How to communicate your employee wellness program

So you have taken the time and gathered the resources to plan a top notch employee wellness program. You can spent time, money, and utilized your staff to put together a program that will improve the health of your employees. You are all ready to roll it out and then it occurs to you-How do I communicate with my employees about the wellness program? The reality is that how well you communicate about your employee wellness program will have a direct correlation as to how successful the program is. Here is what you need to know about how to communicate your employee wellness program-

- Understand the importance of communication-You may think that just because your employees work in the building they will automatically know about the employee wellness program and begin to use it. Most employers are very surprised to learn about all their employees don't know about when it comes to what is happening at work. You cannot assume that just because your employees come to work everyday that they will be informed about the employee wellness program and how they can access it. You will need to provide that conduit of communication.
- Find out the best ways to communicate-Once employers determine that they need to communicate about their employee wellness program they decide on an avenue or two and then only utilize those methods of communication. Keep in mind that just because you set up bulletin boards in the hallway or use email that doesn't mean that your message will be getting to the right people. It is important to take the time to determine where and when your employees will be receptive to your message. It doesn't do you any good to spend money on a 4 color brochure if no one is going to read it. Taking the time to determine the places your employees are most likely to access information about your employee wellness program will help you see where you need to communicate with them.
- Communicate often and consistently-In the excitement and newness of launching a new program many companies will eagerly send out communication. Then often times the communication will die away leaving employees wondering if the program is even still going on. If you want your employee wellness program to succeed then you need to make sure that you are communicating with your employees both regularly and consistently. You need to keep up the initial enthusiasm about the employee wellness program and convert that into long standing loyalty. You can also do this by keeping your employees informed of any changes that have taken place and reporting successes that have occurred within the program. You also want to make sure that your employees know where they can access any facet of the employee wellness program. This will keep your employees seeking out communication about the employee wellness program.
- Ask for feedback-Communication is a two way street and the most successful employee wellness programs are those that get feedback from their employees. You can do this in a number of different ways. You can send out surveys (either on or offline), you can do interviews, or send out questionnaires that ask for ideas and suggestions. The main focus of the feedback should be gaining information that will make sure that your employee wellness program is structured around what your employees are really wanting. The bottom line is that if you fail to satisfy their needs and wants within the employee wellness program there is little chance that it will succeed for the long term. It is also crucial to make sure that this feedback is taken and incorporated into the program.