By Alan Kohll

Wellness programs have become an increasingly popular trend among businesses of all sizes. In fact, one survey of more than 400 employers found that 80% of respondents offered wellness resources and information to their employees. In addition, 5% planned to offer those wellness services in the next 12 months.

It’s great news that employers are recognizing the need to address employee health in the workplace. Of the large number of employers offering wellness programs, however, how many will actually be successful? Even if a program is successful, how long can they sustain that success for their evolving workforce?

It’s likely that at some point in its existence, every wellness program will need to make some changes. Wellness managers need to analyze the efficiency and efficacy of these programs to assess their progress and recognize where improvements can be made.

While each wellness program is unique in how it functions at a given workplace, it’s important to start with basic improvements that apply to a vast majority of stagnant wellness programs.

Out with the old

And of course, in with the new! Falling into the trap of organizing the same wellness activities and challenges over and over can definitely spell trouble for a wellness program.

One way to manage this stagnancy is to develop a cross-departmental taskforce charged with brainstorming new and exciting wellness ideas. This type of taskforce is beneficial because each member can bring a unique perspective from his or her own department.

Another method for garnering new ideas is to survey the employee population. Some people have great ideas for wellness activities, but they don’t know with whom they should share them. From the survey results, popular or customizable activities can be chosen and implemented.

While it is important to mix things up, it’s not always a bad thing to repeat the most popular wellness activities. The activities employees truly enjoy and value can be repeated periodically. If it’s an activity employees are indifferent about, it’s probably beneficial to swap it out with something new!

Teamwork makes the dream work

A wellness program designed and promoted by one, lone individual is going to be very one-sided and, quite frankly, unappealing. It’s absolutely necessary to make wellness a team project.

When it comes to designing and planning a wellness program, it’s best to form a wellness committee. This team is tasked with implementing wellness activities throughout the company. The group concept means committee members will have other people to bounce ideas off of, or even to pick up the slack when they get busy with everyday work tasks.

When it comes to promoting a program, every company should identify wellness champions. In any wellness program, there are employees who have found success. It’s very likely that they want to share their stories. Finding out who those individuals are is the hardest part.

Once wellness champions are identified, the wellness committee can recruit them to help promote wellness activities to their coworkers. It’s much easier to see how a program works—and how it can actually be beneficial—when a colleague has experienced real health changes.

Entrusting a wellness program to a team can really encourage the best possible results. Teamwork allows for better ideas, more relatability, and a much more efficient approach.

Redefine wellness

I want to make this very clear … wellness does not mean weight loss. Yes, weight loss can be a huge part of wellness. But employee wellness is so much more than that! It goes beyond weight loss. In fact, wellness goes beyond physical health altogether.

Integrating a holistic attitude into wellness activities can ensure the program remains appealing and attainable for each and every employee. If a program isn’t appealing, or the goals within it aren’t attainable, a large portion of the employee population will likely skip out on the program altogether.

Holistic health information encompasses every part of an employee’s well-being. It includes mental health, financial wellness, social health, and whatever else an employee population might need.

Touching on a variety of aspects of wellness shows employees they are valued by their employer. It demonstrates an investment in who they are completely, not just in how much they weigh. It also opens up doors for positive communication and empowerment, rather than scare tactics and risk factors.

All of these things contribute to the intrinsic motivation that leads to long-term, healthy change. This motivation comes from employees’ self-efficacy, or their belief that they can and should make healthy improvements in their lives. If a program can help employees reach this level of motivation, it will skyrocket, and participants will start to make real healthy, happy changes in their lives.

Physical wellness is an excellent place to start and a very important part of wellness. Focusing on more than just physical wellness, however, provides a program that is rounded. This type of program ultimately does more for all participants.

The trend toward healthy workplaces is great news! A workforce filled with healthy, happy employees is one that will function positively, efficiently, and productively. Each company addresses employee health differently, but as the workforce evolves, the wellness program needs to as well.

As wellness managers analyze and update their programs, improvements will need to be made. That doesn’t mean a program isn’t successful; it simply means the program is growing as employees grow. And that’s a great thing!

Each individual wellness program will call for different improvements. Updating stagnant wellness activities, drawing on teamwork, and redefining wellness are excellent places to start when it comes to improving a program. These three ideas can help wellness managers inventory their own programs to make specific, worthwhile improvements this year.