A thriving wellness program lays the foundation upon which a wellness culture is built – but are your employees truly engaged or are they simply participating?
Employees will participate to get desirable incentives such as gift cards and health premium discounts, but without true engagement, even programs with excellent participation fail to yield the highest level of impact and outcomes.
This example illustrates the difference between wellness engagement and participation:
- Participating employees will spend a few minutes on a treadmill to earn the points required to get incentives
- Truly engaged employees will set health and wellness goals, measure their progress, and provide feedback – they’ll use the treadmill to go farther and faster while getting fitter
Creating a culture of wellness in the workplace offers myriad business benefits, and engagement is the key to building that culture. It’s a shared goal where the company provides tools, resources, and support, but each individual has the autonomy to take charge of their own health.
With that in mind, here are 15 wellness engagement ideas to build a successful wellness culture.
Wellness Engagement Ideas (Summary)
RELATED: Wellness Program Engagement: The Complete Guide
What is Wellness Program Engagement?
Wellness program engagement is when employees are actively involved and invested in their wellbeing, not simply participating in your program. We often refer to it as “catching the vision” – employees have personal buy-in and find their “why.” They choose healthy lifestyles, commit to behavioral changes, take initiative, and set (and track) personal goals.
We have identified five strategies that maximize wellness program engagement:
- Effective use of incentives
- Strong marketing
- Multiple communication channels
- Strong leadership support
- Employee input
The most effective engagement ideas satisfy one or more of those initiatives. Learn more about the WellSteps engagement model.
RELATED: How the Best Worksite Wellness Programs Change Behavior
15 Wellness Program Engagement Ideas
Incorporate the following wellness engagement ideas to take your program beyond participation and lay the foundation for building a culture of wellness in the workplace.
1. Understand Your Employees
One of the most powerful ways to drive wellness program engagement is to understand your employees – their needs, desires, and motivations. When you understand your employees, you can tailor your wellness program to their needs and get the buy-in necessary to establish a culture of wellness. You can also develop wellness marketing materials that speak to your employees and influence participation.
Gain employee insight with:
- Employee wellness surveys
- One-on-one interviews
- Focus groups
- Wellness committees (more on these below)
RELATED: 60 Employee Benefits Survey Questions for Actionable Insights
2. Make Your Program Inclusive
Wellness program activities should cater to people of all abilities so all employees can participate. Inclusivity ideas include:
- Indoor and outdoor walking paths
- Accessible fitness equipment
- Alternative challenge options for those with physical limitations
- Modifications to activities, videos, and program elements
RELATED: How to Ensure Equality in Wellness Programs
3. Feature Social Activities
Social activities such as team-based challenges inspire teamwork as employees will encourage one another to participate and work together to achieve group goals.
- Start a club: running, biking, line dancing, book, film, etc.
- Group yoga or fitness classes
- Community volunteer groups
- Buddy systems for social support
4. Introduce Competition
Friendly competition is an excellent motivator, and competition fosters strong teams that connect on a personal level, which often leads to better working relationships. This, in turn, influences wellness engagement and culture.
Wellness competition ideas include:
- Step challenges
- Weight loss challenges
- Kindness challenges
- Water challenges
- Healthy eating challenges
- Sleep challenges
- Sports tournaments
RELATED: 50 Office Fitness Challenge Ideas
5. Educate Employees
Teach employees why wellness matters and what impact it has on their lives: how they look, feel, and perform. For example, explaining what biometrics reveal about an employee’s lifestyle and future health – and how both could be improved through behavioral changes – can have a powerful influence on engagement.
Wellness program education ideas include:
- Host health screenings
- Lunch and learn workshops
- Promote wellness in your company newsletter
- Launch email campaigns to encourage participation and engagement
- Hold staff meeting presentations
- Post informational posters
- Add educational material in payroll envelopes
6. Make it Fun
You can’t force employees to engage in wellness, and they’re not likely to want to participate if your wellness initiatives are tedious and boring. Make your program fun with social activities and gamification. Research shows that employees are 60% more likely to engage when wellness programs are gamified.
Gamification ideas include:
- Incentives and rewards for reaching personal milestones
- Leaderboards to stoke the competitive spirit
- Competitions between employees and leadership
7. Shift from Extrinsic to Intrinsic Rewards
Initially, incentives and rewards influence wellness program participation – but as we’ve pointed out, participation doesn’t equal engagement. However, you can leverage incentives to evolve participation into engagement. Here’s how:
- Start with small yet desirable incentives to get employees involved, then build into larger rewards
- The continual drive to earn larger rewards keeps employees participating; over time, they begin to recognize how wellness initiatives are improving their lives
- Eventually, they begin to engage for their own health and wellness, not just participate to earn a gift card or premium discount
RELATED: Wellness Program Incentive Ideas
8. Involve Leadership
Strong leadership is essential to wellness program engagement. Leaders serve as role models, so their support for your program should be highly visible at every level of your organization.
