Components of an employee wellness program

More and more companies are seeing the benefits of instituting an employee wellness program. There is such a wide variety of employee wellness programs that you can put together a program that meets the specific needs and the interest of your employees. It is important that before you institute your employee wellness program that you take the time to find out what is most important to your employees. This can be done in a variety of different ways. You can send out employee surveys, (both paper and online), you can conduct employee interviews or ask for focus groups. Once you have the information you need you can then determine which components of an employee wellness program will be most valuable to your employees.

It is important to keep in mind that few employee wellness programs can be all things to every employee. However, there are components to employee wellness program that tend to be the most popular and widely used. Here are some of those components of an employee wellness program-
- Exercise/fitness-Most employee wellness programs have some sort of exercise or fitness component. This can be anything from establishing an onsite gym to offering paid memberships to a local health club. Employers are finding ways to encourage their employees to exercise by offering flex time, longer lunch hours, or other creative methods to let their employees know the importance of moving. In addition, many employee wellness programs are changing the culture of the company by making fitness part of the regular work day. This can be done by rewarding employees for parking further from the office, walking up stairs, or hand delivering paperwork instead of faxing or emailing. For those employers who can't offer a full onsite gym many companies are installing walking and biking trails around their office. However, you choose to incorporate fitness into your employee wellness program just make sure that it is something that appeals to your employees.
- Nutrition/weight loss-Another popular component of employee wellness programs centers around what employees are eating. This is being addressed in many different ways. Employers are changing out their vending machines to offer healthier choices and are replacing meeting doughnuts with fruit, veggies, and other healthy options. Company cafeterias are changing out menus to provide healthier options and some companies are even offering cooking classes to their employees. For those employees who want to lose weight there are various weight loss options that are being offered under the umbrella of the employee wellness program. This can include but is not limited to: in house weight loss counseling, payment for attendance at weight loss programs, and nutritional counseling. Employers understand that if employees are overweight they are more likely to get sick and/or hurt on the job so helping employees lose weight is in everyone's best interest. Many programs are centered on offering rewards for employees who are participating in weight loss programs.
- Smoking cessation-This is another widely used component of employee wellness programs. Employers are realizing that employees who smoke can cost them more in sick days and health insurance premiums. In addition, smokers are at risk for chronic illnesses that take them off the job. For these reasons many companies are choosing to add a smoking cessation program as part of their employee wellness program. You can add these components in several different ways. Some companies set up an in-house program that relies on employee support while others will bring in an outside company to run this part of the program. You should take the time to investigate the different options before making a final decision.