The right ingredients of a successful wellness program

How do you create a successful wellness program? How do you not only create it but you implement it? A successful wellness program takes a number of multiple tools to get it working correctly and to make it beneficial for your company so they can actually see an improvement in their health and so the company can see a healthy return for their investment in the wellness program.

A successful wellness program will come up with some of the following benefits for the company:

• Increased workers productivity


• Decreased healthcare costs


• Reduced employee absenteeism


• Higher employee retention rates


• Happier employees

One way to find out how your employees are doing with their health is by doing a free health screening day. This is a great way to check on the employee's health and to see if there is a concern about high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, and several other health issues and how you can address them. Talk to the employees about implementing a wellness program. This is a great way to get their opinion on what type of things they want to see as part of the wellness program. When you can get their opinion to see what they want to do and what they won't do, it will be a lot easier for you to create a successful wellness program.

Here are the right ingredients you need to have for a successful wellness program:

1. Fitness. Every program needs to have a fitness program so the employees are offered time to actually exercise. What type of facilities can you offer to your employees and encourage them to exercise? Some companies provide a room with treadmills and elliptical machines while others can offer an on-site building filled with rock climbing walls, swimming pools, tennis courts, basketball courts, and many other exercise areas. If you cannot offer an on-site exercise facility, look into offering gym memberships so they have a chance to go and workout.


2. Stress reduction. You need to also provide your employees with a chance to reduce their stress level so they can work better. Can you afford to purchase some massage chairs for your employees to relax in each day? Massage chairs are great but there are also other ways that you can help with stress reduction like offering extra breaks throughout the day. You also need to have your employees notice when they are feeling overwhelmed and need a break. This isn't always easy for employees to recognize so it will take a lot of effort on your part to get your employee to work hard on taking breaks and to watch out for their health.


3. Wellness coaching. You also need to have a wellness coaching program so the employees know what type of food choices they need to be making along with other things they can do to try and improve their health. Hiring a wellness coach is great as they will meet with each employee individually and talk to them about their fitness needs and how they can change their diet to eat healthier and live better lives.


4. No smoking rules. You can implement a no smoking policy to keep your employees from smoking on company property. Smoking is one of the biggest health concerns you have and it is important to have no smoking rules that will encourage employees to avoid smoking on site. You should look into offering a counseling program that will help the employees to stop smoking and to have methods on how they can quit smoking.


5. Weight loss. Like smoking, obesity is a huge concerns for companies. You must look for ways to try and get your employees to lose weight by encouraging them to exercise and to get them active on site.