What are employee wellness programs?

2 of March, 2021

All successful companies provide their employees with an attractive and well-designed wellness program. For employees, the advantages are clear. Their physical and mental health is being taken care of, in some part, by their employer, and this before they get injured or seriously sick. But employers also get many benefits from introducing an employee wellness program. If the program is tailored to fit their staff’s needs, then it can help a business grow in more ways than one.

What is an employee wellness program?

An employee wellness program is a combination of various strategies that aim to improve the general health of employees in an organisation. It can also help individual workers with particular health problems.

Employee wellness programs focus on the physical as well as mental health. In consequence, they can include a vast range of measures. Reducing the number of injuries, improving overall hygiene, tackling mental health issues: depending on the industry, all these aspects can be part of the employee wellness program.

What is the purpose of an employee wellness program?

Companies establish employee wellness programs in order to improve the health of their employees. The main goal is to minimise the overall health care costs that fall to the employer. Indeed, a wellness program might seem like a costly endeavour at first, but it can actually save you a lot of money. By investing in an employee wellness program, you will reduce the long-term expenses related to employee health care.

Indirectly, employee wellness programs can also increase your business’s profitability. The first reason for that is of course that healthy employees are more productive. Wellness programs can also help curb mental health problems that cause employee absenteeism.

What’s more, they are a great way to increase employee engagement and loyalty. Your staff will value the fact that you care about your employees’ health and feel more attached to the organisation. A good wellness program will also enable you to retain talent more easily. Indeed, employees will be more reluctant to leave a position that offers great health care benefits.

How do employee wellness programs benefit employers?

A well-designed employee wellness program will have several benefits for the employer in the long term. Those include:

• Reduced health care costs;
• Reduced health risks;
• Higher productivity;
• Lower absenteeism rate;
• Lower turnover rate.

What should be included in a wellness program?

What you include in your employee wellness program depends on the industry requirements as well as your staff’s needs. One company might decide to emphasise physical fitness in order to reduce the risk of injuries, while another might want to focus on reducing stress levels. However, here are some ideas for a successful employee wellness program:

Exercise and nutrition

• Healthy lunch and snacks: To deter employees from resorting to fast food, offer healthy lunch options at the cafeteria, or at least provide healthy snacks;
• Fitness activities: Organise sport activities at the office to promote an active lifestyle;
• Gym membership: You can also offer a gym membership for free or at a reduced price;
• Sport allowance: As an alternative, you can grant each employee a certain amount to spend on fitness activities or sport equipment, so that they can choose the sport they want to practise.

Mental health

• Personal support: Offer mental health support so that employees can deal with their personal issues;
• Naps: Encourage your staff to take naps during working hours. This has been proven to increase productivity;
• Community service activities: Giving back to the community is great for mental health, so allow your employees to take time off for a charitable cause;
• Wellness retreat: Combine employee well-being and team building with a wellness retreat.

Flexible working schemes

• Flexible schedule: Employees who have a flexible schedule are less stressed and more engaged in their work;
• Extended parenthood leave: Provide maternity and paternity leave that is longer than legally required to enable your employees to enter parenthood in a more serene manner.