Why Your Organization Should Have an Employee Wellness Program

One of the keys to any successful business is a hungry, motivated workforce. Whether you are in a B2C business, a B2B business or something else, talent can separate your business from your competitors. It can help your organization accomplish its goals. Because of this, you will want to ensure that your employees are focused, optimistic, and ready to surprise and delight your customers.

That said, employees are people. They deal with their own struggles—both inside and outside the office. Sometimes their struggles, specifically health-related struggles, can impact their performance at work. They may even have to take time off of work, which can upend your business’s normal operations.

There isn’t one overarching solution to this issue. However, there is one solution that can boost employee health while increasing productivity. We’re speaking about an employee wellness program. By implementing an employee wellness program, you can increase the odds that your employees will be happier, healthier, and more motivated to do great work.

Employee Wellness Programs: The Basics

To understand an employee wellness program, we first must discuss the meaning of “wellness.” Wellness can mean many things. Most often, people think of wellness as a way to prevent sickness or illness. While this is often one component of an employee wellness program, it is often more than that. Wellness can be maintaining good health. One consultant describes wellness as “an active process of becoming aware of and learning to make healthy choices.” In other words, it is an idea of maintaining positive physical, mental, and social help.

So how can an organization help with this effort? An employee wellness program can offer certain information or services that can help employees make smart health decisions. Some components of an employee wellness program can include biometric screenings, health fairs, smoking cessation programs, stress management courses, and even meditation tutorials. To incentivize participation, you can even gamify your employee wellness program. As just one simple example, you can pair your employee wellness program with technology. Employees wearing wearable devices (like an Apple Watch or Fitbit) can track their activity and make progress toward some incentive, whether that is a gift card or something else.

Ultimately, an employee wellness program should be tailored to your employees. While, yes, you can use other programs for inspiration, you should not blindly adopt another organization’s wellness program for your organization.

Employee Wellness Programs: The Benefits 

While employee wellness programs can vary in size and scope, many organizations are implementing them in their organizations. In fact, according to some reports, 92 percent of employers with more than 200 employees offer an employee wellness program. Why is this?

An employee wellness program can provide a significant number of benefits to your business.

The most obvious benefit is that an employee wellness program improves the health of your employees. Healthier employees are more productive employees. Quite obviously, they do not have to take as many sick days. Instead of recovering from some illness at home, they are in the office, working with their colleagues to grow your organization. Your employee wellness program can also save you money by helping you avoid workers’ compensation claims, as employees will be less likely to suffer work-related injuries.

Beyond the dollars and cents, however, there is a deeper benefit. In your business, an employee may not just be an employee: they may feel like an extension of your family. An employee wellness program shows that you care about your employees—even beyond the actual work that they provide for your organization. It can bring your workforce together. Your employees will understand that you and your organization truly care about their well being. This, again, is motivating and will cause your employees to work that much harder to accomplish your business’s goals.

A Great Investment

Employee wellness programs can be a terrific addition to your organization. Yes, they will make your employees happier and healthier. But along with that, they are a terrific investment. Companies have reported that employee wellness programs have an average return on investment of 3:1.

Therefore, we encourage you to implement an employee wellness program. Whether you are motivated by dollars and cents or some other reason, you will likely be satisfied with your decision.