You’ve probably noticed the huge push for wellness in today’s business world. As the theory goes, healthy employees are more productive and also require less healthcare—a benefit to their employers because they accomplish more on the job, while incurring fewer healthcare costs. If you haven’t already, you can take simple steps to begin to build a wellness program within your business. Here’s how.
Four Easy Ways to Encourage Employee Wellness
The key to successful wellness programs is to keep them easy and fun for employees to participate in. Consider the following four ways to boost employee wellness in the New Year:
- Create a monthly wellness newsletter. This could be as simple as two healthy recipes and a few paragraphs of information about a monthly health topic, such as eating healthy, weight loss, cancer prevention, sun safety or good hydration. Anyone in your company can be in charge of its creation. You can post it to the company intranet, circulate it by email, or keep printed copies on hand in the break room or cafeteria. To keep all employees involved, and to gain alternate viewpoints, you can shift the responsibility for the newsletter’s creation to a different department every month.
- Swap healthy snacks for unhealthy ones in vending machines. Most food vendors offer at least a few healthy snack options and will gladly stock your vending machine with these items, if you ask. Some vending machine companies even offer special labeling so employees can easily identify the healthier choices.
- Form a lunchtime walking club. Walking is an easy, popular form of exercise because all it requires is a pair of sneakers and comfortable clothes. Plus, people who work out in groups are more likely to stick with a new fitness routine. You should schedule your walking club for an hour once or even several days per week, and open it up to anyone who cares to join. It’s also a great way for employees to catch up and get to know each other while they burn off calories.
- Hold a company-wide wellness challenge. To get your entire company motivated about wellness, why not hold a wellness challenge, complete with prizes? You can find many pre-made challenges online through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or WELCOA, among other resources. Wellness challenges usually run for 1–2 months and require participants to read information or complete a healthy activity, and complete weekly quizzes for the chance to win prizes.
Ready… set… get healthier in 2016!
One of the hallmarks of healthier companies is participation by senior management in wellness initiatives. So whatever wellness program you select, be sure that you show full and visible support of (and participation in!) it. Employees are more likely to join in on the fun when they see members of leadership “practicing what they preach.”
New Year—new staff?
As you launch into a healthier 2016, you may wish to make your staffing level healthier, as well. If you’re an employer in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area and you’re looking to supplement your staff, give Snelling Georgia Group a call (or send an email!). We’ll work with you to find just the employees you need.
