Beginning a Corporate Wellness Program
September 30, 2019
It’s no secret that health and wellness are way of the workforce and growing exponentially. The truth is, most Americans spend more time at work than at home or with their families, excluding time sent sleeping. It’s crucial to help individuals find work-life balance and incorporate health and wellness in the workplace because sad to say, that might be the only opportunity they get to squeeze it in.
I’m an exercise physiologist. I love this “stuff.” After a long day of work and taking the kids to and from school and activities, exercising is the last thing I feel like doing. I need to get it in the middle of my day or frankly, it just doesn’t get done.
Starting a corporate wellness program in your company can seem overwhelming. I have been in corporate wellness since 2002 and have seen companies develop huge committees and spend months planning to just get the program off the floor. This is not necessary. It’s most important to get something started. Start small, create the committees, and then let it grow. So if your company does not have a corporate wellness program in place, here’s my three easy tips to getting it started:
1. Start Small and Start Now
By no means does your company need a full, comprehensive, expensive and elaborate corporate wellness program. That takes time to develop, and we need to get your employees moving now. Start with a monthly nutrition demo, a weekly chair massage, or a bi-weekly meditation class. These are very beneficial, easy to book, and your employees will be grateful.
2. Consistency is the Key to Success
Do not host a huge corporate wellness challenge and that costs a lot of money and then decide not to do another wellness activity for months or until next year. Challenges are great. They are fun, encourage many health benefits, and flourish team comrade. They should not be done in lieu of regular wellness activities. Maybe your company hosts a corporate challenge with the new year or around the holidays in addition to your monthly nutrition demo and monthly fitness class? Let a professional team, like Kb Fitness Solutions, Inc. come up with a plan to fit your company’s needs, budget, and schedule.
3. Don’t Overthink it with Reports, Evaluations, and Surveys
I cannot tell you how many times that I have a company or account ask us to survey the population, which we are happy to do. We then base the programming and schedule around those who completed the surveys and no one shows up. Company wellness activities need to be done durng work hours or lunch. After a long day, employees want to go home to their families. Before a long day, they prefer sleeping in or they are rushing to get their kids to school, etc. During work hours work well. Period. Plus, taking breaks from your workday will, in fact, help you perform better. We have tons of research to prove this fact. So while reports are definitely needed to make sure everything is running smoothly and efficiently, time is best spent in getting employees moving, relaxed, educated, and informed.
