Creating a culture of wellbeing in the workplace

Caption: June is national employee wellness month, making it a great time to look at starting or refining an employee benefits program. These proactive programs are proven to help employees maintain or improve their health from all aspects physical, emotional, financial, social and career.

In this day and age of trying to effectively manage health care costs, more businesses are looking at – or should be -- creating a successful employee wellbeing strategy. Having a proactive and responsive employee program in place has proven to bring a myriad of advantages in helping to create a healthier, happier and more productive workforce. Yet some employers are struggling with how to start, maintain and measure their wellbeing programs.

According to Suzanne Perkins, vice president of health strategies and solutions for UnitedHealthcare, wellbeing – or wellness – programs aren’t a new idea, but they are an important business decision that involves a company’s most important assets – its employees.

According to Perkins, the purpose of workplace wellbeing programs is to help employees maintain or improve their health from all aspects physical, emotional, financial, social and career. Benefits may include increased employee satisfaction, increased productivity, reduced attrition, lower absenteeism and lower medical costs. In fact, most employees with access to wellbeing programs say the programs have made a positive impact on their health, according to a recent UnitedHealthcare Consumer Sentiment Survey.

To assist employers, Perkins offers five tips to consider in starting a wellbeing program or refining 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 wellbeing 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 wellbeing-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 wellbeing program using traditional channels (lunch-room bulletin boards and flyers), digital channels (email and the intranet), and with “wellbeing ambassadors.” It’s important to inform and motivate executives and supervisors about the positive role they can play to support and communicate wellbeing initiatives. Remember to promote not only when you launch your wellbeing program, but throughout the year so employees are aware of the wellbeing opportunities.

Evaluate Results & Solicit Input

Evaluate your wellbeing 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 wellbeing offerings for the future.

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

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Suzanne Perkins, MS, LMHC, is a licensed mental health counselor and serves as the area vice president in charge of health strategies, analytics and solutions for UnitedHealthcare, serving southeast U.S. as well as Kansas and Nebraska health plan customers. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology from Barry University.