The WellRight Blog

So many of us let our health goals fall by the wayside in 2020, and for understandable reasons. The pandemic has disrupted life in so many ways that it has been difficult to focus on making healthy choices. Plus, gyms and fitness classes have been off-limits for most of the past year.

It’s not surprising that America’s top New Year’s resolution for 2021 was “exercise more,” followed by “eat healthier.” (By comparison, 2020’s top resolution was “manage finances better.”) When it comes to wellness in 2021, Americans are itching to make up for lost time.

One way in which they’re doing this is by turning to wellness coaching.

Few things bring teams together and inspire individual achievement more than striving toward a shared goal—or overcoming a shared challenge. We all learned that lesson in 2020—but in 2021, your organization can apply the idea to something a bit more healthy, fun, and productive.

A company-wide employee wellness challenge that all employees participate in is one of the key best practices for implementing a successful wellness program.

Savvy health plan administrators know that member wellness programs can make a health plan more attractive by adding value for their members and employer groups while also reducing costs.

Wellness programs encourage healthy habits among members, which, in turn, can drive down healthcare spending—an especially enticing prospect to self-insured and experience-rated groups. Additionally, wellness programs have been shown to reduce absenteeism and presenteeism, boost productivity and creativity, and contribute to a desirable workplace culture.

Companies often evaluate their corporate wellness programs in terms of return on investment (ROI). It’s a simple calculation for these companies: For every dollar they spend on their wellness program, how much do they save on healthcare costs?

Editor's Note: We recently updated this previously published post with new insights. Enjoy!

The generational makeup of the workforce is changing rapidly: for the first time in history, four generations of employees are represented in the workplace. Millennials have surpassed both boomers and Gen X to make up the largest portion (40%), while the first wave of Generation Zers, composed of people in their early 20s, are just entering the workforce.

Whether your employees are working from their living rooms or have been on-site all along, odds are you’ve had to adapt your corporate wellness program to our mask-wearing, social distancing new reality. And with a little imagination and flexibility, this hasn’t been too difficult to do.

Biometric health screening, however? That’s a different story.

Far from a “nice-to-have,” wellness programs are being recognized as key to increased employee engagement and lowered healthcare costs—especially right now when stress is at an all-time high for most Americans.

The challenge? Getting a wellness program and platform that will spark enthusiasm (and great results) among your employees. That’s why evaluating and purchasing a corporate wellness platform typically involves an RFP process that includes evaluating proposals, creating a shortlist, interviewing vendors, and choosing a winner.

How do you do this the right way? Read on.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion: For some companies, these are corporate buzzwords, to be hashtagged into some timely social media posts.

Other companies, however, recognize that celebrating and encouraging differences, making success attainable to all, and creating supportive communities are not only the right thing to do, they’re the formula for a stronger, better workplace.

The thing is, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) don’t just magically happen because of good intentions. For DEI to truly become part of an organization, it must be integrated into everything a company does, including corporate wellness programs.

Eating better, working out, getting more sleep … taking care of our physical self is relatively straightforward (even if it’s often easier said than done).

Achieving good emotional health may be a bit more complicated—but it’s just as important as achieving good physical health. And yet, emotional wellness often lands squarely on the back burner, particularly in the workplace. Why isn't emotional health more of a priority for overall employee wellness?