Employee wellness 101: Ace it with tips, ideas, and best practices

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Employee and workplace burnout is much more than a buzzword. The stressors of a modern work environment can start to wear on employees. This stress has a direct impact on their physical and mental well-being. 

Employee wellness includes activities and programs that aim to improve employee health and well-being. Prioritizing employee well-being is the main way an employer can help employees manage stress, build relationships, improve productivity, and reduce burnout.

As we begin to better understand the impacts stress and exhaustion can have on the body, it’s becoming more obvious that we need to address mental health at work. 

After all, when employees feel supported, they’re more likely to do exceptional work. Wellness programs can play a key role in improving employee engagement and reducing turnover.

Even though 80% of employers claim to support their teams’ physical and emotional health, only 46% of employees feel supported. Effective employee wellness programs involve understanding what benefits best serve your employees’ needs.

Examples of employee wellness programs

Why employee wellness is a priority in the workplace

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Holistic wellness programs are becoming even more important to employees after COVID-19. 

Many employers already had access to employee assistance programs. But only 20% of employees felt that their needs were met in the first few months of the pandemic. According to research from Kronos, the companies that prioritized wellness in 2020 saw a 33% increase in employee trust.

Some studies show that employee wellness programs fall short of their anticipated benefits. With that said, there’s a chance that many employees may not know what well-being benefits are available to them. 

According to a study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, many companies with wellness programs say that less than 10% of employees use their benefits. 

Employees hesitate to use wellness programs when business leaders don’t support the initiatives.

It’s important to promote benefits and encourage employees to use them. Offering a wide array of benefit types can also help engage employees looking for support beyond physical wellness.

Mental health services and financial well-being services are more widespread since COVID-19. And since more employees report that their financial wellness is declining, these types of benefits can have a huge impact on any team. 

Companies like Noodles & Co. are leading the way in financial wellness benefits. The company has lower turnover and higher financial wellness ratings. They did this by offering early pay access and financial management services to employees.

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Businesses can reap surprising benefits from developing appealing wellness programs. Creating a happier, healthier workplace is a major asset for growing companies. 

Here are four ways that supporting your employees can impact the bottom line. 

1. Higher employee engagement

Workplace stress is one of the leading causes of lack of engagement and absenteeism. Addressing mental health through wellness programs can decrease employee stress.

When you manage stress, employees have lower absenteeism rates and higher morale. High employee morale leads to better relationships with teammates and more successful projects.

2. Lower turnover rate

Employees are likely to stay at companies where they feel appreciated and valued. 

Wellness programs are a great way to show your commitment to your employees. While well-being programs also help to retain top talent.

3. Better company culture

Wellness programs often reflect the organization’s values. Executive support for employee well-being is a strong indicator that a company is a great place to work.

A clear commitment to employee wellness shows that you value happy, healthy employees. Over time, this supportive approach becomes reflective of your company’s culture.

4. Higher productivity

Fifty-seven percent of employees see a connection between their well-being and productivity. It makes sense that when employees don’t prioritize their wellness, work can begin to suffer. 

Supporting employees with physical, mental, emotional, and financial wellness services takes the focus off their struggles and allows them to focus on work.

The right encouragement goes a long way in creating a successful well-being program. But, without clear sponsorship and promotion, there’s a good chance your program could flop.

Here are four tips to increase engagement and encourage your employees to prioritize their own health and well-being.

1. Awareness of benefits

Clear, regular communications ensure employees know about their benefits. This will also encourage them to use them.

2. Participation in challenges

A wellness challenge is a fun and easy way to drive employees to develop healthy habits. Design appropriate challenges that appeal to different workers. These challenges can address many areas of well-being. 

These fun challenges are a great way to engage your employees:

• Month-long yoga challenge for physical wellness
• 3-month automated savings challenge for financial wellness
• 7-day meditation challenge in the office for mental and emotional wellness
• One-time “pay it forward” challenges for social wellness, like paying for someone’s drink behind you in the drive-thru.

Depending on the individuals, some employees may benefit from participating in physical or mental health challenges. Others may feel more engaged with social and financial health challenges. 

Short competitions that introduce team members to the resources available can enhance the success of your wellness program. 

3. Strong leadership sponsorship

If employees see leaders using employee wellness programs at work and using wellness benefits, they’re more likely to try them. This is especially true of wellness initiatives that happen during the workday. Seeing or hearing about leaders participating will put employees at ease about stepping away from their desks.

For example, if your company wants to offer mid-day online yoga classes, encourage managers to invite team members to take part. This keeps employees from feeling that they may be punished for using their benefits.

4. Requesting regular feedback

Understanding what your employees want is an integral part of developing a program.

Think beyond saving on healthcare costs and see what will help your team thrive. You can even conduct regular surveys to better understand how your employees are doing. This will also help you understand what support would most benefit your team.

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An office wellness program is always evolving. So there is no need to start building an all-inclusive wellness center right now. Start off small and gradually encourage employees to embrace healthy lifestyle choices, like exercising, eating healthy, and quitting unhealthy habits.

Here are five steps to take to create a corporate wellness program that your employees will love.

1. Survey employees

Anonymously ask employees what services they would find most valuable. 

Make sure to ask whether they’d prefer onsite resources, referrals, or reimbursement for external resources.

2. Identify program sponsors

Find employees who are passionate about wellness and committed to encouraging employees. Executive buy-in is essential to a successful employee wellness program.

Sponsors contribute by showcasing healthy behavior and participating in wellness initiatives. At the end of the day, this will inspire other employees to prioritize their health.

3. Form a wellness committee

Choose a group of employees dedicated to bringing well-being to your organization. Have them form a committee and serve as change champions to develop a program that best serves your employees.

This committee handles reviewing survey data, choosing popular initiatives, creating challenges, and more.

4. Define your goals

Work with your sponsors and committee members to determine objectives for your program. 

For example, suppose your employees want to improve their physical health. You can set one goal for how many employees participate in an initial wellness screening and another goal for how many join a challenge. 

Create goals for all the wellness initiatives in your program to track your success.

5. Find the right wellness resources

Once you know which services you need, speak with different vendors to explore solutions you can add to your wellness program. There’s no need to pick one vendor and implement every initiative they offer just because it’s part of a package.

For example, if smoking isn’t common in your office, smoking cessation may not be a program you want to include in your wellness benefits. Meanwhile, you may want to offer more robust resources for healthy eating. 

Focus on the resources that will be most valuable for your team instead of those that impact your corporate health plan costs.

Examples of companies leaning into employee wellness