VECTOR VISION

Relaunch Your Employee Wellness Initiatives Just in Time for the New Year

A brand new year provides companies in Avon Lake the opportunity to learn from the past and make changes to increase participation in their employee wellness plans. While the start of the year is a great time to kick off a new initiative, the challenge is to ensure that workers’ engagement and excitement doesn’t drop off as quickly as a typical resolution.

As 2017 begins, take the opportunity to look forward and design a wellness program that will sustain engagement and increase ROI throughout the year. Here are a few suggestions for doing that.

Celebrate last year’s success

Before you define your initiatives for 2017, take some time to evaluate and celebrate the 2016 wellness program milestones. While any successes and the lessons learned can provide valuable standards for the coming year, it also presents an opportunity to celebrate success and recognize achievements from the previous year. Doing this helps to create a culture of health, which is what a wellness program is intended to do.

Set the example

Success begins at the top. Management must be behind any program for it to succeed. From the CEO on down, everyone must be vocal in supporting the wellness initiative. Not only that, they must be visible in their support. Nothing encourages a worker more than seeing someone at the top working out in the company gym or eating a healthy meal in the cafeteria.

Make healthy choices easy

Lack of time, interest, awareness, and access can undermine any wellness program. Make it easy, and more employees will participate:

  • Serve healthier foods in the cafeteria, at meetings, and in vending machines.
  • Make the workplace candy or soda-free.
  • Post health and nutrition messages throughout the plant.
  • Install bike racks, locker rooms, and showers.

Get to know your employees

When you’re designing a wellness strategy, it’s a good idea to know your workers. Get in touch with their health profiles and interests.  Schedule small groups to obtain feedback, eliminate barriers, and develop a program based on listening and understanding your employees.

When your employees adopt the wellness program and set personal goals, make sure to adapt the initiative to meet their needs.

Make it a goal to have more fun

Don’t fade into the background after the initial excitement of the program’s kick-off event. Refresh the program by adding new components. Keep it entertaining by sponsoring corporate, departmental, or team challenges. Offering incentives and giveaways for meeting goals help to keep the program fun and exciting for your workers.

Encourage personal goals

If you encourage employees to set realistic goals, you increase your odds of having a successful program. Offer support to those pursuing goals by providing tools, resources, and encouragement.

Health coaches, health and wellness portals, and wellness challenges are just some of the resources that enable employees to set goals and track their progress.

Need to increase your workforce in 2017?

Vector Technical Inc., one of the leading Cleveland Ohio Temp Agencies, is here to help employers in the Cleveland area to reduce hiring costs and improve retention. Let us find you the right person the first time. If you are looking to hire top talent, request an employee today!

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