Promoting Wellness Programs to Employees

Create Employee Buy-In & Engagement For Wellness Programs

When employees are engaged with workplace wellness programs, they aren’t the only ones who benefit. Healthy employees often translate into healthy businesses so all parties will reap the rewards. Maximizing employee engagement is the key to this win-win scenario with a successful wellness program. We’ll show you how creating employee buy-in and employee engagement is possible for your unique organization. 

The Importance of Employee Engagement

When employees are engaged in wellness programming they feel valued by the organization. They see the investments made in their well-being, and in turn, choose to stay with the company for longer than they would without that kind of investment. It translates into higher talent retention which reduces costly recruiting and onboarding expenses (not to mention hours of HR work). 

But that’s not all. Employee participation in workplace wellness gives them access to preventative care services which reduce emerging or chronic health conditions. This ripple effect of engagement also reduces other major expenses, including: 

• Insurance costs
• Unemployment 
• Workman’s compensation claims
• Disability claims

How to Market Wellness to Employees

Marketing your wellness initiatives to employees requires empowering them, educating them, and exciting them. Gain and maintain buy-in and you’ll see higher rates of participation and greater benefits for your organization as a whole.

Creating Buy-in

A vibrant, branded campaign will certainly be important in announcing any wellness initiative, but a fancy logo and shiny new signage only goes so far. Creating buy-in takes consistent communication and a clear “what’s in it for me” message to the entire team. 

Start by making visible shifts around the facility that catch employees’ attention. For example, shift the snack options in the breakroom to those of a healthier variety. Elevate the chips, pop and candy to fresh fruit, water and healthier snack alternatives. People will recognize and appreciate this kind of change, and be more willing to consider workplace wellness programming in the future when they see the organization making the change, too. 

Consider these additional suggestions for creating buy-in among the team:

• Launch an employee survey for wellness program ideas and priorities, then deploy the suggestions to show appreciation and that the company is listening
• Equip associates with an app and other tools or resources to make wellness more inviting, inclusive and exciting
• Make programming and services available to employee family members to increase accountability and demonstrate broader dedication and inclusivity 

Keeping Buy-in

Once your staff creates healthy habits, help by making it easier to sustain them during the work day. Make sure your lunchrooms have a full refrigerator to accommodate packed lunches (the lack of one encourages buying a quick, not-so-nutritious lunch more often), and also have a blender or juicer available for use. 

The time will come where the cliche wellness events and ideas won’t cut it. Your walking challenge from week 2 may still have several participants, but it’s not likely to build engagement in week 20. Bigger topics and bolder exercises or events that hit the gorilla in the room may be just what your team needs to keep employee buy-in for wellness programming. Examine how you can tackle mental health, good sleeping habits, health stigma, weight loss, burnout and other topics.

Is your team clocking extra hours to finish a high-priority project? Ask them for ways to reduce stress in the future when similar projects come down the pike. And when they suggest installing a meditation room for stress management and recharging throughout the workday, make it happen. When businesses listen to employees, and show how they are adding value to employees’ lives, great things can happen. Individual health – even the camaraderie of your smaller teams – often improves because of these efforts. 

Create a Personalized Wellness Program

We just mentioned how you can keep employee buy-in with personal feedback and idea generation for team-wide wellness solutions. But wellness is not one size fits all. Personalizing the wellness experience to help each team member get the most out of their efforts will undoubtedly enhance the buy-in rate of employees, and keep generating positive results. Luckily, this is where Discovery Health Services truly shines. 

Mobile App for Personal Well-Being

Did I consume enough fruits or veggies today? How many hours of sleep did I get last night? Are my biometric measurements improving year over year? Track the answers to these and other important questions in the employee mobile app from DHS. 

Our comprehensive technology solution tracks all kinds of data which ultimately increases participation and reduces chronic conditions. Plus, the app makes it easy to schedule on-site wellness services like the annual flu shot. It’s a surefire way to build engagement and personalize the program all at once.  

Company Dashboard for Wellness Programs

While the app tracks personalized data for each participant, DHS’ company dashboard keeps your finger on the pulse of your workforce by tracking actionable data. You’ll know what’s working and see the return on your investment in real time.

Logistical Implementation Designed for You

DHS uniquely designs wellness programs to be woven into the fabric of your company’s 

culture. But we don’t drop a box of supplies off on HR’s doorstep never to be heard from again – instead, we relieve HR of the additional burden of planning and/or running wellness programs and handle all of the coordination. That means promotion, scheduling, and more. All you have to do is watch the participation rates rise.