Creating a wellness program is a great way to encourage your employees to live a healthy life. However, mistakes can be made. Here’s how to avoid them:
Many companies create their program without a plan. When you don’t know what you want your company and employees to accomplish, corporate wellness program easily get off track and have poor results.
The only way a wellness program are successful long-term is if you make a plan and can adjust according to results over time.
Wellness programs work best when all employees understand them. That way, they can effectively use the program and decide what part of the program they want to participate in. If they don’t understand the program because it’s too complicated, they won’t participate.
Be clear about:
With a clear picture how the program works, employees will be more likely to participate and show results—especially if the atmosphere is fun and upbeat.
While mandatory wellness programs are often made with the best of intentions, it can lead to both morale and legal issues down the road. For example, several companies who made their wellness programs mandatory were sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In addition, a mandatory program can cause employees resentment. Not only will they have privacy concerns, but they will also feel that participating against their will will cause undue stress in their work environment—especially if they’re required to reach a specific health standard.
Make your wellness program voluntary and offer rewards to employees who participate like reimbursing some of the cost of their gym membership. Just make sure that when you create a wellness program and choose rewards, you can afford it and aren’t violating any laws.