There is more to promoting health and wellbeing in the workplace than adopting healthy living initiatives or introducing new employee benefits. It is about working with employees to develop strategies to improve their health physically and mentally. Providing practical support and building employee engagement is key to achieving this.
Building engagement with a health and wellbeing strategy takes careful planning. However, it is very beneficial for employee motivation and retention. Not to mention savings in absence and sickness costs for the organisation.
Here are five top tips to get employers started:
1 – Gather evidence
Statistics are useful for identifying trends and focusing attention.
An online health risk assessment (HRA) is a popular starting point. This helps to develop a basic understanding of employees’ needs and the issues they may be facing, both inside and outside of work. These might be related to demographics such as age, family status and income, or lifestyle challenges such as smoking, alcohol misuse or poor diet and activity levels.
Other popular information sources include medical plan dashboards, management reports, staff surveys, performance reviews and occupational health reports.
2 – Talk with employees
A strategy is more likely to succeed if employers show how much employee feedback is valued.
Once employers have a clear picture of the issues affecting employee health and wellbeing, they can begin to open up communication lines. Invite employee feedback on their current benefits package and recommendations for the future. They will have important contributions to make regarding the shape, look and feel of any strategy that is implemented.
Engaging employees with initiatives at this early stage will also help them feel valued and demonstrates that the employer truly care about them as individuals. Once a new approach has been decided, keep employees regularly informed on progress. Review a strategy regularly, make changes and introduce new ideas to maintain employee interest.
3 – Take a holistic approach
Supporting employees at all stages of their health journey will help reach all demographics.
At this stage, using all the information the employer has gathered, it can be valuable to create an employee healthcare journey. This will help to map out all the benefits the employer may want to use to support an employee with a health issue. It is important to consider all scenarios from prevention of ill health through rapid access to treatment and support for those living with a health condition.
Providing access to a private medical plan is central to most organisations’ health and wellbeing strategies. Comprehensive plan benefits provide peace of mind for those in need of medical or therapeutic care. Recent innovations in the private health market, such as general practitioner (GP) video consultation services and self-referral routes, encourage rapid access to care.
Online virtual assistant tools also provide tips for healthy living and information on how to manage living with various health complaints.
4 – Communicate to motivate
Effective communication ensures employers get the maximum return on investment.
Effective communication is probably the most important element for success. Health fairs are an effective launch platform, so speak to benefits providers about how they can help support these events. Thereafter, consider competitions such a weight loss campaign or walking challenge. Above all, keep it fun and rewarding. Even recognition in an organisation’s internal newsletter has the power to motivate.
5 – Share results
Effective measures will help identify what is, or is not, working.
Re-running an online HRA can help employers check whether their strategy has had an impact. It can also help to identify new areas that need to be addressed. Share the anonymous results, especially where improvements have been made. If something did not work, get feedback on why and take suggestions on how to improve for next time.
If an organisation is making great progress, it may want to consider entering benchmarking awards such as the Investors in People Health and Wellbeing standard. Healthier people drive a healthier business. So supporting and engaging people with their health is essential.
Author TBC
