Health And Wellness Programs

Employee Wellness Plans – Staff Engagement Strategies

Employee Wellness Plans without employee engagement are of little use to a company. How do you get staff members to enroll in Employee Wellness Plans – and stay engaged in the programs?

The materials for these programs discuss the benefits to staff members and organizations. Company Health and Wellness Program statistics show that there are tangible benefits to a company for offering such programs. Employee Wellness Plans actually do save lives by getting workers to take their health seriously, increase productivity, decrease absenteeism and more.

However, St. Louis, Missouri-based Maritz Inc., the world’s largest incentive company, has applied their own invigorating twist to health management by providing gift rewards to staff members who participate in Employee Wellness Programs. The wellness incentive reward program is Maritz’s own Exclusively Yours® plan. Health management participants earn points, which can be then redeemed for merchandise, electronics, restaurant vouchers and travel, much like a frequent-flier program.

Enrollment incentive rewards in Employee Wellness Programs?

Undoubtably companies that don’t work in the incentive rewards industry will be tempted to cry foul about using such a rich carrot to incentivize health program enrollments. Not every company can throw that kind of money at health management resources – and not every company has the built-in cost savings as a business that specializes in providing incentive reward programs.

For certain rich incentive rewards like Maritz’s will break through the glaze that appears over many staff members’ eyes when they’re encouraged to do something new, different or difficult. For many staff members uncomfortable with health management and physical activity, “new, different and difficult” would apply to Employee Wellness Programs. So where does that leave organizations who are unwilling or unable to offer incentive rewards for health management program enrollment?

Successful Employee Wellness Plans motivate staff members – before and after signup

Company Health and Wellness Program administrators should keep the long-term view in mind when trying to get staff members to take that critical first step. Even the best incentive rewards can fail in the face of faltering organization, badly-designed Employee Wellness Plans and wavering support. Make sure to run good Wellness surveys before you build your Employee Wellness Plans so staff member input and needs are being met by your Employee Wellness Programs. The goal is positive outcomes, not high enrollment numbers.

Employee Wellness Plans cannot survive managerial apathy. If executive and managerial participation is widespread and heartfelt, staff members will follow their leadership. The potential rewards and Wellness benefits are clearly worth reaping, for both your company and your co-workers.