Capitalize on New Year’s Resolutions to Promote Wellness Programs
Posted by J.P. Farley Corporation on Wed, Jan 04, 2012
For companies that provide self-funded health plans, the start of the New Year provides a golden opportunity to promote employee wellness programs and encourage employees to take greater personal responsibility for their health. With their New Year’s resolutions fresh in their minds, employees will be coming to work this month highly motivated to drop those extra pounds, improve their eating habits, increase daily exercise or quit smoking.
By using the first few weeks of January to initiate new wellness programs and roll out new features to ongoing programs, employers can capitalize on their employees’ self-driven motivation to live a healthier lifestyle.
Encouraging participation in wellness programs designed to help employees meet their personal health goals is a win-win situation for both employees and employers. Healthier employees require less acute medical care which eventually decreases the total cost of healthcare benefits shouldered by the employer. However, to ensure that newly launched wellness programs will have the desired long-term impact on both employee health and corporate healthcare benefit costs, there are a few critical logistics that wellness plan administrators must address:
- Employees must be provided with adequate opportunities to participate in wellness programs. Ensuring that all employees have the opportunity to participate may require coordination with and the cooperation of department managers and shift supervisors. To accommodate a variety of schedules, multiple participation opportunities may need to be offered.
- Group classes and competitions (Biggest Loser, etc.) can make fitness activities fun and provide participants with a built-in support network.
- Offering incentives and rewards (prizes, raffle opportunities, special privileges, achievement recognition, etc.) can encourage employee participation. Allotting employees 30 to 60 minutes of paid work time to participate in wellness activities encourages participation while demonstrating corporate support.
- Participation by management and executive staff emphasizes the importance the company places on wellness initiatives and can provide both personal example and leadership to employees.
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