National Wellness Month 2024: 6 Employee Wellness Program Ideas

Quick look: August is National Wellness Month, but business leaders can contribute year-round to their employees’ well-being. The right benefits package and a healthy work environment can keep your staff happy and engaged while boosting your business’s cost-efficiency. Here, we explore six tips to help employers promote employee wellness during National Wellness Month and beyond.

Mental and physical wellness is a top priority for the modern workforce. Expectations have shifted, and employees are looking for support from their employers to help them boost their well-being. From proper work-life balance to adequate mental health coverage, workers are searching for more than the status quo regarding their personal wellness.

Below, explore what National Wellness Month is all about, the significance of promoting employee health and wellness, and discover how partnering with a professional employer organization (PEO) can help your business achieve these goals.

What is National Wellness Month?

Since its inception in 2018, National Wellness Month has aimed to increase awareness of stress management, self-care, and healthy routines, such as drinking more water, regularly exercising, making healthier food choices, improving sleep habits, and more.

National Wellness Month advocates for the wellness of all people, including employees. The majority of workers reported experiencing some form of burnout last year, making it the perfect time for business leaders to consider how to encourage healthy habits in the workplace during National Wellness Month and beyond.

The importance of employee wellness

Healthy workers make an impact. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they’ve been shown to:

• Deliver optimal work performance
• Be at lower risk of disease, illness, and injury
• Experience increased productivity
• Be more likely to contribute to the community

Further, Gallup highlighted several major issues linked to poor employee well-being:

• Reduced productivity
• Increased turnover due to employee burnout
• Higher medical costs due to preventable conditions

6 employee wellness program ideas for SMBs

Creating a positive workplace that promotes personal wellness can help attract top talent and keep retention rates high, making it a win-win for companies and their staff. Business leaders can use the following tips to effectively cultivate employee well-being during National Wellness Month and beyond.

1. Encourage physical activity throughout the workday

Being active is one of the best ways to foster physical and mental wellness. Encouraging employees to engage in walking meetings, utilize standing desks, or establish a step-counting challenge can help them remain active throughout the workday. Additionally, business leaders can motivate remote workers to allot time to go outside and take a walk to move their bodies and clear their minds before jumping back into their tasks.

2. Demonstrate the importance of self-care

Self-care encompasses many things, including healthy eating, physical activity, proper sleep, drinking enough water, and practicing mindfulness. Creating a workspace for employees that promotes these behaviors and routines makes all the difference to workers’ wellness and happiness.

Employers can do this by communicating to employees that wellness is a top priority and encouraging staff to work toward their wellness and self-care goals. In addition to advising workers to get active during the day, business leaders may also establish an in-office wellness room where they can meditate, read, and more.

3. Set healthy boundaries

While the rise in remote work has many perks, it has left some workers unable to fully disconnect. With their work computer constantly nearby, some employees have difficulty disengaging from tasks after hours.

Business leaders can combat this by reassuring employees that they are expected to log off after working hours. Encouraging leadership to have open conversations around healthy work-life balance and utilizing paid time off can create an environment where workers aren’t afraid to prioritize their wellness.

4. Provide the right benefits

Wellness is multifaceted and includes physical, mental, and financial well-being. Offering a comprehensive suite of employee benefits catered to the various aspects of wellness can alleviate employees’ stress and encourage them to continue working at your organization.

Physical health benefits

Providing a range of medical, dental, and vision plans tailored to a multigenerational workforce is key in driving employee wellness. Each worker has different needs, but a good rule of thumb is to include health plans that cover preventive services, offer telehealth appointments, and provide flexible savings accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs), if applicable.

Mental health benefits

A healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body. And with over 40% of employees feeling “a lot of stress,” equipping them with mental health benefits is a must. These benefits can include access to an employee assistance program (EAP), therapy session coverage, and more.

Financial wellness benefits

Nearly 75% of Americans rank their finances as their top stressor. Employers can help by providing workers with financial education and reassuring them that they are there to help.

Implementing programs to assist with budgeting, investing, saving for retirement, and paying off student loans can show employees that their employers are there for them and want to help them achieve good financial health.

5. Establish an employee recognition program

Research shows a positive correlation between how much recognition workers receive and their level of well-being. Showing appreciation for staff also drives positive business outcomes like reduced turnover, increased employee engagement, and more. Employers should consider implementing a robust employee recognition program to encourage these advantages.

6. Ask for feedback and measure success

Your employee wellness initiatives must be agile and continue to meet the needs of your staff. Employers can administer employee surveys and create an anonymous tip box so that workers can provide feedback on wellness initiatives and share benefits that may further foster their well-being. Analyzing benefit participation rates and performing cost-benefit analyses may also help employers identify which plans are most beneficial to their workforce.

The support you need to support your staff

Gallup reports that just one in four employees feel their company cares about their overall well-being. While disheartening, this statistic is an opportunity for small businesses to holistically enrich their workers’ lives and stand out from competitors.

Creating a work environment that prioritizes employee wellness includes many moving parts, but partnering with a PEO can simplify the process. PEOs enable small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to offload their daily HR administration burden and can provide affordable access to many wellness-focused employee benefits, such as:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Access to EAPs
• 401(k) retirement plans
• Student loan repayment programs

Additionally, some PEOs, like ExtensisHR, offer affordable access to industry-leading performance management software that facilitates public and private employee recognition and one-on-one meetings where feedback and acknowledgment can be shared.

Don’t stress! Our experts are ready to help you contribute to your employees’ wellness all year long. Contact ExtensisHR today to get started.