An employee wellness program is any program that is implemented by an employer with an aim of improving employees’ health and general wellbeing. With a good employee health and wellness program in place, individual employees can overcome specific health-related issues that could have affected their on-the-job performance.

For any employer, having healthy employees can bring tremendous benefits to your company. This is why every company needs a well-designed wellness program that can increase employee productivity, boost their morale to work and reduce stress. Workplace wellness programs also help employees make smart healthy choices that will help in cost reduction, increased vitality, and reduction of absenteeism from work.

Another great benefit that employers might enjoy from the implementation of a good employee wellness program is a talent attraction. Top employees will always prefer to work where their wellbeing is taken into consideration. But what are some of the ideas employers can use to come with an exceptional health wellness program?

A comprehensive wellness program will always work

Employers are free to tailor their corporate employee wellness programs to meet the needs of their employees. Some programs will only offer a few wellness options such as physical fitness, physiological testing, and a quit-smoking program but you can always opt for a comprehensive program will cover everything. Such a program will include:

• Training and many wellness resources for the company wellness coordinator
• An annual health and lifestyle assessment with biometric screenings such as blood test, blood pressure, and BMI. These will help identify needs and track improvements both for individual employees and the company as a whole.
• Helping individuals discover their risks and make necessary lifestyle changes.
• Inviting employees to participate in appropriate health improvement programs, see their physician for medical follow-up if needed, try a self-help/study program, take advantage of online health resources and interventions, and even enlist a health coach to motivate and assist them in making changes.
• Motivational activities and incentives, such as offering each participating employee a share of the insurance premium saved if they actively meet minimum levels of participation.
• Frequent motivating health communications such as monthly newsletters, health challenges, and reminders.
• Health tracking program for physical activity, wellness activities, and events that are tied to incentives, recognition, and rewards.
• Program evaluation and outcome analysis.

How to budget for effective employer wellness programs

The amount of money an employer should invest in such a program should be determined by the expected ROI and the amount of savings the company can make through such a program. It could be anything close to or between $300 and $400 per employee. The overall cost will, however, be dependent on a number of factors:

• Whether or not the program, will be run in-house
• How extensive follow-up interventions will be
• Whether or not health coaching will be included
• The kinds of health screening tests to be conducted
• The kinds of incentives to be provided

Corporate wellness programs will not only counter the increasing healthcare costs but also keep the employees in perfect working health for a long time, for their benefit and the overall benefit of the company. The benefits of employee wellness programs are many, which make them worth the consideration of every employer.