What are the most effective strategies for developing a wellness program for your staff?

INCLUDE YOUR TEAM! Wellness looks different for everyone. Having the authentic voice of your team will support an open dialogue around strengths and growth areas. Build upon your strengths and support (as best as possible) including the feedback received from your team. Whether it be an open dialogue or survey, ensure that space is given for people to elaborate and discuss versus yes/no based questioning.

When a wellness program is created, it's important to determine not only the actual state of the organization but also the ideal state of the organization. What is a thriving workforce? What qualities does it embody? When? Does it change during different seasons? Does it account for developmental stages of life? Is your workforce multi-generational? If leadership only focuses on what needs to be improved at one given time, they may repair one metric but create deficiencies in another by rectifying one. It becomes an organization chasing its own tail. If leadership doesn't create a wellness program that articulates an ideal state that staff buy into, staff quickly recognize the initiative for what it is...a waste of time and resources.

Ask staff what wellness looks like for them. What are they already doing? What do they wish they were doing? What are the challenges to making changes? Meet your staff where they are and include them in the program design to ensure it's more effective.

There is no one size that fits all, it is essential to connect to the larger group for ice breakers and then isolate focused groups which will be very effective For me I would choose an offline module for minimum 4 classes and work with the wellness wing to isolate focused groups which can be done online, ice breakers typically need to be offline for better engagements levels

Para mi hay 3 puntos débiles comunes de los programas de bienestar corporativo: ??1. Falta de foco en los hábitos como base del cambio. No basta, por ejemplo, con solo animarles a comer mas sano, sino que es necesario ense?arles a tener el habito de comer mas sano, para que ese cambio sea sostenible en el tiempo. ??2. No tienen un enfoque integral. "Comer menos y moverse mas" no es suficiente para causar un impacto real en la vida de los colaboradores. Es importante abarcar otros aspectos como la salud mental, gestión emocional, finanzas, etc. ??3.Intervenciones aisladas vs. un programa, estratégicamente pensado para ir abarcando todas las áreas del bienestar integral. Si se trabaja en mejorar estas áreas el programa será de impacto.

Once an organization identifies an ideal state for their employees' wellness, data can be gathered on what challenges need to be prioritized. It's vital to get a thorough understanding of what the challenges are in order to even conceive of preparing a solution. If knee jerk actions are taken based on subjective opinions of leaders, any intervention may not only prevent employee wellness, but employees may feel insulted, singled out, or worse, discriminated against. Protected health information must be protected along the way as well. Consent issues must also be taken into account as mandatory participation in various activities can negate authentic buy in, but also harm those whose health conditions contraindicate certain actions.

When communicating a wellness program with an organization's staff, it's important to provide a consistent incentive that creates sustained buy in until new habits can form. One way to create this sustained commitment is by creating a consistent and encouraging community. When the activity that a group of people engages in provides positive benefits like increased wellness while also experiencing accountability, chances are you will get the powerful communication of one person inviting another they care about resulting in a higher likelihood of participation and attendance. You can have all the fancy marketing graphics, emails, posters, and flyers but if welcoming and inspiring people are not involved, buy in will be meager.

Absolutely crucial advice here! Regular evaluation is key to ensuring a program's success. This comment beautifully outlines the process: defining indicators, utilizing various data sources like surveys and interviews, and comparing against benchmarks. The emphasis on staff feedback and identification of program strengths and weaknesses is spot on. Kudos to the writer for highlighting the significance of using results not just for improvement but also for celebrating achievements and recognizing the team's efforts

Dar seguimiento a las mejoras con mediciones y seguimientos a resultados es básico para saber si estas acciones funcionan o hay que incorporar nuevas estrategias ...

In my experience, the companies with the greatest interest in corporate wellness are those who are self-funding healthcare costs and those who recognize the value that employee presenteeism and retention has on their bottom line. Many factors contribute to employee wellness, so it is hard to know where to start. Here are 4 great early starting points: 1) Regular assessment of employee satisfaction and health, 2) the written policies and incentive structures that include healthy living incentives, and a 3) calendar and 4) communication that devotes time to wellness are keys to satisfied, healthy, and committed teammates!