The benefits of having a workplace well-being program are well-documented. Improved employee engagement, greater productivity, lower healthcare costs, better retention, and generally happier employees top the list. In fact, a recent survey by Aon found that improving employee well-being can boost company performance by 11% to 55%.¹ There’s also data that shows the costs of not focusing on employee well-being, namely the $322 billion every year in lost productivity due to burnout.²

Statistics like these, combined with research that shows employees now expect employers to be involved in multiple aspects of their well-being, means a robust well-being program should be at the top of the priority list. If you are looking to incorporate more ways to support your employees, you’ll find some great health and wellness tips for the workplace here.

20 Wellness Tips for Employees

If you have a workplace well-being program, you may already have access to a whole toolbox of solutions you can tap into to help employees. Here are some ideas that focus on mental, physical, financial and social well-being…

1. Get outside during the work day. Just 10 minutes of fresh air and sunlight can do wonders for our energy and mood.
2. Have lunch with coworkers. Encourage employees to make an effort to set aside at least 20 to 30 minutes to eat with a colleague if in person. If they are remote, suggest they FaceTime a colleague and eat lunch away from their desk.
3. Move closer to the light. While not every employee can sit by a window, there are likely spaces in the office – like common areas – where employees could bring their laptop and work for a few hours to get more light exposure. If all else fails, invest in some light therapy boxes that mimic outdoor light.
4. Lean into flexible hours. Many workplaces have become much more open to flexibility, so if starting later improves people’s moods, allow it! A shortened or compressed workweek may also give employees the chance to get more outdoor recreation on their off days.
5. Host a wellness challenge. Wellness challenges offer double the benefits: they get employees moving and boost social connections in the workplace. We’ve got some great workplace wellness challenge ideas that work in any weather.
6. Plan workplace events. Organize some fun activities like restorative yoga classes, healthy cooking demonstrations or contests, or awards for the best “hygge” workspace.³
7. Focus on good sleep hygiene. Offer employees tips for a wind-down routine, optimal sleeping temperature, and when to nix the screens. Many well-being programs have a sleep program you can promote.
8. Spotlight wellness in your corporate communications. Include relevant and timely content in your newsletters and town halls. Give managers employee wellness tips they can include at the start of team meetings.
9. Remind employees about the EAP’s services. Most EAPs offer a number of free counseling sessions that can help employees, depending on their unique needs.
10. Encourage exercise. Let employees know it’s OK to weave in exercise throughout the work day. Lunchtime workouts, walking meetings, and quick stretch or jumping jack breaks can boost energy.
11. Help with nutrition. Health coaches, weight management programs, and digital tools all provide nutritional support based on an individual’s needs and interests.
12. Promote mindfulness and meditation. Give employees access to apps or host a group mindfulness webinar or in-person event.
13. Enlist the help of health coaches. If your well-being program includes access to health coaches, program coordinators or program managers, ask them to deliver a webinar or lunch-and-learn on a specific topic. This is also a good time to promote the 1:1 support corporate health coaching provides.
14. Foster social connections. Set aside time for intentional connection with coworkers via in person or virtual water cooler chats, BINGO, or trivia games.
15. Rethink the afternoon coffee break. While caffeine can help counteract the sleepiness we sometimes feel, too much can disrupt sleep patterns. Make sure the break room offers herbal tea and energizing snacks to get past that mid-afternoon slump.
16. Offer financial coaching. Sessions could be in-person, over the phone, or via video with a financial professional. If you have a 401(k) program, ask if they have a resource for these kinds of sessions.
17. Examine leadership culture. Urge leaders to examine workplace practices that might be contributing to poor employee well-being. Examples include the expectation to be always “on,” lack of support for taking time off, and not getting to know employees on a more personal level. 
18. Volunteer together. Plan an event that gives the team a chance to bond while doing good. Organize activities that match your company’s mission or sustainability goals or find a local organization you can develop an ongoing relationship with.
19. Carve out time during meetings to connect. Urge managers to spend time getting to know the non-work side of team members. Devote the first five minutes of group meetings to a quick catch-up.
20. Got extra budget? Embrace each season with creature comforts. For example, in the winter, send employees a “welcome winter” kit with a special mug, tea, cozy throw, or woolly socks.
    

