Creating a culture of wellness in the workplace

A growing number of employers are taking an increased interest in employee wellness programs because they are recognizing they can support their employees’ desire to improve their health and create a happier, healthier workforce while reducing costs for employees and the company.

The purpose of workplace wellness programs is to help employees maintain or improve their health. In fact, most employees say access to wellness programs have made a positive impact on their health, as also proven by a recent UnitedHealthcare Consumer Sentiment Survey. It then becomes a win-win for everyone, including employers who may see increased employee satisfaction, increased productivity, reduced attrition, lower absenteeism and lower medical costs.

One such organization is Pinellas County Government who has been offering employee wellness for more than 10 years. The program is based on rewarding employees and spouses/partners for completing activities that focus on building health ownership and creating behavior changes to improve their overall wellbeing.

Highlights of some of the results achieved through the Pinellas County Government program include:

• High level of engagement -- 95 percent of employees and 58 percent spouses/partners
• Higher than average preventive care adherence
• Biometric screening improvements of those participating in both 2015 and 2016 include:
  • 56 percent improvement in glucose among the 479 employees with above average levels in 2015
  • 58 percent improvement among 416 employees with out of range total cholesterol in 2015

Wellness programs aren’t a new idea, but they are an important business decision that involves a company’s most important assets – its employees.

Following are five tips from Granger for employers to consider to start a wellness program or refine their existing program.

Customize a Strategy for Your Workforce

Review historical insurance claims data to identify the most common health challenges, prevalent health needs and high-risk populations. Use this insight to help develop a custom strategy integrating a variety of solutions to target top priorities.

Offer Incentives to get Employees to Participate

Align incentives with your wellness program’s goals so employees are rewarded for participating and achieving positive results. Choose incentives that are meaningful to your employees. Do they prefer financial incentives such as gift cards, reductions in plan premiums or Health Savings Account contributions? Or would vacation days or a charitable donation be better motivators? Provide incentives on an ongoing basis if possible, so employees are rewarded throughout the year to help keep them motivated.

Influence the Work Place

Employees spend a significant part of their day at work and are presented with wellness-related decisions throughout the day. It’s important to create an environment where the healthy choice is the easy choice. For example, when craving a snack, is there a vending machine that offers healthy alternatives to candy bars and soda? During breaks, is there a walking path or an on-site fitness area with a treadmill? Is it possible to schedule on-site biometric screenings, flu shots, educational seminars or even team-building cooking classes?

Communicate Your Program and Support

Promote your wellness program using traditional channels (lunch-room bulletin boards and flyers), digital channels (email and the intranet), and with “wellness ambassadors.” It’s important to inform and motivate executives and supervisors about the positive role they can play to support and communicate wellness initiatives. Remember to promote not only when you launch your wellness program, but multiple times throughout the year so employees are aware of the wellness opportunities.

Evaluate Results & Solicit Input

Evaluate your wellness program annually to assess strengths, weaknesses and progress. Work with your health plan to measure the impact on employee engagement and medical costs. And remember to be flexible and listen to your employees on how to improve wellness offerings for the future.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating a culture of wellness, but a strategy using these tips can help employers give their employees the opportunity to live a healthier lifestyle.