Leadership ideas include:
- Actively communicate with and invite employees to participate in wellness initiatives – speak at meetings, send emails, and offer testimonials
- Participate in the wellness program, set your own goals, and share your results. Let employees see you participating in community fun runs, taking the stairs, and choosing healthy lunch options
- Foster a culture of wellness by prohibiting tobacco use on campus, allowing flexible breaks for on-site physical activity, adding healthy vending and cafeteria choices, holding walking meetings, and promoting other workplace wellness initiatives
RELATED: 6 Ways Leaders Can Support Employee Wellness
9. Track Progress
Tracking points to earn rewards and incentives is great, but it’s also important to track individual health benchmarks and milestones to show employees how they’re benefitting from your wellness program. As employees see improvements in their fitness and health, they’re more likely to more deeply engage.
For example, you can track:
- Weekly step count
- Hours of sleep
- Weight and BMI
- Mileage ran or biked
- Strength and conditioning metrics
- Healthy eating – calories, macronutrients, etc.
RELATED: Wearables and Wellness Programs: The Complete Guide
10. Recognize Employees
Recognition is a powerful way to motivate wellness program engagement, so it’s important to recognize employees and teams in front of the entire company. Showcase teams that win challenges and highlight individual successes. Keep in mind that you should recognize people who have made significant strides in their wellness programs, not just those who have won challenges.
Recognition ideas include:
- Featuring employees in your company newsletter
- Spotlighting employees on prominent bulletin boards
- Highlighting employees during company meetings
RELATED: How to Design an Employee Wellness Plan That Works
11. Communicate Across All Channels
Communication is critical to wellness program engagement. Employees need to know what’s available and how to engage. It’s important to communicate across all channels to meet employees on their terms and ensure no message goes unnoticed, including:
- Newsletters
- Print (bulletin boards, letters)
- Social media
- Company meetings
- Text
- Phone/voicemail
- Wellness apps
12. Send Reminders
Wellness isn’t always top of mind, so send reminders to encourage participation and, eventually, engagement. You can send reminders via all communication channels about:
- Wellness program registrations
- Upcoming deadlines
- Event dates and times
- Current standings when running team based elements
13. Establish and Empower a Wellness Committee
A wellness committee helps direct your wellness program, serving as a liaison between employees and leadership to collect and share employee feedback, design wellness initiatives, promote and plan activities, and make recommendations for improving engagement.
Wellness committee tips include:
- Designate 6 to 12 committee members (dependent on your organization’s size) and include staff that represent various shifts and departments
- Designate a coordinator to lead the wellness committee
- The wellness committee should meet quarterly, at minimum, but more frequently dependent on committee goals
- Committee members should serve for one or two years maximum to introduce new members and ideas on a rotating basis
- Include employees who aren’t currently participating in your wellness program to gain valuable insights you can use to increase engagement
RELATED: How a Worksite Wellness Committee Helps Programs
14. Be Simple and Flexible
Don’t make it difficult to engage with your wellness program. Keep in mind that some employees prefer to start small and increase their participation level as they get more comfortable.
For example:
- Offer multiple activities and challenges so employees can choose those that align with their interests
- Diversify rewards and incentives so employees can choose those that are most desirable
- Make it easy for employees to register for activities and track their progress (a wellness app can simplify this)
15. Provide Ample Support and Resources
Provide ample support and resources to assist employees on their wellness journeys. Ideas include:
- One-on-one meetings with wellness coordinators or team leaders to establish individual plans for success
- Online libraries (or apps) packed with educational materials, on-demand workouts, nutrition plans, and other resources
- Opportunities to provide feedback and tailor programs to meet employee needs
| Increase Wellness Engagement with WellSteps Wellness engagement requires a consistent, committed effort, but the rewards of establishing a culture of wellness in the workplace are enormous. You don’t have to go it alone, either. WellSteps offers dedicated guides who will work with you to develop an effective program with evidence-based initiatives, and we’re the only wellness solution with an ROI performance guarantee. Learn more about how we can improve wellness engagement by scheduling a free demo today. |
FAQs of Wellness Program Engagement
What is the difference between wellness program engagement and participation?
Wellness program participation is a good thing, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve established a culture of wellness. For example, let’s say you offer a health insurance premium discount for employees who earn a set number of points. You’ll likely get high participation levels, but you won’t necessarily enjoy all the benefits engagement offers.
Engagement is when employees buy into your wellness program and take ownership of their wellbeing. They aren’t participating just to earn points, but to improve their overall physical and mental health and wellness. They set personal goals, bring their families into the fold, propose new wellness initiatives, and encourage their coworkers. They’re motivated to get the most out of their wellness programs.
What are the benefits of wellness program engagement?
Employees benefit by improving their wellbeing across all six pillars of wellness: physical, mental and emotional, nutritional, occupational, financial, and social. Employers benefit by reducing healthcare costs, reducing absenteeism, and increasing productivity. Wellness programs also boost employee morale and enhance organizational image, making organizations more attractive to top talent.
What is a culture of wellness?
A culture of wellness is one in which employees share values around their individual and group wellbeing. They prioritize wellness and continually engage in wellness activities, supporting one another along their wellness journeys.
How to build a culture of wellness?
The best way to build a culture of wellness is to establish an evidence-based and inclusive wellness program that meets employee needs and earns high engagement levels.