As you seek to create a culture of well-being in your workplace, giving employees support for health and wellness is just one more way you can help.

Corporate wellness challenges are a great way to help employees focus on their well-being, improve morale in the workplace, and increase connections between coworkers. But planning a successful challenge involves lots of choices. We’ve got you covered. Follow this template for how to plan and launch a wellness challenge for your organization.

Planning your wellness challenge.

Before you can implement a successful challenge, there must be a thoughtful planning stage. Here are some steps to establish a good plan for your challenge:

Step 1: Choose a wellness challenge topic.

The list of wellness challenge ideas is endless! Deciding which to implement depends on what’s important to your organization, its culture and values, as well as what’s meaningful to employees. Wellness challenges can focus on any dimension of well-being—from physical health to emotional health to financial wellness. Look at your organization’s health risk data to determine which topics may be most beneficial for your employees. Then, hold a brainstorming session with your team to develop a list of possible wellness challenge topics. Here are a few challenge ideas to get you started:

• Fitness: steps challenges, activity minutes, regular stretch breaks, strength challenges, increase movement throughout the day
• Personal: nutrition, hydration, sleep, mindfulness, gratitude
• Community: increase social connections, volunteerism, acts of kindness, environmental sustainability, social justice

Step 2: Pick your challenge format and duration.

Challenges can be individual or team-based. If you opt for a team-based challenge, use a gamification approach by having different locations, departments, or regions compete against each other. If you plan to offer multiple challenges over the year, mix it up by offering an individual challenge one time and a team challenge the next time. You’ll also need to decide the duration of the challenge. This depends on the type of challenge you offer, but 30-day, two-week and even six-week challenges are popular.

Step 3: Determine which group or groups will participate.

Identify your audience for the challenge. Will all locations take part, or just one specific location? Are significant others and families invited to participate? This is also the time to ensure that the challenge is accessible to everyone—especially if you have dispersed teams, such as office and remote workers.

Step 4: Establish how to track activity.

If you’re using a wellness challenge platform, many challenges come with pre-established rules and timelines. These platforms can also make it easy to track progress, such as how many steps teams take every week or how people are reporting their data.

However, if you’re creating a homegrown challenge or planning on implementing a smaller challenge, you’ll want to establish your own metrics and how they’ll be tracked. For example

• How often should employees record their progress? Daily? Weekly? Every two weeks?
• Will other forms of exercise, like biking, count in a steps challenge? If so, communicate the rules and where people can find tools to convert exercises to steps.
• Where should they track their steps?
• What is the criteria for challenge completion?

Step 5: Decide which rewards or incentives to offer.

Incentives encourage people to join and complete the challenge. Like the challenge itself, incentives should match your organization’s culture and values. Examples include:

• Points through your well-being program
• Paid time off
• A small token or gift card
• A t-shirt for the winning team
• An end-of-challenge celebration with healthy food
• Donation to a favorite charity

Launching your wellness challenge.

After you’ve planned what you want to do and how you’ll motivate employees to participate, it’s time to launch! Here are the steps to implement your wellness challenge:

Step 1: Identify champions.

Are there people in your organization who are already passionate about well-being? Ask them to champion your wellness challenge. Wellness Champions can lead teams, encourage their colleagues to get involved, and keep everyone motivated.

Step 2: Create a communication plan.

Good communication is the key to a successful challenge.

• BEFORE the challenge, get people excited using a variety of media—intranet, text, workplace social media, posters, flyers, and other communications.
• DURING the challenge, talk it up at town hall meetings, update rankings, and keep the conversation going in chat groups. Your wellness champions can be a big help here.
• AFTER the challenge, communicate results and thank everyone for participating.

Pro-tip: Use your communication plan to connect people to other relevant elements of your well-being program, like health coaching, health assessments, stress and resiliency resources, or financial wellness programs.

