Give Your Wellness Program a Shot in the Arm

Wellness programs lead to increased productivity, decreased absenteeism, and lower health care costs in the long run. Many companies implement comprehensive wellness programs that focus on preventive health and lifestyle choices — increasing physical activity, eating healthier, reducing stress and quitting tobacco.
These programs encourage healthy habits today in order to prevent or lower the risk of serious health conditions in the future. Adopting such habits can also help manage any existing health conditions.

But a wellness program is only as successful as employee participation. So how can you encourage employees to be active?

Here’s a quick list of ways to put your wellness program top of mind:

  1. Promote preventive care. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Remind employees to have an annual physical. Consider offering on-site flu shots.
  2. Turn your office into an active space. Encourage employees to take the stairs, start a walking club, provide showering facilities and locker rooms and offer employee incentives.
  3. Help employees learn ways to incorporate healthy habits into their daily lives. Recruit speakers for employee brown bag lunches, offer healthy cooking recipes, provide ways to manage stress and again, offer incentives for employees who attend.
  4. Bring in a doctor. On-site health clinics allow employees to schedule office visits for routine care without taking time off work.
  5. Invest in incentives for employees who participate in your wellness program and engage in healthy behaviors.
  6. Switch up vending machine options. Offer your employees healthy meal and snack options that help fuel their performance and meet nutritional needs. Replace soft drinks with milk, juice or water and typical vending snacks with nuts and dried fruit.

Remember, employees need to be reminded more than once about the wellness program. Promote your program often throughout the year and make it easier for employees to be active participants.

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