Ready to make an investment in the well-being of your people? Learn about three foundational elements you need to help your program succeed.
Melissa Voigt
Group VP, Customer Success, WebMD Health Services
It’s a fact: well-being is inextricably linked to the engagement and productivity of your people. But it’s also true that you can’t simply offer a few wellness programs and perks and expect to move the needle on health and well-being. You must build a well-being mindset from the ground up and weave it into every corner of your organization.
At WebMD Health Services, we have helped organizations become more strategic and intentional in how they approach well-being. The result? Greater retention and engagement, higher participation in their well-being programs, and improvements in overall health risks. In the long term, organizations will also reap the benefits of improved well-being in the form of better financial performance and positive shareholder return.
So, how do you construct a program that delivers results, transforming workplace well-being and your culture?
Start with three foundational design elements:
1. Comprehensive design
A wellness program must be designed to support a diverse range of well-being needs across all segments of your population. For example, a person managing a chronic condition needs different solutions, resources, and support than someone who specifically wants to focus on staying healthy. Make sure your well-being program includes:
- Solutions to address multiple dimensions of well-being across a spectrum of needs;
- A wellness mindset integrated into the day-to-day experience; and
- Data to help you continually evolve your program to meet the changing needs of your people and their expectations.
2. Maximized reach
Even the best well-being program won’t succeed if your people don’t know about it — or worse, don’t see a reason to engage with it. Strategic communication that uses data to provide the right message to the right population at the right time is key. Incentives and a great, simple, and engaging user experience can also significantly improve reach and keep people coming back. And don’t forget about collecting regular feedback to refine and adjust your offerings. To effectively reach people where they are, make sure your program includes:
- Segmentation capabilities (configuring the program to support all your business segments)
- A seamless technology experience
- Ease of access
- Meaningful incentives
- Strategic and robust communications
- A way to celebrate wins
3. Cultural alignment
Well-being programs tend to fail if they’re seen as just another corporate or HR initiative. Employee well-being must be viewed as a collective responsibility, shared by leadership, HR, managers, and employees themselves. Put simply, it must be an integral part of your organization’s mission, vision, and values.
To achieve this, ensure your well-being program:
- Aligns with company values
- Engages leadership
- Involves managers
- Infuses wellness into day-to-day work
- Offers in-person biometric screenings
- Amplifies employees’ voices through feedback
- Incorporates a human element (think wellness champions, employee resource groups, dedicated wellness staff)
Want to take a deeper dive into each of the three fundamentals? Download our free Blueprint for Well-Being Program Success.
