Workplace wellness schemes are becoming increasingly popular in companies, but there are unforeseen challenges in creating a successful programme which benefits everyone. Both employers and employees benefits from having a wellness scheme in place, such as better morale in the workplace, lower rate of absences and a higher rate of employee productivity. In particular, for employees, wellness programmes can become an important part of being physically active and leading a healthy lifestyle. There are often cases where a wellness scheme triggers an interest in healthier living, such as yoga sessions bringing a personal sense of satisfaction to an employee or cycling to work improving one’s health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, there is no right way to approach developing a wellness scheme, but there are many common factors in programmes which are currently very successful. The main factors to remember are a commitment from management, involvement from employees, adequate resources and a focus on policies regarding workplace health, wellness and safety. Careful planning is required if you are to set up a successful scheme. Why not invite employees to input their ideas? A suggestion box or staff meetings can be a great forum for these ideas. You may need to develop a business case to convince senior members of staff that a wellness programme would be useful within your company. There are many stats to support the benefits of having a wellness scheme but it’s important that you make it clear why your company should develop one to help both employees and employers.
Your messages to management should communicate the benefits of such a programme, including the facts and figures on employee health and job satisfaction, and how this affects productivity. Be sure to collect information to prove that the scheme is beneficial; establish a planning committee to represent the views of different departments; be sure to know the facts on what your company is already offering in the way of health benefits and such. You should put activities into place, such as those which increase awareness and knowledge, develop skills and provide social interaction. These could be activities such as walking clubs, golf tourneys, corporate challenge events and national campaigns which your company can get involved in. Healthy eating should also be part of the plan so develop a policy on food catering for the meetings, so that healthy foods are available – perhaps you can look to develop a healthier menu in the company cafeteria. Your wellness programme should take steps to regularly monitor the progress of employees and evaluate how successful the programme is. You can do this, for example, by tracking the number of participants in a given activity, or the number of employees who support some or all components of a programme. It’s important that you identify all areas of excellence, as well as looking at the factors which affect the participation in your programme. Mistakes will happen but the important thing is that you learn from them and develop a stronger programme for the future. As the scheme develops, continue to evaluate it and make changes as you and the company require them. If you pay close attention to the key elements of a wellness programme within your company, and you ensure that the lines of the communication remain open at all times, you can develop a strong foundation from which to sustain an effective wellness programme which will leave a lasting legacy.