Wellness programs aren’t just fluff added to your employee benefits offerings. Especially since the global pandemic, health and well-being for themselves and their loved ones is top of mind for both current and prospective team members.

There are numerous benefits to offering wellness programs. In addition to fostering a company culture that prioritizes people and healthy living, they can also be instrumental in building morale, productivity, teamwork, and your reputation in the talent marketplace.

The Difference Wellness Programs Can Make to Your Benefits Package

A wellness program is any kind of organized workplace initiative designed to improve and support the health and fitness of your employees. It may encompass such features as:

• Fitness classes
• Health screenings
• Preventative care
• Mental health
• Stress management
• Smoking cessation
• Weight loss
• Gym membership reimbursement
• On-site clinics or facilities
• Healthy cafeteria offerings

Everybody Wins

Wellness programs can make a real, positive difference for you, your employees, and your business in numerous ways, including:

• Improved health behaviors: Wellness programs can help people lower their risks and adopt lifelong healthy habits. In addition to physical benefits, employees may be better able to relieve and manage issues like anxiety and depression, to contribute to their overall improved well-being.
• Prevention of chronic diseases: By fostering good habits, employees will feel more rested and energized day to day, which are important first steps to long-term health. Behaviors such as proper nutrition and regular exercise can help ward off hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic health issues.
• Improved performance and productivity: When people feel better, they do better. They also tend to be absent from work less and more likely to perform at peak levels when on the job.
• Enhanced engagement and morale: Employer fitness classes, support groups, weight loss, and smoking cessation challenges, and the like help team members feel more connected to one another and to their company. Ultimately, this builds loyalty and retention, which go hand in hand with engagement and morale.
• Safety: Healthier, more motivated, and engaged employees are typically less likely to get hurt. Of course, accidents happen, but by promoting wellness, you can help lower the likelihood of worksite incidents.
• Reduced stress levels: Wellness programs can help relieve prolonged stress, to further improve all your KPIs and talent performance metrics. Not to mention your own stress, as the leader of a growing business in a competitive marketplace.
• Lower healthcare costs: This, too, is a win-win. The right wellness programs contribute to measurable cost savings for your company and your employees regarding healthcare.
• A more attractive employer brand: The talent market remains tight as this new year dawns. Increasingly, candidates look for wellness offerings as they decide where to continue their careers and/or encourage others to do the same.

See How Key HR Can Help Your Organization!

Key HR can help you design the right wellness programs and design the best, most competitive benefit offerings to meet the unique needs of your business and workforce. Read more here – and contact us today.