I paused when I first read an article in the New York Times that said some companies use financial incentives to motivate employees to attend corporate wellness programs.
I get it. Offer reduced insurance policies to those who participate, and impose penalties to those who don’t.
Money incentivizes. Always. The ‘bottom line’ matters to us.
But does it matter most over the long haul? Are savings on insurance premiums going to be the variable that keeps employees engaged in the get-healthy game? Can companies save more, and gain more over the long-haul if employees choose to participate because of the value they derive beyond just financial incentives?
The problem with incentives is they smell of company interests, not employee wellbeing and happiness. So, dangling the carrot, or exacting ‘the stick’ will no doubt excite employees initially, but over the long term, will it keep them invested? And if not, what’s the loss?
With health care costs sky rocketing, companies can no longer ignore the impact a sick workforce has on company growth, nor the benefits a wellness program could make. Experience and research offer three compelling considerations when implementing corporate wellness programs:
Connect with your employees
Employees who feel seen, heard and valued join in and get involved in wellness programs, even those who may feel intimidated and ‘not ready’ initially. Connecting with employees on a personal level is the sure-shot way to promote fully-vested, even fully-passionate buy-in to wellness programs.
Everyone loves to feel connected and connection fosters ‘we are all in this together’ team Spirit.
What difference would it make for your company if every employee brought the very best of themselves to their work everyday?
Cultivate genuine interest for employees and their health and well-being, and watch game-face turn on to program initiatives, with the added benefits of a health and wellbeing contributing to company bottom line. Because you connected with them. Because they trust you.
And the win? Company-wide growth and productivity for the business and employees alike.
Question ideas about healthy lifestyle habits.
Garnering employee buy-in is not enough. The years of indulgence are glamorized and continue to linger in day-to-day practice, especially for Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, which is in many ways the antithesis of a healthy lifestyle.
Add the nuances of the modern lifestyle, like fast-food nation, immediate gratification, the pull of family and memory and what ‘everyone else is doing,’ it’s no wonder many find the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle difficult to develop. Restraint and self-discipline land as ridiculous.
For employees to bring the very best of themselves to their work everyday, to increase productivity and foster creativity, there’s got to be a mental shift, a questioning around how we think about healthy lifestyle habits, how we live our lives and how we care for our body.
James Allen said in his timeless classic As a Man Thinketh, “A man is literally what he thinks.” A wellness program falls short if it does not guide employees to questioning what they think about health and wellbeing.
Encourage reconnection to self and self-awareness.
Personalized and detailed diets plans. Individualized fitness programs. Reduced premiums. All are super awesome in encouraging health and wellness in the work place and life, but the grandest buy-in to corporate wellness initiatives helps employees develop self-awareness.
While we weigh in how our time is better spent in dollars earned, we’ve become disconnected from the very simple day to day things that ground us down, beyond all the achieving.
Mindfulness and meditation are the tools. Science shows that by integrating mindfulness and meditation techniques into corporate wellness programs, mental clarity and productivity increase, focus and concentration expand, creativity and innovation grow.
Mindfulness promotes self-awareness. Self awareness promotes healthier choices.
Mindfulness training is essential in helping employees reconnect with themselves, to make smarter choices about health and wellbeing for greater physical, emotional and mental health.
Successful corporate wellness programs remember,
- It’s about the genuine wellbeing of employees, not just the bottom line.
- To explore habituated ways of thinking about doing things, to make way for new healthy lifestyle habits.
- Encourage reconnection to self and self awareness.
With all three points in place, you’re sure to offer a corporate wellness program that does work, a program that assures the results you most want, an office buzzing with peak potential and productivity, high-energy, increased focus and booming creativity!
To discuss corporate wellness programs, contact team@carol-egan.com