Step 3: Establish metrics.

Popular metrics include challenge registration numbers, completion rates, email open and click-thru rates, and year-over-year comparisons.

Step 4: Celebrate!

Formally recognize the end of the challenge with a fun in-person or virtual celebration to announce the results and award any prizes.

And finally, after the challenge has ended, send out a quick survey to help understand what worked, what didn’t, and what employees would like to see in the future. This is a great opportunity to get challenge ideas for the future, too!

Today’s employees want to work for organizations who care about their well-being. A wellness challenge is the perfect way to show employees you are committed to their health. You’ll also reap the benefits of increased social connections among coworkers and greater overall engagement with your well-being program. And remember, at the end of the day, the most important thing about a wellness challenge is simply to have fun while doing something healthy for your body and mind!

Wellness Champions bring passion to a well-being program and deliver real value by increasing the program’s visibility, getting peers engaged and helping to create a true culture of well-being. 

What is a Wellness Champion?

Wellness Champions are health-minded employees who serve as positive role models and provide the support, encouragement and motivation to peers to engage with a well-being program.

Wellness Champions are often called upon to:

• Promote health assessments, health coaching, screenings and special events.
• Advocate with local leadership to support and promote the well-being program at their worksite.
• Plan and participate in on-site and/or virtual activities, like wellness challenges and webinars.
• Solicit feedback from co-workers about what they want to see in their well-being program and communicate this to their HR benefits team and local leadership.

When employee wellness advocates from different parts of the organization come together, they create a Wellness Champion Network. The Network meets regularly to discuss program initiatives, employee engagement strategies and share best practices to support a culture of health across all the company’s locations, as well as those working remotely.

At ITW, Wellness Champions work together to create and elevate a culture grounded in well-being.

The Wellness Champion Network is extensive, with Wellness Champions in over 98% of business units. Because of their wide reach, the Network has been able to increase engagement with the well-being program yielding impressive results like these:

• Wellness Champions have offered over 500 events to employees.
• Employees have completed more than 9,000 onsite activities sponsored by Wellness Champions.
• Wellness Champion webinars attendance was over 2,000.

As one ITW employee shared, “Our Wellness Champions are dedicated and loyal—they do this work because they love it and there‘s no reward more meaningful than the intrinsic reward they get from being a Champion.” How’s that for peer-powered well-being?

Wondering how to create a Wellness Champion Network in your organization? Read more about ITW here, download our Wellness Champion e-book, or contact us at connect@webmd.net.

Why should you include health incentives in a workplace well-being program?

We believe incentives are an essential part of any successful workplace well-being program because they:

• Provide the motivation to participate and complete activities. Sometimes we need a little “nudge” to start or stop a new behavior, especially regarding our health. Incentives provide this push until intrinsic motivation starts to take over.
• Promote engagement with your program. Studies show that employers who offer health incentives for employees report a 22% higher average participation rate in well-being programs than employers who don’t offer incentives.¹
• Increase well-being program awareness. If you communicate widely about your incentives, you’ll be increasing awareness of all your well-being program offerings by default.
• Demonstrate your commitment to your people. Organizations who offer incentives show that they care enough about employee health to put their money where their mouth is.

How do you incentivize employees to participate in well-being programs?

Incentivizing employees to participate in well-being programs really depends on the organization. Any good incentive design should reflect your company’s culture and core values, and be aligned with what motivates your employees. For example, if you already use financial incentives to motivate people outside the well-being program, that might be a good place to start.

Here are some popular incentives our clients have used:

Monetary.

• Cash awards
• Contributions to a Health Savings Account or Healthcare Flexible Spending Account
• Discounts on gym fees or online fitness classes
• Gift cards or pre-paid Visa cards
• Reduction in health insurance premiums

Non-monetary.

• At-home exercise equipment
• Donations to a favorite charity
• Paid time off
• Shout-out on a company-wide recognition platform
• T-shirts, mousepads, water bottles, or other company-branded swag

What are the best wellness activities or behaviors to incentivize?

