How to Design Wellness Programs That Are Successful in 2024

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When you design company wellness programs there are two basic options: use an outside vendor or develop your program internally. Regardless of the option you choose, there are several steps you need to take to have a successful program.

How to Design Wellness Programs That Are Successful

Gain Support from Management

Support from all levels of management is key to the success of your wellness program. To gain management support, inform managers about the program early on and encourage them to participate.

Regularly communicate the goals of the program and the anticipated benefits to both the company and employees. At this link below, there is the complete list of strategies you can use to get strong leadership support for your wellness program.

how to design wellness programs that are a success

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Assemble a Wellness Committee

A wellness committee is responsible for promoting the program, planning activities, communicating with management and employees, and facilitating program evaluation. The size and composition of the committee will depend on the size of your company and the scope of the program.

A committee of at least 6 and no more than 12 should be adequate. The committee should include staff that represent various employee shifts and departments such as management, union representatives, human resources, or administrative assistants.

Designate a Coordinator

A wellness coordinator should be designated by management or elected by the wellness committee for a successful program. The primary role of the coordinator is to lead the wellness committee and to coordinate the internal delivery of the program.

Wellness program success is often linked to the coordinator’s time and ability. It is essential that some or all of the coordinator’s time be dedicated to the wellness program. If this isn’t possible, then an outside vendor should be contracted.

Here is a video on how WellSteps helps our program coordinators create a great program:

[video_embed url=”https://vimeo.com/338719572″]

Hold Wellness Committee Meetings

The wellness committee should meet at least on a quarterly basis. The committee may meet more often during peak times when planning or implementing activities or programs. Meeting frequency will depend on the committee goals.

To revitalize the wellness committee, make committee membership a one or two year commitment so that new ideas and constituents are included on a rotating basis. The committee should create a communication mechanism with management so successes can be reported.

Appoint or Recruit Team Leaders

Effective delivery of wellness initiatives is often dependent on a leader that is close to the participants. Depending on the structure of your organization, you may want to develop smaller teams that have leaders or “captains” to help provide motivation, information, and support to the program participants.

Leaders have a major impact on whether the participants have a positive experience.

Leaders have a major impact on whether the participants have a positive experience. A team leader can be the point of contact or messenger for information shared between the program participants and the wellness committee and vice versa.

It is important that the team leaders be creative, enthusiastic, and committed to the wellness program. The team leaders do not have to be the most active and healthy staff members; it is more important that they have the skills to help motivate their team members to be successful.

To gain management support, inform managers about the program early on and encourage them to participate. Regularly communicate the goals of the program and the anticipated benefits to both the company and employees. Here is a WellSteps training video on how to use a wellness team to have a great program.

[video_embed url=”https://vimeo.com/354980964″]

Assess the Worksite Health Culture

The purpose of completing a health culture audit is to identify the cultural supports for good health and areas that might need improvement. A health culture audit will be a good starting point for your wellness initiative and will guide the actions of your wellness committee.

Working to improve the health culture at your worksite will make the worksite more supportive of healthy behaviors (i.e. healthy food choices, no smoking policies, walking during breaks, etc.).

One method for assessing your health culture can be found is called the Checklist to Change. It will help you assess your workplace and then identify evidence-based strategies to improve workplace policy and environment.

This checklist can be completed online in less than 10 minutes. It’s free and you will receive immediate feedback and implementation strategies.

use wellsteps checklist to change in designing your wellness program

Assess Employee Behaviors

The most common method of assessing employee behavior is to use a Health Risk Appraisal or Assessment (HRA). An HRA has two outputs. The first output is an individual report that can help your employees identify modifiable risk factors for chronic disease.

The second output is an aggregate report which can be used to stratify employees according to risk so that preventable health issues can be prioritized and strategies developed.

Both online and paper/pencil HRA’s are available. Web-based HRA’s are less expensive and offer feedback in real time. Whatever method you use, make it as simple as possible for employees to complete and submit their HRA so you get a high return rate.

Consider offering an incentive for people who complete the assessment. WellSteps offers an excellent HRA that can be found at the link below. A good health risk appraisal will generate useful health reports for individuals and aggregate reports for companies and is an integral part of a successful wellness program.

How Much Does it Cost to Design Wellness Programs?

Company wellness programs typically cost between $3 and $7.50 per employee per month ($36 -$90/ year). This can include a mobile app and website that can offer a health risk appraisal, incentive management, online resources, culture change, wellness campaigns and team challenges, and integration of fitness devices. Occasionally this cost will also include some money for simple incentives like gift cards or T-shirts.

considering the costs of company programs for employees

WellSteps has over 400 worksites that we currently work with and most of them are getting a comprehensive wellness program for around $36-$90 per employee per year, depending on the size of the company. The larger the company, the smaller the cost per year.

