WHAT TO INCLUDE IN AN EMPLOYEE WELLNESS PROGRAM
So what should you include in your wellness program? First, make sure the program recognizes all areas of your employees’ health and well-being, including physical, financial, emotional and social wellness. Provide education and resources that cover all aspects of health and wellness and consider hosting a few lunch-and- learn sessions throughout the year that cover different components of employee wellness. And most impor- tantly, keep in mind that employee wellness is never a one-size-fits-all approach – especially when it comes to connecting all of the components of wellness. Other ideas include:
Fitness activities: Anyone who works 40+ hours per week in an office setting needs to find time to move around and exercise. Reimburse employees for fitness-related purchases or encourage your staff to form after-work exercise groups. Another idea is to use Fitbits or other wearable technology to track the activ- ity of your employees and reward the most active people.
General health benefits: While exercise is good for the immune system, there is more you can to do to help your employees fight off illness. Provide things like annual biometric screenings and flu shot clin- ics, nutritional education, healthy office snacks and healthy lifestyle education.
Mental health & stress-release activities: Stress is a silent killer that can trigger serious health problems. It also goes hand-in-hand with mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Require employees to take time off when they’ve incurred a certain number of PTO days and offer yoga classes, massages, and stress management or meditation programs to help employees with mindfulness while working.
Social activities: Some employees prefer to sweat and blow off steam on their own and that’s totally fine. However, they still may enjoy activities that help them get to know their colleagues better. Consider offering social activities like a movie night, game nights or whatever else your employees enjoy doing.
Financial activities: Financial concerns can lead to both mental and physical distress. Help your em- ployees by providing financial resources such as tuition assistance and finance-focused lunch-and-learn sessions.
Community service activities: Many people feel good when they help others. Doing good deeds is fulfilling and can help keep things in perspective. Organize a volunteer day for your staff to go into the communi- ty and help or encourage them to organize groups and fundraisers for causes important to them.
Team building activities: One of the secondary benefits of a wellness program is that many activities strengthen the bonds between team members. An after work jogging group, a lunch-and-learn and vol- unteer days will all make your employees closer than they were before.
HOW TO CREATE AN EMPLOYEE WELLNESS PROGRAM
Now that you’ve read about the benefits of a wellness program and what to include, it’s time to learn how to implement a successful program at your dealership. Here are some basic steps for getting an employee wellness program going in your workplace.
Set goals that benefit the company and staff. Don’t lose sight of why you’re implementing an employee wellness program. Make sure every part of the program benefits both the company and staff.
Form a team to create the employee wellness program. Creating a comprehensive wellness program can take a lot of work and time, so it’s a good idea to put a team on the project. The team should include managers, a representative from each department and others who are interested in promoting a healthy workplace.
24 | The Retailer Magazine | Jan/Feb
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