Company Health and Wellness : Corporate Wellness Programs

Company Fitness Programs Plans Improve Employee Health and Wellness

Instituting a Company Health Promotion Program improves the health of employees, decreases employee absenteeism and saves the business money, too. Learn more about initiating an Company Health Promotion Program in the office.

Benefits of Company Wellness Programs

• A organization cost of $100-$150 per employee each year to participate in an Company Wellness Program can save corporations $300 to $450 for each employee every year, according to Ron Goetzel, Director, Cornell University Institute for Health and Productivity Studies. The savings have the potential to take a few years to actualize, says Goetzel, and are seen in decreased health expenditures.
• The Wellness Councils of America stated a $24 return for every $1 spent on a Worksite Wellness Program for small companies.
• According to a 2005 survey by The Art of Health Promotion, companies who invested in Worksite Wellness Programs realized a 30 percent decrease in healthcare and absenteeism expenditures in less than four years.

A efficacious Worksite Health Promotion Program begins with Senior Leadership. Corporation owners should lead by example, taking part in their corporation’s fitness program and working closely with a wellness coach. Senior Leadership should make sure staff members are well cognizant of their wellness efforts, displaying weight loss results or smoking cessation results on corporation intranet or bulletin boards for everyone to see.

Corporate Wellness Programs that Truly Work

• Urge staff members to kick start their own wellness programs by visiting their doctor. A complete physical must include information about blood glucose, cholesterol levels and general health.
• Target specific health-related issues in a corporate exercise program. Information about how to fight obesity, smoking, alcoholism and drug abuse ought to be at the forefront of an Workplace Wellness Program, along with related conditions.
• Hire a wellness coach to instruct workers on how to lead a healthy lifestyle.
• Reward workers for taking part in organization wellness plans. Let workers accrue health and wellness points that they can redeem for prizes. Make the prizes healthy, too- a no cost massage, private training session with the organization’s wellness coach or health meal gift certificate encourages even healthier lifestyle choices.
• Acknowledge employee health and wellbeing leaders in corporation newsletters, in posted bulletins and on the corporation intranet.

Company Health Promotion Programs Provide Big Results

For corporation owners who want to increase employee participation in a Workplace Wellness Program, consider Johnson & Johnson’s approach. Faced with only 26% of employees participating in their employee health & wellness program, Johnson & Johnson offered employees a $500 discount on health insurance expenditures if they completed a health risk profile. The number of employees participating in the Johnson & Johnson corporation exercise program jumped after they offered the incentive — to more than 93%.

Ron Goetzel encourages those looking to pitch a corporate fitness program to Senior Leadership to use basic facts about the advantages of Workplace Wellness Programs as part of their argument. Keep it simple, and share results from other company’s employee wellness plan success stories.