This does not include the cost of biometric screening, health coaching, or benefits based incentives. These are not automatically included because they are the most expensive parts of any wellness program.

Wellness Options:	Cost
Biometric screening (blood draw and analysis)	$40-$75
Health coaching (6 sessions)	$140-$165
Benefits-based incentives	$200-$800 per employee per year

An effective employee wellness program can cost between $36 and $90 per employee per year. Add…

biometric screening
telephonic health coaching
robust incentives
benefits-based incentives

… and you can see how the cost grows dramatically.

How To Do It Best

We have found that great participation happens if the employers will establish a benefits-based incentive plan. Benefits-based wellness incentive programs typically include the incentive of a discount on insurance premiums, paid time off, a contribution to an HSA or HRA, or a lower co-pay or deductible.

Benefits-based incentives have a big impact on employee engagement. Some WellSteps clients offer a $50/month discount off the cost of an insurance premium.

That’s $600 per year per qualifying employee. Other companies spend more and some spend less than this. In fact, according to the Washington Business Group on Health, some employers are now spending $742 per employee per year on incentives.

If establishing a benefits-based incentive is too bold for your worksite, consider purchasing other incentives that are not tied to your benefits.

If establishing a benefits-based incentive is too bold for your worksite, consider purchasing other incentives that are not tied to your benefits. Many of our WellSteps clients have a small wellness budget dedicated to purchasing rewards or incentives for program engagement.

Questions to Ask Vendors Who Design Wellness Programs

There are over 60 national companies that provide wellness services. Here is the complete list of U.S. wellness vendors. If you decide to hire a vendor, here is a list of questions you should ask:

Product Quality

Can the vendor provide careful documentation of its product/service health or cost impact?
Does the vendor have evaluative data to support the product/service?
Can the vendor provide several different integrated products/ services or does it just specialize in one area?
Will the vendor customize the product to meet the needs of your company?

questions to ask vendors who design company wellness programs

Professionals Involved with Delivery

What type of education and training do the professionals involved with the product/service delivery have?
Is the performance of professionals delivering products/ services audited by the vendor for effectiveness, efficiency, accuracy, etc?

Product/Service Delivery & Customer Satisfaction

Can the vendor clearly state in writing the products/services that will be provided?
Is the vendor willing to establish a contract with your organization?
Does the vendor provide you with an “account manager” who will take full responsibility for your complete customer satisfaction?

Evaluation and Reporting

Does the vendor collect adequate and accurate data on the product/service activity and outcomes?
Can the vendor provide reports and other aggregate data to the customer in appropriate electronic formats?

evaluations and reporting for companies and their programs

Product Cost and Value

Is the cost of the product/service competitive with the cost of other vendors? Is the pricing all-inclusive (no hidden costs)?
Do the results of the product/service justify the price?

Here are even more ideas to help you choose the right wellness vendor.

How to Design Wellness Programs That Work

Behavior change is the key to having a successful wellness program. And, the best worksite wellness programs keep the focus on the need to help employees adopt and maintain healthy behaviors. Behavior change is the key to reducing health risks, reducing the prevalence of chronic disease, and reducing employee related expenses.

It is impossible to have good health unless you have healthy behaviors. Behavior change strategies for wellness programs come in varying intensities including, from lowest to highest:

education
motivation
tools
environment
policy

High intensity strategies take the most effort, time, and money, but they are also the most effective. Usually, it is best to include a mix of strategies.

Education and Awareness

Educational strategies in your wellness program design will help raise awareness, provide information, and create “water cooler” buzz. These small things will help move employees toward behavior change and will help shift the culture in a healthy direction. For example, educational strategies include:

Information in the company newsletter
Email campaigns
Staff meeting presentations
Informational posters in the hallways or common areas
Information pieces in payroll envelopes
Lunch and learn workshops
Health screenings and assessments

It is possible that some of your employees are experienced in education or communications. Be sure to include them on the wellness committee so they can help design a successful communication plan. If your company uses a vendor, ensure that the vendor has access to communicate with all of your employees.

[video_embed url=”https://youtu.be/KT2YMWrNnYY”]

Motivation

Some employees will engage in your programs while others won’t because they were either already engaged, or they have no interest in engaging. In fact, people generally exist on a continuum of readiness to change. It is important to remember that there is no way to motivate every employee every time. However, you can improve success by applying these principles.

