Working Towards Wellness in the Workplace

It is no secret that living a healthy lifestyle reaps a number of both mental and physical benefits. But did you ever think that it could benefit your professional performance?

According to a WorldatWork article, 62% of employees who participated in a United Health Care survey said that workplace wellness initiatives improved their productivity. Beyond that, of those surveyed who’s companies do not offer wellness programs, 73% said that they would be interested in a program and 85% of surveyed Baby Boomers seek wellness programs in the workplace.

With an increasing demand for workplace wellness programs, it only makes sense to at least consider the potential benefits that an employee wellness program could have on your business. Motivating employees to get fit will spur productivity and a sense of teamwork will inherently follow. Having an inclusive workplace where everyone is working towards their own health goals will promote the same kind of positive energy and spirit towards workplace productivity rendering the achievement of professional goals.

Collectively, your team will grow closer. Co-workers will begin pushing one another towards new heights, both personally and professionally. This kind of collective behavior will benefit your business in its entirety. I have always loved the cliche phrase “teamwork makes the dream work” because it is undeniably accurate. When an entire group of people works together towards the same goal, positive results are inevitable. And when the whole group is pushing each other to be better and exceed their goals, well then something special is on the horizon.

As if the thought of increased productivity and company-wide camaraderie wasn’t enough, an effective wellness program will result in significant financial returns. These returns stem from the eventual savings on insurance premiums and the reduction of paid man hours lost while employees are out of the office on medical leave. As it currently stands today, almost 2/3 of Americans are overweight, which contributes to a bevy of health concerns. By creating an active and fit environment within your business, the long-term financial savings will pay dividends.

The physical and emotional health benefits are going to come along organically when implementing a workplace wellness program. This will benefit your business though increased productivity and financial savings as these will be experienced over time through the reduction of health related costs. With all of these positive benefits, you’re probably wondering what a workplace wellness program looks like and so provided is an outline of how to get the ball rolling towards facilitating a healthier future for your organization.

• • Elect a Leader—By electing a leader from the onset of your program, you will ensure that you have a consistent and well-organized operation moving forward. It is always a good idea to delegate these tasks because someone is always holding the collective group accountable while spearheading the effort and organizing events. Electing a leader will ensure program consistency. 
  • Establish goals—By establishing both individual and group goals, your team will have measurable goals to work towards. However, these MUST BE measurable. By establishing measurable goals from the onset of the program, you will have black and white benchmarks to determine if you have or have not achieved the intended goal. You can then identify areas for improvement within your program. This will drive motivation and demand accountability.
  • Create a list of incentives—Incentivize your employees by giving them rewards and or prizes to work towards. For example, maybe an extra vacation day, a Fitbit or simply even a water bottle for achieving specifically established goals. These rewards will go a long way in further motivating the group beyond reaching personal goals. Your employees will know that they’re working for something that will benefit them personally and they will then take the program more seriously.

I hope that this has convinced you of the importance that workplace wellness programs have in the modern workplace. Hopefully you can use this as a guide to get started on your own wellness program. From the team here at Stran, we wish you the very best of luck.

GOOD LUCK!