Corporate wellness programs benefit employers and employees:
Would your business benefit from reduced health care costs and improved employee retention? Corporate wellness programs accomplish both. Employer-sponsored workplace wellness programs are proven to reduce risk factors such as smoking and increase healthy behaviors including exercise, healthy eating and stress management. They are now available in about half of U.S. businesses with 50 or more employees, but The Dowd Insurance Agencies believe that businesses of all sizes should be able to offer this next generation employee benefit. Learn more about the Dowd Insurance Agencies employee wellness program below or contact us to begin your employee wellness program today.
What is an employee wellness program?
Employer-sponsored workplace wellness programs focus on physical and mental wellness and often extend healthy habits outside of work. These programs champion behaviors that reduce health risks, improve quality of life, enhance personal effectiveness and benefit an organization’s bottom line.
What benefits does this offer to employers and employees?
Wellness programs are mutually beneficial for employers and employees. Many government incentives, including tax breaks and grants, are available to support businesses that implement wellness programs. Employers also benefit because healthy employees reduce overall health care costs and study results show that employers who offer these programs experience better employee retention.
Aside from enjoying a healthy lifestyle, employees often benefit from employee wellness programs that offer incentives such as decreased health care costs, employee contributions to health and fitness memberships, added paid time off or even simply being recognized at a business function for wellness-related successes. Study results have also concluded wellness programs that incentivize employee engagement are more successful in terms of realizing the employer benefits.
Is there an example of a successful employee wellness program?
The Dowd Insurance Agencies lead by example. We tested a pilot program right in our own offices. Our wellness program was organized in 2015 by a committee formed to create, implement and monitor the effort to support overall health and morale of participating employees. The program was an immediate success and we have adopted the employee wellness program as a permanent benefit for our staff.
How do you organize a wellness program?
Employee wellness programs work best when there is a group or committee that chairs the initiative. The Dowd Insurance Agencies will work with you to define the structure, goals, incentives, implementation procedure and measurable performance indicators to evaluate return on investment.
What are some recommended initiatives to include in an employee wellness program?
Wellness program initiatives can be customized for any business. Examples of wellness program elements include but are not limited to:
- Fitness and gym membership and wellness center discounts
- Organized fitness activities, including lunchtime walks, community events like a 5K or before/after work classes that are partially or fully-funded by the employer
- Newsletters with tips, organized activities, healthy recipes and employee success stories
- Break room resources, including notices about activities, nutritional guides and literature including health and wellness articles
- Guest speakers to encourage engagement
- Mindfulness exercises to reduce stress
- Awards programs to acknowledge success of wellness program goals
The Dowd Insurance Agencies Wellness Program was featured by BusinessWest and its sister publication Healthcare News. Read the story about how our employees are engaging with our wellness program by clicking the publication logos below.
