More than a plan

Tips to create a successful health and wellness program

Developing a health and wellness program for your company is a great step to support your employees and improve their overall well-being. A successful program can also have a positive impact on a company's healthcare spending. However, simply offering a health and wellness program does not guarantee employee engagement, which is the ultimate measure of success.

Here are some tips to increase engagement and accelerate the success of your health and wellness program:

• Create a brand. Select a name for your program and consider developing a logo. You should use these brand elements on any communication you distribute for program promotion. This creates recognition and helps lend credibility to the program among your employees. If you don't have the internal resources to develop a brand, consider asking your employees for input. A creative contest can be a fun way to get employees engaged in the program from the beginning.
• Rely on data. This could include data about your employees, including their demographics and their location status. For example, if your employees are all working remotely, you'll need to customize your program to meet their needs. You can also rely on past benefit utilization reports to determine if there are certain health conditions you want to address in your health and wellness program. You can also consider surveying your employees to gain insight into their personal health goals. After you outline the program components, be sure to incorporate tactics to track engagement. The more you know about your employees, and how to measure success, the more likely you are to build a program with long-term return on investment.
• Align your company policies. The best way to show your employees that you are serious about your health and wellness program is to align it with company policies. Your policies should make it easy for employees to participate in the program and encourage them to do so. If your program centers on increasing physical activity and your employees are currently working onsite, you could implement a walking program during the day that follows the latest CDC guidelines. If employees are working remotely, a virtual steps challenge may be a good option. Encouraging short stretch breaks throughout the work day can successfully engage employees no matter where they are working.
• Mix it up. The most successful health and wellness programs incorporate a variety of different learning opportunities and events. Remember, each of your employees is different, so it may take different mediums to engage them. Consider creating a wellness calendar of events that includes a mix of:
  • Lunch & learns
  • Workshops
  • Team challenges
  • Support groups
  • Volunteer opportunities
  • Health fairs
  Be sure to customize your events to adhere to the latest COVID-19 guidelines or transition to virtual only events.
• Be adaptable. One of the biggest lessons learned from the pandemic is to adapt. New regulations, working conditions, and the economy has forced companies to adapt in a way they never have before. A successful health and wellness program is adaptable to the current state of the company and the realities of employees. If your employees are all working remotely, you may have to shift the components of your health and wellness program. Or you may decide to implement a completely new component that is tailored for the virtual environment.

While providing an incentive to employees for participating in a health and wellness program can increase success, it should not be the sole method to encourage engagement. These tips, along with consistent promotion to employees, can drive program engagement and success.

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