A New Spin on Wellness Programs

How can one go about developing a successful workplace wellness program?

Employee wellness programs are all the rage today — after all, the benefits can be enormous. In 2010, the Harvard Business Review reported that Johnson & Johnson’s wellness program saved them an estimated $250 million in health care costs over the course of a decade and after six years, the return on investment was apparently $2.71 for every $1 spent.

So how should one go about developing a successful workplace wellness program?

In his book Costing Human Resources, Dr. Wayne Cascio, professor of management and author/editor of 28 management books, suggests that wellness programs should do the following:

• Identify individual risk factors among employees
• Educate employees about the relationship of their risk factors to disease
• Motivate employees to reduce their personal risk factors
• Encourage employees to make a personal commitment to risk reduction
• Offer specific programs to control major risk factors such as smoking and overeating
• Follow up with employees to support their efforts to change

While these tips are a good start, their focus on disease prevention puts a less-than-positive spin on workplace wellness, with an emphasis on reducing risk instead of promoting health. Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t use this list as a framework for a more positive wellness program that focuses on boosting well-being. If we turned up the positivity, the revised program might look like this:

IDENTIFY THE STRENGTHS OF INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES

Employees bring a number of strengths to their work. These span the well-known measure of VIA character strengths, but also include intelligence, knowledge from past experiences, and motivation from life and career goals. These qualities can provide leverage for wellness-enhancing decisions and behaviours.

EDUCATE EMPLOYEES ON HOW STRENGTHS AFFECT HEALTH

Educational materials can be either purchased or produced in-house and supplemented with regular workshops and seminars. Low-cost options for educating employees include distributing publicly available videos that teach employees about strength factors and health. The focus should be on promoting well-being and not reducing physical and mental illness.

MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES TO PROMOTE THEIR STRENGTHS

Before long, employees will experience the intrinsic benefits of enhanced wellness. Other incentives can be built into training. For example, it is well-known that goal setting improves health-oriented behaviour, but it is less well-known that monitoring progress towards a goal increases the chances of achieving it. Incentives can also be used to turn a wellness program into a fun initiative.

ENCOURAGE EMPLOYEES TO COMMIT TO PURSUING THEIR STRENGTHS

There are a number of ways to boost commitment, such as asking employees to imagine how their lives will improve once they build on their strengths. Another way is to encourage employees to write and sign a personal pledge to leverage their strengths. It’s good practice to disseminate metrics that show small wins in wellness and to advertise benefits of the wellness program.

OFFER TARGETED PROGRAMS TO ENHANCE SPECIFIC STRENGTHS

It’s great to provide employees with general health information, but even better to offer targeted wellness programs. For example, a 2015 study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology examined how mental skills training could enhance the confidence of soldiers. The program included training in selective perception, self-talk, personally meaningful affirmations, optimism attributions and goal-setting. Soldiers who went through the training reported higher levels of self confidence and performance improved, most notably for the women. Confidence in one realm may spread to other realms and create a healthier workforce: all it takes is one effective, targeted program to get the ball rolling.

FOLLOW UP AND SUPPORT EMPLOYEES

Regularly following up with employees discourages them from waiting out the initiative and forces them to take responsibility for their progress. Proper follow-up and support boosts motivation and commitment and demonstrates that the organization is genuinely dedicated to employee well-being. Follow up should include annual surveys on the effectiveness of the program and suggestions for refinement. Support can include online resources for interested employees and counselling for those who need one-on-one attention.

Health is not the absence of disease. The best wellness programs both reduce unhealthy behaviours and encourage healthy behaviours. Organizations that integrate the traditional model with a more contemporary, positive orientation will get the best results for their wellness programs.