Employees make up any business, and for a company to flourish, its employees need to be productive. Studies show happy and healthy employees are more productive, and so, employers are focusing on different workplace wellness strategies.

Offering employee wellness programs has become a buzzing trend, and the corporate wellness market is booming with many vendors. However, choosing the right employee wellness program that fits well with your business and employee wellness needs is the key to its success.

A workplace comprises employees of different demographics with varying health conditions and wellness needs. The one-size-fits-all approach to your workplace wellness programs may not work out as per your expectations, and you might get your desired outcomes. This could be due to a lack of employee engagement as the wellness program modules and activities may not be feasible for your entire workforce.

The real-life challenges faced by a 35-year-old woman with 2 kids will be different from that faced by an old empty nester or any single youngster. Also, the different cultural beliefs or demographical restrictions could hamper participation rates. This is why employee benefits services and programs need to evolve and must be customized as per the necessitated employee wellness demands.

Personalizing Corporate Wellness Programs

Typically, a workplace wellness program focuses on different holistic wellness dimensions like – nutrition, physical activity, mental wellbeing, social connections, and financial wellness. And the requirements for each employee could be different from that of another for each of the wellness aspects.

• Nutrition – A diabetic may have to cut down on carbs, and eat more of proteins and fiber, whereas a healthy youngster needs to eat a balanced diet with adequate carbohydrates.
• Physical Activity – A 50-year-old man may not be able to hold a 60-second plank, whereas a 30-year chap could do it.
• Emotional Health – Different levels and types of stress, anxiety, and burnout could be impacting productivity, which needs to be dealt differently.
• Financial Wellness – A youngster focuses more on repaying debts or student loans, whereas an older person makes financial planning for a safer financial future.

Implementing a personalized employee wellness program strategy will help in catering to the health and wellness needs of all the employees, in line with their individual interests, offering equal opportunity to all to participate and reap the wellness benefits, regardless of their limitations. 

Not just the wellness challenges or the activities, even designing and constructing the corporate wellness platform are important. While most of the older people may prefer a web or desktop version as they are used to it for long, the younger generation may prefer using the wellness platform on their mobile, integrating it with their fitness devices or tracking apps.

An employee wellness program that is straight and cannot be tailored to the personal health demands of the employees will not have enough employee engagement, and may also sideline a group of employees who are unable to participate in it, due to various reasons. Apart from the disappointment that they cannot engage in the activities, it may also impact the employees mentally and behaviorally.

Employers need to understand the makeup, interests, and capabilities of their workforce while designing their employee wellness programs. Right from their basic demographics to their health conditions and wellness goals, employers need to outline the right employee engagement strategies considering the wellness demands of the employees and personalize the program modules in line with it. With the customization options, the entire workforce can reap maximum benefits from the workplace wellness program, and also boost organizational productivity.