{"id":450,"date":"2021-04-13T10:30:32","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T14:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.harmonizehq.com\/blog\/?p=450"},"modified":"2021-06-08T01:53:17","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T05:53:17","slug":"employee-wellness-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harmonizehq.com\/blog\/employee-wellness-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting the Most From Your Employee Wellness Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes known as corporate wellness or workplace wellness, employee wellness is becoming more and more important in the workplace. Over 80% of U.S companies now incorporate some sort of employee wellness program into their working routines. In the UK, however, this number is lower – with studies showing this figure is closer to 45%. These numbers are continuing to rise as the significant benefits of implementing employee wellness programs are becoming increasingly apparent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is an Employee Wellness Program?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Employee wellness programs are a relatively new concept, and although they do date back to the early 1980s, they\u2019ve taken off rapidly in recent years and have now become an industry <\/span>worth roughly $8 billion<\/span><\/a>. A growing number of companies are creating and improving on their own strategies to better employee wellbeing in the workplace as these initiatives help to increase corporate wellness and this, in turn, increases productivity throughout the company. Employee Health and Wellness Programs can range from creating gyms or \u2018nap areas\u2019 in the workplace to giving employees longer lunch breaks, mental and physical health check-ups and financial advising.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, employee wellness has started to take a slightly different route, generally speaking. Talking about mental health and the importance of making it a priority has been a popular topic, where it had been a taboo subject in the past. Because of this, many employers have chosen to go down the route of focusing more on mental wellbeing than physical or adding mental health initiatives to their existing programs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Corporate wellness has become such a prominent industry that there are now a large number of companies that specifically provide help in creating or adding to a corporation\u2019s wellness strategy. One of the best employee wellness programs examples is <\/span>Express Vending<\/span><\/a> where they provide healthy snack boxes called \u2018Wellness Boxes\u2019 for employers to distribute in the workplace. Around thirty Fortune 500 companies also use Fitbits to create employee wellness programs in healthcare for employees to maintain a healthy lifestyle. BP, for example, has encouraged employees to take part in a \u2018Million Step Challenge\u2019, where if they can complete this in a year, they\u2019re eligible for receiving a better, cheaper health plan from the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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