Devising an incentive strategy depends on where you are in your organization’s well-being program journey. For example, if your program is newer, your health incentive program for employees will focus more on the basics. Here’s what we recommend:

• New well-being program: We typically recommend incentivizing upon completing a health assessment and biometric screenings. In addition to getting participants engaged, this also gives the organization a good baseline of data to suggest program elements employees may benefit from, such as additional financial wellness support or ways to keep people socially connected.
• Established well-being program: After the initial engagement, we typically recommend updating the incentive strategy to reward behavior change activities, like a wellness challenge, coaching session, or resilience training.

It’s also a best practice to provide incentives throughout the year versus just at the beginning of the program year. Our data shows that the more touchpoints a participant has with a well-being program over time, the greater the reduction in health risks.

What about using outcomes-based incentives? 

An outcomes-based incentives program provides an incentive for achieving a specific metric, like losing a percentage of weight or decreasing blood pressure. Lately, we’ve seen a decline in employers who use this strategy. In fact, a joint study by the National Business Group on Health and Fidelity found that while most employers plan to continue or expand well-being incentives over the next 3 to 5 years, employer interest and use of health-contingent incentives continue to drop.²

This is because incentives should motivate and inspire people to keep returning to work on their well-being. It’s much more motivating to commit to a task—like participating in a company-wide wellness challenge—than focusing on a specific metric they need to hit to receive a reward.

If you’ve had a wellness incentive strategy for a while, what can you do to keep it fresh?

It’s natural for participants to become bored with incentive offerings and see engagement decline—so take time to update and evolve your program periodically. Here’s what we recommend to keep your wellness incentive strategy fresh:

• Incentivize non-physical behaviors. Traditionally, most employers have rewarded physical wellness, like completing a health assessment, biometric screening, exercise program, or steps challenge. We also need to tend to other aspects of our lives, like:
  • Emotional wellness. Try rewarding participation in resilience training, stress management, sleep quality programs, or meditation courses.
  • Social connections. Reward people for setting up coffee chats, participating in community service, or organizing virtual happy hours that foster workplace social connections.
  • Financial wellness. If you have financial wellness offerings, consider rewarding employees who take advantage of things like debt counseling, student loan consolidation, or financial education courses.
• Include family members. Getting the whole family—including spouses and children at home—engaged in healthy lifestyle behaviors increases individual success with a well-being program.
• Shift to a points-based system. If you’ve had the same incentive program structure for a while, you might consider switching to a points-based system. These allow participants to accumulate points for completing various activities and “spend” them on prizes of their choosing. Clients who are currently using a points-based system for their rewards strategy have reported that this has been a popular change for their employees.
• Ask employees what they want! Send out a quick pulse survey or tap into your Employee Resource Groups to get insight into what employees really value. For example, maybe they don’t care so much about receiving company swag, but they would be more interested in donating their rewards to a charity of their choice.

One last piece of advice—communicate.

If participants don’t know about the incentives you offer, they won’t serve as a very good motivator. Frequent communication is essential. Now’s the time to get creative with communication—think short videos, leadership promotion in virtual town halls, reminders in company-wide chat channels, or even a striking print piece or small gift mailed to their homes to generate excitement.

Some final thoughts on health incentives.

In some ways, hybrid work and more flexibility in the workday has created opportunities for people to take positive steps toward better health. But for others, remote work and reduced social interaction have created new physical and emotional concerns. Incentives can motivate both groups. That’s why it’s a great time to start a wellness incentive program or retool the one you have.

And just one more thing—it’s important to remember that simply offering employees healthy incentives won’t likely result in behavior change. It takes a comprehensive design, an interesting and engaging program, and an easy-to-use platform that gets people to participate in the first place and keeps them coming back.

For help devising your incentive strategy—including what elements you should provide rewards for, what the reward should be, and how much each task should be worth—we’d love to help. Visit our website or contact us at connect@webmd.net.

