Corporate wellness programs are implemented to ensure the employee’s health is not at risk. While employers provide extended medical leaves, finance healthcare services, and health insurance, that is not enough. A corporate wellness program is an employer’s approach to ensuring their employees have a healthy workplace. This can be achieved by including daily health activities in the daily work schedule to improve employees’ well-being.
Creating wellness programs has various benefits. These include improved employee health behavior, lowered elevated health risks, recruitment, employee retention, increased productivity, decreased employee absenteeism, and reduced medical costs. Our copy will highlight some of the top trends shaping corporate wellness programs’ future.
Top Corporate Wellness Trends
Mental Health
Most organizations have started prioritizing mental health in the last couple of years. Given that in 2020, people had to work from home, and the anxiety and stress levels were high because some people lost their jobs, others took a pay cut, and others were on the edge because they did not know how long they were going to be retained.
Most employers have considered this and are incorporating mental health wellness programs in the workplace.
It will see most employers investing in mental health for their employees. Wellness begins in mind; therefore, employees must be in the right headspace to be productive at work. The trend of investing in a mental health wellness program will majorly shape the future of corporate wellness programs and one that should stay.
Mindfulness and Meditation
Mindfulness and meditation greatly affect employees’ mental health and well-being. It is a trend bound to shape the future of corporate wellness programs. Mindfulness and meditation are important to include in corporate wellness programs because they help reduce anxiety, reduce implicit race and age bias, increase body satisfaction, improve cognition, and help the brain reduce distractions. Mindfulness and meditation go hand in hand with mental health.
Stress Management
Stress management wellness programs in the corporate industry have existed for some time. However, with the pandemic and how employees’ anxiety and stress levels skyrocketed due to uncertainty, it is bound to see more employers incorporate stress management programs as part of the corporate wellness program.
Stress management programs help put employees at ease. They could either be stressed in their personal lives or the work environment. This program ensures they have a channel to let it out and learn how to handle and manage stress, making the work environment healthy.
Telemedicine
Telemedicine is a system that allows professional healthcare workers to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients through telecommunication technology. Telemedicine ensures that the patient and healthcare worker are not in physical contact with each other. After the pandemic hit, telemedicine gained popularity. It is a trend that most employers will invest in as part of their corporate wellness program. It is easier to contact a healthcare provider and diagnose them while ensuring they practice social distancing.
In-person and Virtual Activity Meetings
Due to the social distance rule, most corporations have some employees entering the office and others working virtually. A trend that could shape the corporate wellness program is creating activities in which both employees can participate. To ensure that you promote social and physical wellness, you could have daily or occasional virtual yoga. This ensures that both the employees working from home and those working from the office can stay active and feel connected.
Financial Wellness Programs
Most employees are usually stressed out about their finances. The pandemic has made most employees’ financial stress hit an all-time high. Pay cuts and the high cost of living it has impacted a lot of stress.
Financial wellness is often overlooked, but it is a trend that will shape the future of corporate wellness programs. For instance, employers could include benefits such as financial planning support that is accessible, financial planning education sessions, and extended paid leave. Given how stressful the pandemic has been on employees, setting up a financial wellness program would be good.
Making Wellness a Priority
Most employers are looking into making their employees’ wellness a priority. Some top corporations have already embraced and incorporated this in their wellness programs. When looking for employment nowadays, most people look at the wellness program offered.
It will see a lot of corporations investing in wellness programs. This is because a good wellness program ensures that an employer can easily retain their employees and is also a strategy for hiring new employees.
Virtual Working
When the pandemic hit, most corporations had to learn to adjust and embrace the idea of their employees working from home. Most corporations still have their employees working virtually and do not intend to have them return to the office.
Working from home has helped most employees learn how to balance their work and personal life. While this is great, employers must ensure they set up virtual events or charities where they can still contact.
Support
A trend that is also bound to shape corporate wellness programs is employers devising wellness programs for employees who work from home and have children. Options such as flexible work hours, child care, and paid leave can be implemented for parents since they have to juggle between work and watching their children. Employers could also have a wellness program for young employees since they are more likely to be affected by stress.
Corporate Wellness Stats and Growth Projections
As essential as it is for employers to have a wellness program for their employees, educating themselves on why it is important is also important. The following are some statistics that will help employers understand the importance of a wellness program.
- Company Culture – 77% of employees believe that having a wellness program significantly impacts the company’s culture.
- Healthy Lifestyle – 61% of employees report that they have had a healthy lifestyle change since they enrolled in their workplace wellness program. At the same time, 70% have implemented healthier behavior due to the healthy cafeteria menus.
- Support – When looking for jobs, most employees wonder if a company has a wellness program. 87% of employees look for employers who can support them in achieving their work-life balance.
- Satisfaction – Employees are more likely to be satisfied and productive in jobs with a wellness program. Out of every ten employees, nine say they are motivated and confident when their employers support their health and well-being.
- Financial Sustainability – 63% of employers who have a wellness program report that they have had significant financial growth and sustainability. Compared to other companies that do not have a wellness program, they have a 40% chance of having better financial performance.
- Reduction in Elevated Risks – Wellness programs are implemented to ensure employees adopt healthy behavior. Whether it is their eating habits or fitness, there can be a significant change in six weeks or less when a wellness program is implemented. A study shows that five out of every seven health risks are improved in one year.
- Reduced Health Care Costs – Wellness programs ensure a decrease in the healthcare costs an employer has to incur. Money spent on wellness programs saves the company at least thrice the cost that would have been spent on healthcare. Various scientific papers and studies can attest to this. An employer could see a 62% decrease in healthcare costs with a wellness program.
- Decrease Absenteeism – Statistics show that having a wellness program in place can decrease absenteeism, saving costs. As an employer, you can get a return on your investment when your employees are present and doing their job. 56% of employees are current at work due to wellness programs.
- Increase in Productivity – Having a wellness program in place will significantly increase productivity at work. As mentioned earlier, everything starts in mind, so if your employees are relaxed and in a good headspace, they will be productive at work. A wellness program will see a 54% increase in productivity when employed.
- Improvement in Employee Health Behavior – An employee wellness program helps improve employee health behavior. If the employees are working long hours, eating unhealthy, and not getting time to exercise, it increases their health risk, and is likely to develop a chronic disease. This means an increase in the healthcare cost.
With a wellness program in place, you will notice a significant increase in productivity and a drop in absenteeism. A study also shows that 70% of employees are satisfied with their work if there is a wellness program.