How small businesses can encourage health among their employees

With the rising popularity and growth of employee wellness programs many small business owners are left wondering what they can possibly do to promote health and wellness among their employees.This can be especially difficult for smaller businesses that have limited resources.While many larger businesses can provide on site gyms or gym memberships, health care incentives and monetary rewards for success many small businesses are left with using their limited resources just to stay open.But there are options available and for the small business owners who wants to begin an employee wellness program there are choices that can be made.

Increasing numbers of small businesses are providing wellness activities and programs for their employees. It is crucial to understand that by instituting wellness programs they can reap the same benefits as their larger counterparts.Some of these benefits are:

• A dramatic improvement in employee morale
• Having a wellness program can engender a commitment from employees thus retaining employees and reducing the high cost of hiring and retraining new employees
• It can enhance the feeling of "family" among employees
• Can improve worker productivity
• Help contain health care costs

While many business owners may wonder if having a wellness program is right for them it is important to understand that wellness programs are especially important for small businesses since small businesses often operate with very small staffs and because health insurance for small businesses is often costly or difficult to obtain. Small businesses can encourage wellness among their employees in many of the following ways:

• Having a written formulation of policies and implementation of practices that are aimed at supporting wellness.This does two things: it provides a written direction for the executives of the business and shows employees that their health and well-being are important to the management of the company.


• Having a provision of a supportive physical environment.This can include everything from the actual physical surroundings of the office to promoting a workplace environment of emotional support for health issues.


• The development of programs to educate employees and their families about the benefits of wellness in both at home programs and on site classes.


• Development of incentives (monetary or tangible) that are given for staying healthy


• Offering comprehensive screening examinations and counseling services

It is important to keep in mind that the most successful small business-sponsored wellness programs are generally small, simple, inexpensive, family-oriented, and cognizant of the fact that keeping employees healthy also requires providing them with a safe and healthy workplace.

To help overcome the costs of employee wellness programs many creative and savvy small business owners are banding together to reduce costs.While the costs of health screenings or on site nutritional cooking classes can be prohibitive for one small business by working together small business owners who are pooling resources can offer the same type of employee wellness options as their larger counterparts. Some small business owners have gone as far as to encourage inter-business rivalry in weight loss competitions or smoking cessation.This also has the benefit of promoting business loyalty and a feeling of teamwork with businesses.

Another way that small businesses have found to offer employee wellness options to their staff is to utilize outside resources.While most small business do not have the cash to offer on-site gyms they can often arrange with a local gym for a reduced rate on their memberships.Other small business are offering discounts on nutritional classes, smoking cessation, and even personal and family counseling by using the resources that are available in the local community.This allows employees to access the wellness options that they need at a reduced price and the small business can reap the effects.