program.
Having team members involved will take a load off your shoulders while encouraging participation in the program.

2. Assess
After establishing leadership, it is time to focus on what the employees need. To determine this, it is recommended to conduct a health risk assessment. This will determine what your employees need out of the program and will give you a good idea of what to expect out of it.
You can also conduct employee surveys and focus groups to determine this information.

3. Create a Plan
Now you know what your employees need to develop the plan. In the layout, you can create goals and develop objectives you would like to see out of the program.
Using information that was obtained through the health risk assessment, you can develop goals like:

  • Boost productivity
  • Improve workers health
  • Increase employee retention
  • Reduce the number of smokers
  • And more

The goals outlined should be concise, clear, and time-intensive.

4. Be Consistent
Stick to the goals you developed and be consistent with your message. Getting team members on board also requires consistency.
Ambassadors should be communicating with staff through emails, newsletters, presentations, and fliers to ensure participation. You could also have business card templates dedicated to the program and hand them out as reminders.

5. Evaluate
Like with any new program, it is crucial to evaluate and see how employees are reacting.
Bases on the goals and objectives you developed in your plan, you can then evaluate and see how well your program is doing and how employees like it. At this point, you can see if your investment is paying off in terms of ROI and employee productivity.

6. Keep Improving
With the data you gathered from employee’s feedback, you can then use the data to adjust and improve the program.
This will look different for every company depending on the needs and wants of the employees. Remember, nothing is set in stone, and you can adjust the program as you need.

For More Employer Wellness Tips
Developing a business wellness program can provide benefits for employees and employers. Many companies are developing these programs that are benefiting employees, creating higher retention rates, and boosting productivity. It is also a great recruiting point for potential new hires.
For more information on employer wellness, check out our website!