Time

Combine two good things. For example, employees can bring a healthy lunch on a day when a speaker talks about healthy eating.
Add 10 minutes of activity. Schedule 10 minutes to walk to or from the cafeteria, or from the parking lot.
Consider time of day and duration of activity. Match the targeted audience with the time of day and duration of activity. Many people, if given a choice of any benefit, will choose more time with family. Therefore, before and after work are generally bad times.

Access

Make it easy. Design your wellness program to be onsite to increase participation.
Make it convenient. Offer programs at breaks, lunch, or online.

Simplicity

Make the choice clear. How to participate should be easy to understand.
Make the benefits obvious. Highlight relevant program benefits in marketing.

Cost

Free is best. Cost is a barrier: eliminate cost to increase participation.
Cost sharing fosters commitment. When the employee has a tangible (money) or intangible cost (giving up something to enroll), commitment to change increases.
Incentives. Encourage or maintain participation, and reinforce benefits to “fence sitters.”
Benefits. Health insurance rebates or contributions to Health Reimbursement Accounts are powerful incentives.
Money talks. Worksites that have used cash or rebates as incentives have had impressive participation rates.
Time off. Even a half-day off can be a powerful incentive. For some people, time is a more powerful incentive than money.
Achievement awards. Recognition helps to reinforce program benefits. A quality certificate displayed in a public area is also a form of marketing.
Public recognition. Public praise feels good to participants who have achieved goals, and creates a vicarious incentive for future participants.
Merchandise. The possibilities are endless. The merchandise should be selected based on demographic characteristics of the employee population. This incentive can be awarded using a lottery style drawing.
Food. Include healthy food to kick-off, revitalize, or wrap up a wellness campaign.
Entertainment. Events can help jump-start, re-energize or wrap up a program. Entertainment is generally a morale booster.

encourage group participation and activities with movement

Support

Buddy systems. Supportive social groups can be the backbone for a successful wellness program because each individual is committed to another person or team, and group programs are more fun for most people.
Team competition. When “beating the LA office” is added to the reason why an employee should engage, both participation and commitment increase.
Coaching. Using trained health coaches is more expensive but can help employees keep change commitments.
Timing. Extra support is needed through the first 6 weeks of any behavior change process. Periodic support is needed during the first 6 months.

Goals

Setting goals leads to greater participation.
Whether it is a team goal of “walking” to New York City by New Years, or an individual goal to walk 100 miles, goals increase the likelihood that people will stick with a program.

Tools

In short, tools are items or skills your employees need if they are going to be successful at changing behaviors. A baby stroller is a great example of a tool. It allows parents with young children to still walk or jog. Learning to stir fry vegetables is a skill.

Learning how to dress for outdoor exercise is a skill, while comfortable walking shoes are tools. A nicotine patch is a tool. You get the idea. Your employees are going to need new skills and tools if they are going to experience long-term changes in behavior.

Environment and Policy

Employees spend more waking hours at work than anywhere else. So it makes sense that changing the environment or culture of an organization would support the individual behavior change process. Policies promote widespread behavior change because they change the “rules.”

Policies in the work environment not only influence individual behavior at work, but can also lead to changes outside of work. In many cases, policy changes make it easier to make healthy choices and should be included as you design a wellness program.

An example would be serving bagels and fruit instead of pastries at company events. Some other examples include healthy food guidelines for company events, no smoking on company property, and company cost-sharing for health club memberships.

The Checklist to Change is a short survey you can take to help you see what things your worksite is doing to help or hamper healthy behaviors. It shows you what environmental and policy strategies you may not have thought of. It’s an extremely helpful tool to help you make your worksite one that supports healthy living.

Summary On How to Design Wellness Programs

Use the information in this section to laser focus your strategies and design a successful wellness program. Consider addressing some of the simple changes first to generate change momentum. As your program matures, you can always tackle some of the more difficult issues.

However, if you’d like assistance in putting together your wellness program, please contact us. You can enjoy a free demo with our team and discover the next steps that will work best for you.

Frequently Asked Questions on Designing Wellness Programs

What should be included when designing wellness programs?

An employee wellness program includes activities designed to support better employee health. For example, these activities often include:

medical screenings
incentives for healthy behaviors
behavior change interventions
health coaching
fitness
nutrition
weight loss programs
social support
gamified wellness challenges and much more

How do you write a wellness program proposal?

Include input you’ve gathered from the entire wellness committee before sending your proposal to management. Once you’ve laid out what your program is going to include be sure to give an expected schedule, explain how you will record the data for each employee who participates.

In general, explain how the wellness program would benefit employees as well as the company. Include specific objectives that you hope to achieve and your plan on doing so, such as fewer sick days or higher employee satisfaction.