There’s no disputing it—changing health behaviors is hard. It helps to have someone in your court to cheer you on and celebrate important milestones. That’s exactly what our Dedicated Well-being Services team members deliver to participants each day.

Our DWS team also serves as your boots-on-the-ground, day-to-day resource to increase program awareness and engagement with the well-being program, provide thought leadership, support programming, and foster a true culture of well-being.

But the best part about having our dedicated team’s support? We can customize our services to the specific needs of your organization. So whether you just need face-to-face health coaching, or require more administrative support, we can provide the right mix of services to help your well-being program thrive.

What does our DWS team help with?

• Administering and managing well-being program incentives
• Creating, publicizing and launching custom Wellness Challenges for your population
• Gaining and sustaining leadership support and engagement
• Hosting well-being lunch & learns
• Measuring program success
• Assisting with Health Assessment completion, planning and managing biometric screening events
• Recruiting Wellness Champions and building a Well-Being Champion Network
• Running health fairs
• Spreading program awareness through communication
• Teaching virtual and onsite fitness and cooking classes

Get to know our DWS team members.

DWS team members serve in a variety of roles. Depending on your organization, you may have individuals working in these capacities:

• Well-Being Health Coach: 1:1 and group health coaching. Sessions are face-to-face, by phone, video and/or the Coach Connect app.
• Well-Being Program Manager: Point of contact for all things related to health and well-being which includes program management support and platform configuration initiatives.
• Well-Being Program Coordinator: This dual role includes both health coaching and well-being program management.

Our DWS staff members have impressive qualifications. Combined, they have over 40 years of dedicated well-being experience, an average of eight years tenure, 50+ master’s degrees, and over 250+ industry certifications! All DWS team members are also trained and certified in Mental Health First Aid.

Does having DWS in your organization work? Yes!

The results of using our Dedicated Well-Being Services speak for themselves. Of clients who use DWS:

• 98% report increased awareness in their well-being program;
• 98% report improvement in well-being culture; and
• 100% report increased participation in their well-being program.¹

DWS teams also boost engagement with a critical component of the well-being program—the Health Assessment. This is typically one of the first points of engagement participants have with the well-being platform, so it’s critical to get as many Health Assessment completions as possible. Clients who have a member of our DWS leading their Wellness Champion Network see an 84% Health Assessment completion rate, compared to just 55% for clients without this type of support.  Our clients who have Dedicated Well-being Services have shown a 30% higher engagement rate overall in their well-being program than clients who do not have these services.

Well-being is personal. That means we meet participants wherever they are in their well-being journey and help them achieve their unique well-being goals. When you have DWS team members onsite, well-being becomes personal on another level, giving participants that human connection, helping them stay motivated, and increasing their ability to make long-lasting changes in their health.

If you’d like to learn more about how our Dedicated Well-Being Services team can help your well-being program succeed and provide genuine, tangible impacts to employees, contact us at connect@webmd.net.

When Lisa Adams, a librarian in Utah’s Alpine School District, attended an EMI Health Plan Benefits Fair last year she had no intention of getting a biometric screening. But, when a WebMD Health Coach told her it would just take 15 minutes to learn about her health risks she thought, why not?

The results shocked her. Although she felt completely fine, her cholesterol was high. Thinking about all the family members and friends who had diabetes and heart disease, and fearing that could be her fate, too, she immediately made an appointment with her doctor. The doctor confirmed what the screening revealed: Lisa needed to make some lifestyle changes.

She joined a gym and started working out five days a week. The key to sticking to her workout routine was exercising first thing, before anything could interfere. As Lisa says, “Nothing else is happening at  five o’clock in the morning.” Within eight weeks she could see a physical difference and had much more energy. She also focused on what she was putting into her body, switching to heart-healthy foods and upping her vegetable intake.

At WebMD we often talk about the importance of having a “why,” or reason to change behavior.

Lisa is a textbook example of the power of intrinsic motivation. She’s a mom of four grown children and a grandmother to five grandchildren. She wants to be around to see them grow and be able to enjoy her life over the next 20 to 30 years.

