Offering wellness incentives to your employees not only improves job satisfaction and morale – it also benefits you as an employer. It makes good sense for organizations to invest in healthy lifestyle initiatives to promote a healthier workforce. When your team members improve their overall wellness, they are less likely to be ill, resulting in reduced healthcare costs, fewer absences, improved productivity and much more.
As part of your workplace compensation package, healthy lifestyle incentives can be an incredibly motivating benefit that helps your employees achieve their personal health goals while aligning with the performance goals of your business. Here are some of the top wellness incentives that today’s employers are offering to their staff:
- Consider offering bonuses or prizes for an employee’s achievement of a health-related goal, rather than as an up-front incentive. Offering a reward for completion can garner real results. For example, some employers lower the costs of health insurance premiums for employees who have healthy blood pressure or an appropriate body mass index.
- Provide health-related educational resources. Schedule knowledge sessions with experts in nutrition, cooking, fitness or stress management so your employees can learn how to adopt healthy habits.
- Bring fitness classes to your location if you have the space. Lunchtime yoga, tai chi or beginner aerobics classes are all ideal for encouraging exercise among your employees. If space on-site is unavailable, offer to subsidize gym memberships for staff.
- Host on-site health clinics. Bring a doctor to your facility for employee screenings, vaccinations or checkups. Offer staff the opportunity to schedule a visit with a doctor on location without the need to take time off work.
- Offer healthier snack and meal options to fuel better performance. Stock kitchens with fresh fruit and veggies. If you have an on-site cafeteria, opt for a menu that provides healthy options. Ditch the soda machine and opt for water, juice or milk beverages.
- Don’t forget about mental health. Keep an eye on the stress levels of your staff, since stress can lead to a range of health issues including high blood pressure, insomnia, heart disease and more. Implement an employee assistance program to help manage stress levels and offer counselling for anxiety, depression and other mental health issues if possible.
Many businesses find that they have an incredible return on their investment when they choose to implement healthy lifestyle initiatives. Not only do these programs motivate employees and improve wellness; they also help to reduce healthcare costs for employers. Additionally, offering health incentives can reduce costs associated with disability, worker’s compensation absenteeism, turnover and more.