Health and mental health insurance are among the top employee benefits of 2023. It is no surprise since most US citizens cannot even afford basic medical care without the health insurance provided by their employer. Another factor contributing to the popularity of health insurance and mental health insurance as employee benefits is that the eligible workforce has recently lived through a global health pandemic.
In short, a holistic employee wellness program is essential for every organization that wants to recruit and maintain top talent. Let’s go through the step-by-step process of creating a holistic employee wellness program:
Understand Holistic Wellness
Understanding holistic employee wellness is the key step for any company that wants to provide it for its organization. Holistic wellness refers to wellness in multiple aspects of life, including physical, emotional, mental, social, intellectual, and spiritual.
Moreover, companies must also understand that holistic wellness could mean different things for different employees. For example, a religious employee could interpret it as the time, resources, and freedom to celebrate their religious duties. On the other hand, an intellectual employee may interpret it as the freedom to be more creative at work.
Analyze Existing Employee Wellness Benefits
Understanding holistic employee wellness allows an organization to compare the new understanding and definition with the employee benefits it already provides. The organization may find that it is only focused on physical health and is not doing enough to promote its employees’ emotional and social health. This analysis can help the organization set the right direction for itself.
Conduct Employee Survey for Desired Wellness Benefits
There can be no better strategy than involving employees in what concerns them. Surveying employees helps the company understand its employees’ expectations so it can meet them successfully. Surveying desired employee benefits also allow the company to discover new ways of helping its employees.
Run a Risk Assessment
Conducting a risk assessment can help an organization determine the most-needed wellness benefits for its employees. For example, if a workplace doesn’t provide much opportunity or room for its employees to move around, providing standing desks as part of the holistic employee wellness program can work.
Evaluate Group vs. Personal Wellness Programs
Once their employees’ needs and wants are known, organizations can look into various health programs to find the one that fits their requirements the most. However, one shoe does not fit everyone. Thus, considering customizable holistic employee wellness programs can help companies with diverse workforces.
Personal wellness programs also work well for large organizations as a greater number of employees in a company can mean significantly varied requirements. On the other hand, small companies can focus on essential health issues and the most popular health trends among their employees.
Implementing the holistic employee wellness program properly is as essential as creating it. Begin with informing the employee benefits offered so employees can use them as and when required. Encourage upper management to demonstrate the utilization of the benefits to promote their use in their teams.
Finally, reviewing employee wellness programs every six months and updating them to include the needs of new employees significantly improves their usability and pays off the hard work of creating and implementing them.