But she also wants to be healthy for herself. Lisa says her “why” is “Why not? Why wouldn’t you do that for yourself?” Lisa shared with us the benefits she’s gained from focusing on her health:

• She’s more comfortable in her own body
• Her sleep is much-improved
• She doesn’t worry as much
• She has the energy to keep up with her grandkids

Lisa told us she wished someone would have woken her up sooner. She never thought she’d be the sort of person to ask where the hotel gym is, but now she takes her gym clothes on vacation so she can keep up her routine. She didn’t think it was OK to put herself first, but this experience has taught her that it’s critical. In her words, “I will not compromise on myself ever again, ever.”

To learn about how a partnership with WebMD Health Services can give your population access to life-changing health screenings like Lisa’s, contact us at connect@webmd.net.

Want to create a Wellness Champion Network, but not sure where to start? Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about forming one.

What is a Wellness Champion?

Wellness Champions are health-minded employees who are passionate about creating a healthier workplace. They serve as positive role models who provide the support, encouragement and motivation to peers to engage with your well-being program. They also offer valuable feedback to leadership to continually evolve well-being offerings.

When these employee advocates come together in a Wellness Champion Network, they can help create and elevate a culture grounded in well-being.

What is a Wellness Champion Network (WCN)?

Wellness Champion Networks formally bring together wellness champions from different parts of the organization. They meet regularly to discuss program initiatives, employee engagement strategies and share best practices to support a culture of health across all the company’s locations, as well as those working remotely.

For clients who have WebMD Health Services Dedicated Well-Being Staff, this group also serves as a liaison between your team and our team.

Who makes a good Wellness Champion?

A Wellness Champion can be anyone in the organization with a passion for well-being—no matter their fitness level, shape, or size—who is:

• Already actively engaged in your company’s well-being program;
• Willing to make a reasonable time commitment to the role;
• Organized and capable of running well-being program initiatives and delegating tasks to others; and
• Fun-loving and ready to contribute to a healthy atmosphere at work!

What responsibilities does a Wellness Champion have?

Wellness Champions serve as boots-on-the-ground support and also act as the eyes and ears of the program, providing valuable feedback to well-being program leaders. It’s important to be transparent about their role.

Wellness Champions are often called upon to:

• Promote health assessments, health coaching, screenings and special events.
• Advocate with local leadership to support and promote the well-being program at their worksite.
• Plan and participate in on-site and/or virtual activities, like wellness challenges and webinars.
• Solicit feedback from co-workers about what they want to see in their well-being program and communicate this to corporate benefits/HR/leadership.
• Share best practices, lessons learned, and new programming ideas with other Wellness Champions.

How do you gain leadership support for Wellness Champions?

Leadership buy-in is important to the success of a WCN. Make sure to emphasize the benefits of the program, such as:

Return on Investment (ROI) from:

• Increased visibility of program offerings;
• Higher participation rate for cornerstone elements, like Health Assessments and biometric screenings; and
• Better communication about wellness challenges to increase participation.

Improved population health leading to:

• Greater productivity;
• Lower rates of absenteeism and presenteeism;
• Lower health care costs;
• Higher employee engagement; and
• Lower turnover.

How do you recruit Wellness Champions and build a Network?

1. Advertise. Spread the word that you are looking for Wellness Champions in well-being newsletters, chat groups, workplace social media and Employee Resource Groups.
2. Hold an interest meeting in person or via video call to explain the roles and responsibilities of a Wellness Champion. If you have a lot of interest, consider using an application process.
3. Establish a committee. Make sure all departments are represented, and ensure the group reflects the diversity of your population.
4. Set a meeting schedule. We recommend meeting monthly or quarterly. Be considerate of time zone differences.
5. Hold your first meeting to review roles and responsibilities and establish a mission statement and goals.
6. Make a plan. At your next meeting, try to plan out a year’s worth of well-being activities.
7. Solicit feedback and refine. As the WCN’s efforts gain traction, make sure to continually seek feedback from the employee population through surveys or focus groups.

What are some ways to keep Wellness Champions engaged?

