Why Your Company Needs to Become a Wellness Company

It’s not enough to add some extra hand sanitizers around the office, the pandemic has proven
that companies need to dedicate more time and resources to the health and wellness of their
employees.

When COVID-19 disrupted the world, closing offices, employees faced new challenges.
Emotional, psychological, physical, or financial difficulties were commonplace. Hybrid and
remote work became the new norm. Working from home dramatically changed the idea of a
“work/life balance”. Employees had increased stress and anxiety while dealing with other
distractions working remotely.

While some employers may have had wellness programs in the past, executives were missing
the point. Wanting to decrease healthcare costs or attracting top talent are great reasons for
wellness but since the pandemic, executives now see the true value of having effective wellness
programs because they saw first-hand how the mental and physical health of their employees
were affected.

With continuous and constant change surrounding us, organizations now have the
responsibility to become employee-centered, wellness companies. Empathy serving as the
epicenter for this change and employee focus.

From the Top Down

Far before the pandemic, it has been proven that employee well-being improves employee
recruitment and retention efforts, increases productivity, leading to an increase in profitability.
This trend has only intensified over the last 18 months.

Employee retention and happiness is critical in retaining talent. A recent study shows that many
people don’t want to return to the office and are willing to leave their job for a company who
will accommodate them. In fact, one in four workers are planning on leaving their jobs once the
pandemic is over and 82% of employees report they would consider leaving their current job
for a more empathetic organization.

What’s even more concerning for employers, is that now they are competing with companies
across the country to recruit talent. With more and more remote positions, people in your
surrounding area have a plethora of jobs to apply for, removing their commute and allowing
them the option of working from their living rooms.

When people are searching for jobs now, they have new priorities. Well-being now must
become a pillar of all organizations in order to recruit and keep top talent. How do you the
employer make this happen? Start with listening sessions. Opt to have senior leadership sit
down with employees and truly listen to their concerns, feelings, and ideas will show that they
matter.

Once the conversations wrap, be sure to follow through. Incorporating wellness initiatives and
taking on employee ideas will benefit everyone at the company.

Use Technology to Personalize

While being stuck in front of a screen all day has led to an increase in burnout, technology can
also be used in a positive way. Technology can be used to improve the lives of employees,
whether that be figuring out how employees take breaks and how often, identifying how easy
or hard it is for them to use tech at home, or noting how they are faring emotionally or
physically.

Leveraging technology can address these issues. Using tools to act on employee data, identify
trends, and solve concerns in real time will allow increased well-being in the workplace. Using it
to provide personalization will be the key difference maker.

Technology can also be used to tailor resources and programs to the needs of employees based
on employee/virtual check ins. Programs like self-care coaching, financial planning advising, or
even just stress reduction techniques can be a great result.

Redefine HR

For most businesses, it’s all about the customer experience, but now it’s time to focus on the
employee experience. If employees are not being cared for, that will pass onto the customers.
The human resource department can play a large role in this shift. HR staff must embrace an
employee-first, digitally centered approach to wellness that goes beyond surveys and basic
check-ins.

Often incorporating a wellness program falls upon the HR department. Adding stress and more
to-dos internally. The focus should be much larger on employee wellness and not just another
task for HR. Working with a corporate wellness company can help alleviate the stress of finding
and choosing the right wellness programs for employees.

Let us help you! At OnSite Wellness, we get to know each company we work with to ensure we are addressing the needs of employees. By creating customized wellness programs, we can help employees reach their highest potential, reducing stress and increasing employee job satisfaction.

Please reach out to us to learn more on how we can help your company.