Today, companies are making an effort to ensure employee health and wellness within their organization—and for good reasons. Corporate wellness is more important to a business than ever. Aside from the fact that it encourages productivity and engagement, employee wellness programs also combat rising healthcare costs and benefits employees in the long run.
However, a lot of business owners make the mistake of implementing wellness programs with no clear path to success. While it’s possible to stick to the conventional programs, you can always bring in unique ideas to the table. Here are five perks you can provide to keep employees at their constant best.
- Go on Wellness Adventures
Online retail company Zappos is well-known for its outstanding company culture and interesting wellness programs. In fact, Wellness Adventures, its recent corporate health initiative, is gaining traction among its employees. It allows different teams to do a certain activity away from their desks every now and then, like a laser tag session or an hour of golf lessons. On Tuesdays, the company runs Recess Tuesdays, wherein playground toys are laid out on the plaza; it’s up to their employees to play and monkey around during downtime.
- Provide Healthy Food Choices
It’s common knowledge that most healthy foods are either expensive or inaccessible in the city. This is often the reason why employees choose to get fast food over healthier options when they go to work.
With this in mind, you can help employees improve their nutrition by making healthy dining options cheaper and easily attainable. Take time to review the catering menu in your office cafeteria and recommend more nutritious options. You can also provide discounts for these healthy foods that are sold at work. Get creative with your efforts—there’s just so many ideas to try!
- Conduct Weight-Loss Challenges
Obesity is a serious health condition that can lead to a vast array of complications. Losing weight is the clear solution, but for many, it is easier said than done. To keep your employees motivated in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, why not make it a fun challenge they can participate in?
An engineering innovation company, Draper, has done such feat when they held a ten-week weight-loss challenge for all its departments. Gift cards were handed out to those who achieved their weight-loss goals per week while a cash prize was provided to the winner by the end of the competition.
- Invest in an On-Site Fitness Center
With a hectic work environment, employees often find it hard to make time for a workout or even a quick exercise. However, they may be motivated to get fit and healthy with a fitness center just within the company building. You can also go big by offering cash incentives to those who actively use this fitness facility or other areas of your wellness program. Just remember to keep health equipment accessible, such as a blood pressure monitor or a Nellcor DS-100a pulse oximeter, to assist those who have certain heart or respiratory conditions.
- Open the Doors to Furry Pets
Pet lovers, celebrate! A study shows that the presence of a dog in a work environment actually improves collaboration within the team. If it means higher productivity and reduced mental and emotional stress, why not grant furry friends access to the office? But before you get ahead of yourself, make sure to consider if having pets running around and all over the place is feasible for your type of business. Also consider the fact that some staff members may have allergies to fur and pet dander.
Before launching a health-and-wellness program, take time to consider your company culture as well as your employees’ personalities and preferences to be able to find the perfect fit. After all, wellness shouldn’t be merely a campaign but also a reflection of your organization’s goals and principles.
