Corporate health and wellness programs come in all shapes and sizes. But regardless of the size, designing an effective employee wellness program is as much an art as it is a science. Even though it is simple to find out about employee wellness program ideas, it takes experience to implement them in a way that enhances participation, reduces health related costs, and ultimately generates a higher ROI.
One of the best ways to drive a high Return on Investment is to limit your spending and the costs related to your health and wellness program. Wellness Programs don’t have to be expensive to be successful. Recent studies showed that they can be surprisingly inexpensive and effective at the same time.
Here are a few corporate wellness program ideas that don’t involve any costs and are proven successful:
1. Conduct an employee wellness interest survey
Before starting a low costs or free wellness programs, you may want to first conduct an employee wellness interest survey. It will help you and your management learn about staff’s wellness needs and concerns, and will also provide you with various employee wellness program ideas.
You might also want to hold a few focus groups to determine where your staff is in terms of their wellness. You will be nicely surprise at the positive effect it has on them by simply engaging them in your planning.
2. Lead by example
One of the keys to ensuring your staff buy-in to the company wellness program ideas is for the management to lead the health and wellness program by setting a positive example.
When senior managers are unwilling to participate and address their own health issues, don’t expect the rest of the employees to take the program seriously. So start with the health of your senior management, and discover who are your wellness champions at the top of the organisation.
3. Implement a Wellness Mentoring program
Every organisation normally has at least a couple of employees who have successfully made health changes in their life. Staff can usually relate better to one of their colleagues, and having co-workers support can go a long way in encouraging healthful changes.
To follow this company wellness program ideas, seek volunteers who have experienced a disease resulting from an unhealthy behaviour, or survived from an illness that just happened like breast or prostate cancers, and who have successfully made positive health changes in their lives. You can then connect these success story employees with those struggling with similar issues. Make sure the privacy of these relationships is respected.
4. Integrate Wellness with other benefits.
Real-life experience has shown that you ought to consider your employee assistance program (EAP) as an extension to your wellness program.
Employee assistance professionals can help take corporate wellness program ideas to the next level by identifying employee needs, getting top-level buy-in, and assisting employees in seeing a link between the program and their health. Wellness program ideas and employee assistance go hand in hand.
For more information on Corporate Wellness Program Ideas, or Employee Wellness, contact Healthworks on 1300 90 10 90 (International: IDD 61-2-9954-1888) or contact us.
