Corporate wellness programs aim at improving employee wellbeing that reflects better productivity and workplace culture. Although the planning and implementation may be apt and in line with the employee wellness requirements, employees may feel a lack of guidance or motivation. At such times, having a health and wellness coach can be of great help.

Wellness coaching is a part of corporate wellness programs through which experts connect with the employees and receive the guidance and motivation needed to keep up with their wellness journey. According to the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, an employee health and wellness coach is a professional who mentors and guides others by offering the best-suited advice to meet their wellness goals. In short, they use their expertise to educate and motivate employees to improve their health and lead a wholesome life.

Wellness Coaching for the Employee Wellness Programs

There is enough evidence to prove the benefits of incorporating workplace coaching in employee wellness programs. Ideally, these workplace wellness coaching programs benefit the employee wellness programs by –

• Boosting employee engagement
• Higher employee productivity
• Achieving business goals
• Building stronger teams

When coupled with disease management programs, workplace coaching can help in cultivating healthy behaviors and reduce the risk of chronic health issues. They also help in bridging the gap between the employees and employers, becoming the trusted wellness authority that supports the workforce through their wellness journey.

Here are some straightforward ways how health and wellness coaches can support corporate wellness programs.

Supporting Self-Management

Wellness coaches assist employees to adopt and follow healthy habits that are needed to improve their health and wellness and also guide them to self-manage their health conditions. They educate them about their health status, potential risks, benefits of the employee wellness programs and activities, and other self-management strategies.

Keep them Going

The wellness coaches bridge the gap between employees and employers, and also between the employees and their physicians. They ensure that the employees understand their health conditions and their care by answering all their queries. They support employee wellness and guide them through their doctor consultations and screening reports.

Guiding through the Healthcare System

The healthcare system is not very easily understandable by the common man. Wellness coaches help employees sail smoothly through the healthcare system. They guide employees with healthcare, coordinate their health conditions, and talk to the doctors on their behalf, whenever needed.

Offer Support

Often employees do not open up about their mental health conditions or any other health queries. At such times, having a personal health and wellness coach can be very useful. They can have one-on-one discussions where the coach can offer the needed emotional support for the employees to speak up or to comfort them through their health conditions, helping them to overcome the obstacles and continue with their wellness journey.

Follow-Up

Having health and wellness coaches as a part of the corporate wellness programs allows them to connect regularly with their employee groups. While they can establish trust over a longer period of interaction, having them follow up regularly also gives enough scope for the employees and the coaches to understand the progress through the wellness journey and make any needed changes to the wellness activities, whenever needed.

The need to customize corporate wellness programs to meet the unique health and wellbeing needs of the workforce, along with the demand for a holistic approach to employee wellbeing, has made health coaching the most sought-after wellness feature. Be it high-performance or short-term goals, health coaches are the ones to look up to when employees need the best guidance to keep up with the corporate wellness programs’ ideas. While all the educational and online resources can help employees learn about health and wellbeing, a good health coach will do so much more than just teaching, guiding, supporting, and motivate the employees to ensure they achieve their health and wellness goals.