Behavior-Changing Opportunities Can (all but) Guarantee a Successful Employee Wellness Program
Turn on any podcast app, scroll through a news feed, or flip through a lifestyle magazine, and you will see at least one article about improving your wellness status. Many people seek ways to feel better, from nutrition to workouts and spiritual practices to sleep habits.
There is a good chance your staff is searching for a plan they can implement to create change in their lives. 42% of Americans (livestrong.com) are currently focusing on committing to a specific diet to lose weight. That’s a lot of people on a health journey!
As an employer, you can use your wellness program as a platform to support your team while they work to reach personal health goals by encouraging behavior changes that align with company goals. After all, associates cannot succeed in their roles without that “feel-good” momentum that inspires quality work. Motivated employees who possess key elements such as energy, drive, and motivation put in more during office hours for their employer. Unfortunately, a growing number of the American workforce suffer from various levels of lethargy, feeling uncomfortable in the office, lack of sleep, low nutrient density, and a tendency to quickly lose focus.
Though not everyone is ready (or willing) to make changes, simply creating an environment of encouragement shows your entire staff that you care about them beyond the bottom line. In today’s workplace, employees want to be part of a company that puts value on their work product and them as individuals.
“40% of the success of behavior change happens when we establish a supportive environment and receive peer support from others. ”
Focus on the top wellness issues facing today’s workforce to make the most significant impact on your staff. How you decide to implement opportunities for improvement at your office will significantly depend on factors such as the size of your team, your physical working environment, and your allowed budget. Completely done in-person, virtually supporting via an app, or using a mix of the two, behavior-changing opportunities are worth the effort it takes to set up and monitor them.
To support your team, ensure your initiatives are directed toward a clear goal, incentivize participation, and celebrate successful milestones. Remember that every new goal is accomplished one step at a time and that change takes different paths for everyone.
Setting goals that can be broken down into “bite-size actions” acts to create the most momentum and provides the best chance of sustainability. According to current articles and health news headlines, sleep is perhaps the biggest problem in the lives of many. A lack of quality sleep is the leading cause of many ailments. In the short term, it can leave you with a headache, less focus and energy, and increased blood sugar. In the long run, lack of sleep can lead to chronic health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and depression, just to name a few. Let’s use this example as a sample topic you can address now that will affect your staff’s behaviors significantly and positively.
success tip:
To support your team, ensure your initiatives are directed toward a clear goal, incentivize participation, and celebrate successful milestones. Remember that every new goal is accomplished one step at a time and that change takes different paths for everyone.
You can follow the steps below for any topic you cover as part of your successful corporate wellness program.
Choose your topic: Poor sleep
Share the reasons why with your staff: Poor sleep affects a shocking number of people. Sleep deprivation is real, and the problem goes beyond the number of hours and deeper into the quality of the sleep cycle stages. If you are focusing on this topic for your corporate wellness program, you should share quality information with your staff on why this topic is important to focus on and improve. This step is crucial in getting people on board with creating real change.
Implement tangible goals, ideas, and tools. Feel free to use some or all of these ideas:
Allowing them to set hours that work best for their circadian rhythm
Encouraging the use of blue-light-blocking glasses
Provide screen covers
Host a lunch and learn with a doctor who can educate your team about sleep deprivation and ways to improve it
Reimburse for installing light-blocking window coverings in employees’ homes
Purchase an Oura Ring for every employee or any other device that can help employees to monitor their sleep and be able to see if the adjustments they are taking are working or not
Track your team’s progress. Send a survey or have your managers review your company’s wellness challenge tool to measure progress.
Success tip:
Setting goals that can be broken down into “bite-size actions” acts to create the most momentum and provides the best chance of sustainability.
This approach to tackling wellness behavior changes will empower your staff as they move along, meeting their goals. Improvement in key areas of health such as sleep quality, hydration, lowering sugar intake, and increased movement will create improved attention to detail and better performance overall. Give these a try at your office. Then you can adjust your chosen programs, change your focus areas, and alter your methods as needed.
Movement 1st Wellness is well-equipped and deeply knowledgeable in corporate wellness programming for companies of all sizes. Whether you have 10 to 1000 employees, we are excited to create a plan for you.
