With the constant rising costs of healthcare and recent government changes relating to healthcare coverage, an ongoing hot topic among small businesses is corporate wellness. A solid corporate wellness plan can lower your company’s healthcare-related costs, not to mention result in happier, healthier and more productive employees.
But, how do you create a solid corporate wellness plan? What do you include? How do you fund your program? And, most important, how do you engage your employees?
The health and nutrition education experts at Kansas City-based NCES, Inc. have been providing answers to those questions for more than 25years. NCES has compiled a comprehensive library of health and nutrition materials, including a comprehensive selection of books, manuals, videos, teaching aids and other health products focused on health and nutrition education.
Corporate wellness is not limited to large corporations. Businesses of all sizes are choosing to commit to their employee’s health and seeing great results with activities that fit their company’s budget.
“When requesting funding for a new program, we recommend creating a strong presentation outlining the benefits to the employees and the entire company,” said NCES CEO Chris Jackson. “Be sure to include specific items you plan to purchase and activities you will be promoting. Your Execs need to see a solid, research-based plan on how you will improve employee health through a corporate wellness program.”
When building your actual corporate wellness plan, it’s important to choose the right resources. Remember that your employees are busy working for you, and don’t have a lot of time to spend seeking out healthy opportunities. Creating a user-friendly program will help them succeed. Include online resources such as articles and webinars that they can view at their convenience. Incentives and giveaways can also give your employees a reason to engage. When you launch the program, you may see a lot of interest. However, as life happens, employee interests may change and you may see a decline in participation. Create a system for staying in front of them.
“One successful model we’ve seen is to send a daily text message or email to employees with a quick health or fitness tip,” said Jackson. “These can include short desk-friendly exercises, cooking tips, or even motivational quotes.”
Employee engagement is important to the success of your corporate wellness plan. “Some of the greatest corporate wellness outlines I’ve seen aren’t successful because the company doesn’t encourage employee engagement,” said Carrie Mark (MA, RDN, LD), acquisitions director for NCES. “Your program must be designed to address employee needs and be supported from top-level executives.”
The on-staff dietitian at NCES is always here to help. No matter the stage of your corporate wellness planning, NCES will help you move your plan along to the next level.
