Corporate wellness programs

It is important to understand that there are a vast number of types of corporate wellness programs to consider. In general, corporate wellness programs are developed to encourage people to take steps to prevent the onset or worsening of a health condition or sickness and to adopt lifestyles that are healthier. Businesses of all sizes may implement many types of corporate wellness programs, from on-site gyms to simple wellness newsletters. While some businesses have instituted very comprehensive corporate wellness programs, others have achieved savings or increased productivity with just a few relatively easy activities which promote healthier lifestyles. Just getting started is of the utmost importance when it comes to corporate wellness programs. It is crucial that business owners wanting to start this kind of program have a plan, along with one or two corporate wellness programs which can then serve as a foundation for building a more comprehensive corporate wellness programs over the future years of the business.

Business owners need to understand that corporate wellness programs are an investment in your company's most important resource, your workers. Studies have clearly shown that workers are more likely to be on the job and performing well when they are feeling good both physically and mentally. Workers are also more likely to be attracted to, remain with, and appreciate an employer that values them. Corporate wellness programs improve company productivity in the following ways:

• They attract superior quality staff
• They reduce the rate of absenteeism and time lost
• They are shown to enhance on-the-job time utilization and decision making
• They dramatically improve worker morale, which in turn lowers turnover and reduces the expense of hiring and retraining.

In addition to overall improved productivity, corporate wellness programs have also been shown to be an effective tool in slowing the growth of health care costs. Simply selecting healthier options may reduce a worker's chances of suffering from illness. Less illness means businesses can lower their health plan utilization, thereby lowering health benefit costs, and consequently increasing earnings. It is also important to keep in mind that while health cost savings from corporate wellness programs may be less evident than productivity gains, research has shown that medically high-risk workers are medically high-cost workers as they use much more additional health care and generate higher claims.


There are certain key points that will be critical in developing a successful corporate wellness program. Some of these are:

• You must capture senior-level support. Approval from senior management will be critical to the success of all corporate wellness programs. It is crucial that management has to understand the benefits of the program for both the staff and the corporation and also be willing to fund its development, implementation and evaluation. It can be helpful to have descriptions of what other businesses are doing in the way of corporate wellness programs and linking wellness to goals of the business, values and strategic priorities will help to secure senior management support. In addition department heads who "practice what they preach" and actively participate in the corporate wellness programs will go a long way to encouraging others to participate as well.
• Establish a health promotion team. Health promotion committees should include a variety of possible initiative participants including workers. The team should include individuals who will be part of creating the corporate wellness programs, implementing the wellness initiative and evaluating the corporate wellness programs. This will create ownership of the wellness initiative and will likely lead to more innovative ideas. A health promotion team will also help to garner "buy in" from both management and the participants, develop corporate wellness programs that are responsive to all participant needs, and will be responsible for managing all of the company's health promotion efforts.

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