Addressing the wellbeing of your employees involves more than just healing and maintaining the physical body. While a virtual yoga class or full-service nutritious snack bar might help promote a few healthy habits, improving health outcomes and seeing a return on your wellness investment requires a strategically planned framework.
That’s why over half of all U.S. organizations offer corporate wellbeing programs for their employees.
Unfortunately, many traditional wellness programs fall short of achieving organizational goals by stifling access to resources, focusing too much on physical health, and failing to meet employees where they truly are.
By contrast, holistic strategies take a multifaceted approach to wellness, going beyond exercise and nutrition to provide resources and activities that employees can take advantage of any time, anywhere. Not only do holistic wellness programs cater to all dimensions of health, but they also give organizations the freedom to customize each program experience so employees can engage however they please.
In this guide, we’ll cover all there is to know about the power of holistic wellness programming, from the six essential wellness pillars to strategies employers can use to effectively optimize their programming for results.
In contrast to traditional, one-dimensional wellness programming that solely focuses on physical health outcomes, holistic wellness programs allow organizations to promote wellness in all aspects of their employees’ lives. These programs recognize how different dimensions of health affect one another, and they aim to address each one with targeted activities, incentives, and resources that meet employees exactly where they are.
But what are these essential elements for overall health and wellbeing?
When employees are affected by health issues—such as depression, chronic pain, or work-related stress—it heavily impacts their performance, engagement, and satisfaction with their work. Not only are they less inclined to reach their goals and thrive in their careers, but they're also less likely to utilize benefits that could mitigate their symptoms, costing organizations billions of dollars a year.
Wellness programs that touch every area of wellbeing are the secret weapons in addressing these diverse workplace problems with accessible resources that:
So how can companies leverage holistic wellness in the workplace to empower their employees?
Holistic wellness programs provide organizations with a seamless, dynamic, and data-driven way to address the physical, mental, financial, social, occupational, and purposeful needs of employees.
Rather than adopting rigid, cookie-cutter programming with benefits that solely focus on one area of wellness, a holistic strategy considers all aspects of an employee’s life and offers personalized activities for long-lasting behavior change.
Let’s take a look at a few different ways holistic programs can revamp an organization's wellness strategy and produce exceptional results:
Employers have been incorporating nutritional challenges and exercise games as part of their wellness programs for decades. To take things one step further, it's now imperative to think about how to modify physical wellness program elements to also target other areas of wellbeing, like mental, social, and occupational health.
Numerous studies have shown exercise to reduce symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety, and stepping away from the desk can drastically improve mental clarity and focus. In addition, getting teams together for a bit of leisure time can also build connections that translate to better collaboration, improving social wellness and belonging.
Employees feel most encouraged to engage and take advantage of benefits when they work for companies that help them feel safe, heard, and respected. As a result, creating a psychologically safe workplace gives employees the confidence and reassurance they need to utilize the mental health benefits at their disposal.
Additionally, many companies find mindfulness and emotional intelligence training to be increasingly helpful in promoting psychological safety from the top-down. That way, leaders and managers are equipped with the knowledge they need to help employees prosper, no matter their situation.
While many companies still opt for hybrid work structures, the social component of work has never gone away—in fact, it's more important than ever.
Mapping out opportunities throughout the calendar year for group and peer-to-peer activities is a proactive way to ensure employees can form meaningful bonds with their teams. Nothing drives wellness program engagement like a group challenge, and giving employees the chance to motivate and encourage one another builds team camaraderie and keeps everyone coming back for more.
Without any opportunities to grow and find purpose in their careers, employees can easily become unmotivated and disengaged. And with 59% of millennial workers saying that learning and development opportunities are integral in choosing a job, it's clear that employees highly prefer companies that help them find meaning and fulfillment in their work.
By establishing clear outlines for advancement and integrating high-quality educational courses into a digital wellness program, companies can enable employees to rediscover their true purpose and reach their goals. This will not only allow them to explore their potential and grow professionally, but it can also build loyalty and help them retain long-term knowledge, experience, and expertise in an otherwise competitive job market.
Not every employer has the luxury of increasing compensation at whim, but extra cash doesn’t solve every issue. Instead, many organizations are reviewing, expanding, and modernizing their financial benefits to meet all employees where they are, whether it's through money management courses, cash incentives for wellness activity participation, or flexible spending accounts.
While it's impossible to change global economic factors that impact employee wellbeing, personalizing wellness programming to ease financial anxiety and provide financial education goes a long way. By equipping employees with the coping skills and knowledge they need to own their finances, they can gradually establish healthy financial futures for years to come.
Happy, healthy employees are good for business. But employee health is no longer one-dimensional—so why should your wellness program be any different?
To effectively meet employees where they are, organizations must address each area of wellbeing equally and regularly. Doing so ensures employees are set up to thrive and be the best version of themselves.
Is your wellness program set up to address all of your employees' wellbeing needs? Whether you're looking for program modifications or a place to start, WellRight is here to help.