Businesses commonly use wellness programs to support employees’ mental and physical wellbeing. Most large U.S. organizations now offer some form of employee wellness initiative. Yet fewer than a quarter of employees actively engage with the programs available to them. Many employees struggle to find benefits that truly meet their needs, while employers miss the return they expect from their wellness investments.
As specialized wellness solutions and technology-driven delivery methods continue to evolve, HR teams can now design benefit programs that closely align with employee needs. By leveraging these tools, organizations can move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches and create more relevant, engaging experiences.
Below are five ways businesses can ensure their employee wellness programs align with the needs of their workforce.
5 Ways to Keep your Employee Wellness Program in Line With Your Team’s Needs
1. Set clearly defined goals for your organization’s wellness program
Businesses have long used wellness programs to drive employee retention. In addition, reduce healthcare costs and improve productivity. These goals are best achieved using a strategy built to deliver these outcomes for the business. For example, offering flexible work arrangements. This can be useful for a company hoping to attract more millennial talent. Once these outcomes are identified and prioritized, business leaders can work with their benefits provider to develop the wellness program most suited to their requirements.
2. Conduct regular pulse surveys to learn about your employees’ needs
To maximize ROI, business leaders must understand what their employees need from their company’s wellness program. The easiest way to collect information about employee needs is through pulse surveys. These surveys can give HR teams and business leaders valuable insights. It shows what employees want, the time they are willing to commit, and their preference of initiatives.
3. Allow employees to customize a set of benefits that is best suited to them
While effective planning and regular surveys allow companies to build wellness programs that meet the needs of most employees, companies can’t serve all their employees perfectly with a fixed set of benefits and initiatives. Gallup’s State of the American Workforce report showed that Gen X and millennial employees have different needs. Plus, they would change jobs to meet those needs.
Companies that wish to reach all employees with their wellness initiatives should provide flexibility. This could be in the way wellness benefits are chosen and deployed. Smokers, for example, could choose to sign up for smoking cessation support. Other employees can choose from a range of other programs that meet specific needs they might have. Such as parental leave or insurance coverage.
4. Consistently evaluate the effectiveness of existing employee programs
After launching employee wellness programs, business leaders must continuously adapt their initiatives to meet the needs of a changing workforce. As employees join and leave the organization, their needs evolve. Modern wellness software enables businesses to actively monitor program engagement and use real-time data to guide decisions around new and existing initiatives. With these insights, organizations can confidently discontinue underperforming programs and expand initiatives that drive higher employee engagement.
5. Choose a wellness partner whose capabilities align with your company’s needs
When evaluating wellness providers, business leaders should assess each partner’s ability to design and deliver customized programs, support device-accessible technology, and provide actionable data that informs long-term program development. To combat low engagement, employers should prioritize wellness solutions that address multiple dimensions of wellbeing, including financial, physical, mental, and social wellness.
When selecting a wellness vendor, ensure their platform integrates seamlessly with your existing wellness programs or EAP. Connecting current initiatives or incorporating content from a partner network expands your wellness offerings and better supports diverse employee needs.
Organizations that align their wellness initiatives with employee needs position themselves to fully realize the value of their programs. By applying these strategies, business leaders can strengthen existing initiatives and make informed decisions about which programs to expand, refine, or retire.
If you want to offer a comprehensive suite of employee health and wellness programs tailored to your team’s needs, connect with us.
About CoreHealth Technologies
CoreHealth Technologies Inc. is a total well-being technology company trusted by global providers to power their health and wellness programs. Our wellness portals help maximize health, engagement, and productivity for 3+ million employees worldwide. We believe people are the driving force of organizations and supporting them to make behavior changes to improve employee health is in everyone’s best interest. With the most flexibility, customizations, and integrations of any software in its class, CoreHealth’s all-in-one wellness platform helps grow great wellness companies. Simple to sophisticated, based on you. For more information, visit the CoreHealth website.