Wellness Champions are volunteers after all, so it’s important to keep them engaged by showing your support, recognizing them and giving them the tools they need to succeed.

• Provide ongoing training to help Wellness Champions stay up-to-date on the latest well-being trends and best practices.
• Recognize and reward their efforts in your well-being communications, all-employee forums and other organization-wide communication vehicles.
• Other ideas include:
  • Ask a senior leader to drop by a Wellness Champion meeting to actively show support.
  • Give them something special they can wear with pride, like t-shirts emblazoned with Wellness Champion and your company logo.
  • Grant extra wellness points they can use toward gifts on your well-being platform. You can also award them lunch with the CEO, a coveted parking space, or workout gear.

What are some ideas for measuring the effectiveness of a WCN?

• Track employee engagement: What percentage of the population is participating in company-sponsored and local events? Is this increasing over time? Are some events more popular than others? It’s helpful to look at metrics by location to see where Wellness Champions might be having an effect.
• Look at trends: Take note of participation in things like screenings and Health Assessments before your WCN is established. Then measure participation in these same activities after the Wellness Champion network has actively promoted them. You can also measure the “before” and “after” of engagement with health coaching, mental health programs, financial wellness and more.
• Gather testimonials: Numbers are important, but personal endorsements from employees are powerful and motivating, and can communicate to key stakeholders the positive impact of the program.
• Gauge employee satisfaction: Survey employees to learn how Wellness Champions have impacted their experience with the well-being program.
• Capture the little things: Record the small signs of a culture of well-being taking shape in the organization, like healthier catering orders, a decrease in vending machine sales, more people taking the stairs, etc. These are all signs that your Wellness Champions are making an impact and are valid things to measure!

What kind of support does WebMD Health Services provide for WCNs?

As a WebMD Health Services client, you can take advantage of as much or as little support as you need to get your WCN off and running. From design and implementation of the WCN, to on-the-ground support with events and materials, to getting the word out, our team of account managers, Dedicated Well-Being Staff and communications pros can make your well-being program shine.

 Having dedicated Wellness Champions to actively support and promote your wellness corporate solution can enhance its effectiveness, increase employee engagement and accountability and empower well-being in everyone. Ready to create a Wellness Champion Network for your organization? Check out our Wellness Champion e-book or contact us at connect@webmd.net.

With many competing financial priorities and an uncertain economic landscape, it can be hard to convince senior leaders that a well-being program is worth the time and expense.

6 ways to gain senior leadership buy-in for a new well-being program:

1. Present a well-researched business case.

Cost-savings. Well-being programs often lead to substantial savings in health care costs, workers’ compensation and disability management claims.

Financial performance. A study of companies who received the Koop Health Award (awarded to organizations with outstanding workplace well-being programs) found that these organizations outperformed the S&P 500 index for the 14 years tracked. In fact, these organizations’ stock value appreciated by 325% compared with the market average appreciation of 105% for that period.

Increased engagement and retention. Studies have shown that organizations who invest in the well-being of their employees have higher employee engagement and retention.

Higher productivity. Better employee health can lead to reduced absenteeism and presenteeism, which increases productivity. Given the fact that illness-related lost productivity costs U.S. employers $530 billion per year, this is not insignificant.

Pro-tip: Tailor your pitch to the particular challenges your organization is facing.

• Is the organization experiencing high turnover? Remind leaders of the cost of turnover (estimated at one half to two times an employee’s annual salary) and make the link between employee well-being and retention .
• Are engagement scores low? Cite data that shows how engagement can impact profitability. Gallup offers numerous studies to demonstrate how high employee engagement has a measurable impact on business outcomes and the bottom line.

2. Benchmark your organization against industry peers or competitors.

Wellness programs are becoming an increasingly important to employees, especially those of younger generations. In fact, it’s estimated that over 50% of companies now offer some aspect of well-being services. Highlight areas where your organization’s approach to well-being is lagging compared to competitors, and explain how the proposed well-being program can help bridge the gap. Ask your intended well-being provider to share case studies of like clients who have successfully implemented a well-being program. To engage leaders on a more personal level, provide examples of other senior leaders who have endorsed corporate wellness programs in their own organizations.

