6 Step Plan to Start an Employee Wellness Program in Your Company

 

The cost of employee healthcare is a top concern for executives and HR in businesses today. In response, many businesses have increased their efforts to encourage healthy lifestyles for their employees by offering employee wellness programs.  Terryberry’s new Whitepaper outlines a six-step plan to launch your employee wellness program successfully. Create an environment where employees can Be Well, through improved health, well-being, and quality of life.

Employee Wellness Program Stats

• 80% of employers offer preventative wellness resources and education.
• 70% provide full strategic wellness programs
• 59% of employers offering wellness programs report improved worker health

What is the Return on Investment for an Employee Wellness Program?

+Lower Healthcare Costs
+Fewer Sick Days
+Reduced Stress
+Increased Job Satisfaction
= 3:1 return on investment

Most importantly, better wellness means better lives.
 

Build a Wellness Program in 6 Steps

1. Appoint a Wellness Champion or Wellness Team

Your organization’s wellness team “owns” your wellness initiative. This person or group should be passionate about health and wellbeing and invested in making a difference in your organization’s wellness culture

2. Develop a Plan for Consistency

Consistency is crucial for the success of your wellness program. Budget resources (time and money) to support your program for the long term. Plan out your year ahead with monthly challenges, a regular communication plan, and ongoing incentives.

3. Identify Your Organization’s Health Priorities

Conducting a Health Risk Assessment is a great way to start. The results will help you understand what health challenges are prevalent in your group. For example, do you have a large population of smokers? Is weight management a challenge for many employees? Would your employees benefit from better nutrition and exercise habits? Design wellness initiatives that best target key areas of concern.
Be familiar with HIPAA regulations and be sure your wellness initiatives protect your employees’ private health information.

4. Design Wellness Campaigns- Make them Fun!

Hold a unique wellness campaign each month. Often, the most successful wellness initiatives…

• Involve group interaction/participation
• Encourage ongoing healthy habits
• Should be attainable for most
• Are enjoyable!

Need more ideas? This blog post from Snacknation has many creative wellness program ideas.
 
Download the full Whitepaper for 12 Ideas for Monthly Employee Wellness Challenges

5. Communication is Key

Kick off your wellness program with a fun launch event. Help your employees understand why the wellness program is important, how it works, and ways they can participate. Terryberry can help with wellness-themed promotional items.
Ongoing Communication must be a part of your wellness plan. Communicate wellness initiatives several times and using several different channels. It takes 11 impressions for your message to stick! A Social feed for your wellness incentive program may encourage reluctant employees to join in by seeing their peers earn rewards for participation. Terryberry can help you setup a social feed using our Give a WOW module.
Wellness Communication Ideas: Use emails, videos, newsletters, posters,  intranet, social media, and regular reminders.

6. Recognize and Reward Healthy Behaviors

Get employees participating in your wellness program by recognizing and rewarding healthy behaviors. Follow this simple plan for easy-to-manage wellness incentives.
Employee Wellness Points Program
Implement an AwardPoints program for Wellness. Employees will earn points for healthy behaviors. Points can be accumulated and redeemed for merchandise awards. Terryberry can help you get your Wellness Points Program set up.
Award 300-600 Wellness Points to each employee upon completing a health risk assessment.
Award 50-100 Wellness Points to each employee upon completing a monthly challenge.

Wellness Program Assessment

Once your wellness program has been in place for a year, it’s important to assess how you are doing.
Review Your Health Stats. Assess your organization’s improvement in aggregate health statistics since your baseline measurements.
Employee Survey. Ask employees how you’re doing and what you can do to improve.
Download the full whitepaper for a sample employee wellness assessment survey.
About Terryberry
Terryberry is a Full Service Provider of Employee Recognition Solutions
Since 1918 Terryberry has been helping organizations develop, implement and manage effective employee recognition programs. Terryberry has 26 locations in North America and Europe and serves 25,000+ clients worldwide. Terryberry remains a family-owned business. Terryberry offers imaginative and innovative solutions that engage employees on a deeper level using a balanced approach that addresses day-to-day, informal, and formal employee recognition needs.
Terryberry’s Wellness Solutions
Terryberry offers points-based employee wellness programs,  wellness incentives and rewards, and engraved awards to recognize wellness achievements. To learn more about Terryberry’s wellness incentives programs or awards products, visit www.terryberry.com.
The 6 Step Plan to Build an Employee Wellness Program in Your Company is shared based on the approach Terryberry has used with their own employees and that earned recognition among the best and brightest companies in wellness.