What is an Employee Wellness Program?
April 20, 2021 | 
Employee EngagementMental health
The idea of an employee wellness program can be confusing; a lot of business owners don’t believe they are responsible for their employees outside of creating a productive and positive working environment.
However, an employee wellness program is a big part of constructing such an atmosphere, and putting one together should be next on your list of company responsibilities. And for further clarification, we’ve answered the questions for you below.
What is a Workplace Wellness Program?
An employee wellness program is a further health benefit that any employers can offer to their team members, often if they already have a company health insurance plan in place. A wellness program can be run at any time, with any number of people, in any way you see fit as a business leader.
For example, it can be a big group program for any and all employees, or it could be something more personal and specific to one or two employees. The latter option means it could simply be around to help a certain employee get to work on time or to eat better or block out a bad habit.
The Importance of Employee Wellness in a Company
Employee wellness programs are important for a variety of reasons. As a personalized way of taking care of your workforce, they’re dictated by your company needs. Indeed, they’re very beneficial in allocating your healthcare budget, as it can help to prevent employees from needing to take time off, and costing the business further as a result.
Similarly, an employee wellness program can help to improve the morale of your workforce. Knowing that your employer cares for both your physical and mental wellbeing and wants you to do your best work (just not at the expense of either of these), can be a huge productivity booster.
What an Employee Wellness Program Needs to Include
It’s very much a step-by-step process, and you’ve got to be sure that your company offers each step in tandem for employees to progress through. On your side, you’ve got to plan and put together a wellness committee, clearly defined goals to mark progress, then make all senior personnel aware of the program you’re putting together, and then create and stick to a budget.
All good employee wellness programs also provide employees with the option to work with a chaplain. These are critical operatives who work as part of the care team and are available to call 24/7 in a variety of situations. Whether your employee is experiencing trouble at work or at home/other areas in their life, a chaplain can step in to help them.
Any wellness program you put together needs to be useful and interesting as well, to ensure that your employees take you up on your offer, and you’re not wasting your time and budget by trying to allocate out further resources. There is a big need for wellness programs like these, but they need to be marketed right and offer the right advantages to your workforce specifically.
