The WellRight Blog

Just as you wouldn’t set out on a road trip without analyzing the best route to take, corporate wellness program directors should never design a program without considering the overall well-being of their entire employee population. Skipping this important step risks ending up with a cookie-cutter wellness program that excludes segments of their staff.

While some might think a customized approach is too expensive or time-consuming, many employers find tailored programs actually help reduce costs and mitigate risks by better serving all employees. It also makes it much easier for plan administrators to stay compliant with critical regulatory requirements.

So, how can you make your wellness program more inclusive?

As a wholesale food distributor with clients ranging from local restaurants to nationwide chains like Subway, Utah-based Nicholas and Company knows a little something about what fuels the human body.

So, it’s no surprise they established a wellness program several years ago, focusing on physical health. It started simply, with a yearly biometrics program and grew slowly, eventually adding a health coach who would analyze test results and help employees set basic goals.

Would the program keep up with their growth, though?

As the heat of summer approaches, every good gardener knows the seeds they planted in the spring require constant nurturing and attention—not just to survive, but to flourish. Corporate wellness programs are no exception: They require attention, work, and the proper resources to really succeed.

 To reap the benefits of a robust wellness program—from decreasing absences to increasing productivity and improving overall health—it’s critical to keep employees actively involved.

The generational makeup of the workforce is changing rapidly: In 2015, Baby Boomers made up 29% of the workforce, while Generation X and Millennials each made up 34%. But by 2020, Millennials are poised to make up 50% of the global workforce.

Even as Millennials dominate the workforce, employees are living and working longer. This means some businesses can soon expect to have up to five generations of employees in their ranks. How will this impact employers?

Health and fitness fads may come and go, but employee wellness programs are here to stay: 70% of U.S. employers offered them in 2015, and even more are expected to follow suit in the coming years.

It’s no surprise these programs are hugely popular—they purport to improve health and fitness; alleviate absenteeism and presenteeism; reduce costs; and create a healthy, thriving workforce. But before you design and implement your employee wellness program, make sure you’ve separated the truth from the hype.

You know that implementing a wellness program at your company can result in happier, healthier, more productive employees, but do the decision-makers at your organization know it too?

Getting buy-in from the C-suite isn’t easy, but it’s usually the only way to dive into a new program or amp up an existing one.

When you’re faced with a tough sell, you must provide decision-makers with the information they need to take a smart, educated approach to implementing a corporate wellness program. Here are three strategies you can use to emphasize their value.

Employees often talk about feeling “burned out,” but are they really?

True employee burnout is more than needing a temporary break from work or feeling briefly worn down by an intense project. Instead, it’s a state of chronic job stress that results in overall exhaustion, frustration, and a defeatist attitude that negatively affects an employee’s personal and work life.

Today, company culture is about more than just a stable place to work, where you can retire after 25 years with a pin and a luncheon. It’s about finding a company that lifts you up with shared values and priorities, and a sense of community.

This shift in the workplace landscape has led many human resource managers to identify culture and engagement as their number one challenge in staying competitive.

As employers look to develop and strengthen their corporate culture, they’re listening to what employees have to say. Nearly 77% of employees agree that wellness programs can positively affect corporate culture, especially when employers pair the program with genuine care and concern for employees.

A Minnesota-based manufacturing company faced a common problem: The company had a wellness program, but its employees weren’t engaging with it. To make matters worse, these employees were a predominantly rural, older, male group—a notoriously tough nut to crack.

So, the company decided to get creative. Rather than try to force the employees to adapt to the wellness program, the company decided to adapt the program to the employees. The organizers focused their program around what they knew their employees were interested in: deer hunting. And the “Buck Fever” wellness challenge was born.

Nelnet, an education finance firm, routinely asks departing employees which perk they’ll miss most. The number one answer? The wellness program.

To attract and retain today’s top talent, employers need to show they care about their employees’s well-being. And the best way to do this is to implement a terrific wellness program.

Fortunately, investing in wellness programs isn’t just good HR policy. It’s good for profits, too.