Employee engagement is viewed as a vital ingredient to a company’s success, and rightly so. Individuals want to find an organization that gives them a sense of contributing to something greater than themselves and finding work that feels meaningful and purposeful to them. Across all generations, employees want to feel acknowledged and they want to be given the tools to learn and develop as well as be rewarded for good performance.
A CULTURALLY ALIGNED WORKFORCE
A strong positive company culture that emphasizes wellness can be powerful enough to encourage and inspire employees (or conversely, negatively affect their satisfaction and involvement). By aligning a corporate culture with good health and wellbeing, the shared values, beliefs and assumptions can govern how people behave in the organization. This is no small task and must be a part of the strategic plan for lasting success.
WELLNESS ON A GLOBAL SCALE
The larger the organization the more important it becomes for leaders to nurture a culture that supports these values and promotes employee engagement. This can be easier said than done when you’re a multi-national company with thousands of employees around the world. When it comes to engaging employees with wellness initiatives on a global scale, the challenges can be even greater.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT CHALLENGES
Multi-national companies face four key challenges when implementing a successful wellness initiative:
1. Leadership – Company leaders have a unique ability to influence employees and drive wellness program success. By setting an example, participating visibly, providing encouragement, and maintaining a positive attitude, leaders shape a health-focused mindset that spreads throughout the organization. Actions speak louder than words, and employees pay attention to what their leaders do.
2. Communications – Email, newsletters, pamphlets, and intranet platforms allow companies to quickly share wellness information with all employees, regardless of computer access. Consistent updates keep participants informed, while a wellness platform with social sharing features enables employees to celebrate successes and share their stories, amplifying engagement.
3. Geography and Language Barriers – In today’s multi-national workforce, employee cultures and languages vary widely. Without the right tools, companies struggle to communicate concepts and program details effectively. Wellness technology that supports multiple languages and regional adaptations can bridge these gaps.
4. Company Culture – Wellness succeeds when it integrates seamlessly into a company’s culture, standing alongside departments like Human Resources, Benefits, and Workplace Safety. If a company culture contradicts wellness goals, employees resist engagement. Conversely, when healthy living becomes part of the organizational identity, employees view wellness programs as equally important as Sales or Marketing initiatives.
WELLNESS SUCCESS ON A GLOBAL SCALE
An international health care company (and CoreHealth customer) provides a great example of successful employee engagement in a wellness initiative. As a global health care organization their purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier and happier lives. Their culture has been built around the ambition of making people healthier and has evolved to allow employees to be the best they can be in their own way so that their mental well-being really supports well-being in the workplace. This philosophy provided the foundation of a sustainable wellness culture. When it came time to promote a new wellness challenge employees were already primed for engagement.
All the company needed was CoreHealth’s wellness technology to reach their global workforce and tackle the challenges of seamless communication across language and geographic barriers. It was a top priority for the organization to find ways for their employees to stay connected and encourage each other. Through a fun and friendly global wellness challenge employees were able to create stronger relationships with each other to further promote health and well-being.
Fun and well-received, the challenge ran for a week and the results were impressive.
- Over 1,800 total engaged employees
- 60% of eligible employees registered for the challenge
- 75% of registered employees were active through the challenge
“I thought its impact went way beyond my expectations – my team was quite competitive, and it meant we were able to talk to our new colleagues in Miami about stuff that was non-work related and we could therefore find out more about them. Everyone inspired each other!”
– Challenge Participant
GROWING MOMENTUM ON HEALTH
As a result of the challenge’s success, the company has used the momentum from the initiative to sustain health and well-being as one of the business’s top priorities as they continue to evolve their wellness program offerings.
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. Supporting them to make behavior changes to improve employee health is in everyone’s best interest. CoreHealth has the most flexibility, customizations, and integrations of any software in its class. Our all-in-one wellness platform helps grow great wellness companies. Simple to sophisticated, based on you. For more information, visit the CoreHealth website.