3. Show alignment with organizational goals.

Demonstrate how the well-being program aligns with the company’s mission and vision, and how a healthier and happier workforce can contribute to a positive culture and organizational success. For example, if your values include employee well-being, make the link between this and the implementation of the well-being program.

4. Leverage employee feedback.

A solid proposal to leadership includes employee feedback. Share survey or focus group results and include specific comments that point to employees’ desire for a well-being program. Show how the workplace health improvement plan will address specific feedback garnered from employees.

5. Identify leadership allies.

Building a culture of health goes beyond Human Resources and should be a company-wide mission. This is why it’s critical to seek out influential leaders within the organization who are already supportive of well-being initiatives and enlist their support as advocates to help sway other leaders.

6. Propose a pilot program.

Suggest starting with a small-scale pilot program to demonstrate the effectiveness of the well-being initiatives. This approach allows you to gather data and testimonials before expanding the program.

Above all, remember that building buy-in is an ongoing process. Be ready to answer questions, offer additional information, and adapt your approach based on the feedback you receive from leadership.

6 ways to sustain leadership support for an existing employee well-being program:

Whether you’ve had a well-being program in place for a year or 10 years, it’s critical to continually demonstrate its value to leadership. Here are ways to sustain support:

1. Share regular updates on the progress and impact of the well-being program.

Track employee participation rates over time for things like Health Assessments, wellness challenges, participation in clinical management programs and engagement with the well-being platform. Use metrics, data, and key performance indicators to demonstrate how the program is impacting health care costs, employee engagement, retention, and overall well-being. Make the connection back to the organization’s strategic goals and values.

2. Invite employee success stories.

Seek testimonials that show how the well-being program positively affected employees’ work and personal lives and share with leadership. Regularly conduct surveys to garner employee feedback on the well-being program to show how it is responding to employee needs and changing circumstances.

3. Continue to benchmark.

Continuously compare the well-being program to industry best practices and benchmarks and offer insights on how the organization is performing in comparison to like organizations. Encourage companies to apply for industry awards to get public recognition for their well-being program efforts.

4. Involve leadership in the well-being program.

Well-being programs with leadership involvement tend to have higher participation. Encourage leadership to actively participate in the well-being program so they can experience its value first-hand, while also sending a powerful message to employees that well-being is a core organizational value. If possible, appoint a publicly visible executive sponsor who is willing to talk about the well-being program at town hall events and share personal stories to help bring the program to life.

5. Enlist manager support.

Managers are the front line to employees so find ways to involve them in health promotions, such as inter-departmental wellness challenges or “well-being minutes” they can use during weekly team meetings. Also, don’t forget to seek managers’ feedback on the well-being program as employees will often share candid opinions with their manager.

6. Remind leaders of how the well-being program can help with organizational change.

Change is a constant in today’s world. A well-being program can help smooth transitions for organizations who are going through a restructure, merger, or acquisition. A well-being program unites different parts of the organization around the shared goal of health, increasing camaraderie and impacting culture in a positive way.

 Need help constructing your well-being program pitch to leadership or continuing to show the value of your well-being program? Contact us at connect@webmd.net.

First a little background…

Aurora sits about 10 miles east of Denver and is known as the “Gateway to the Rockies.” It’s famous for its outdoor recreation and natural attractions—including beautiful parks and open spaces, picturesque reservoirs, extensive trail systems, and world-class golf courses.

With an annual population growth rate of nearly 3%, Aurora is one of the country’s fastest growing suburbs and home to a thriving arts and cultural scene.¹ Aurora is also the most culturally diverse city in Colorado. Twenty-two percent of residents were born outside the U.S., and Aurora’s public school students speak over 160 languages.²

A wellness program that serves all kinds of employees.

As the most culturally diverse city in Colorado, Aurora strives to unify communities and be a leader in creative outcomes and economic development. They carry this same innovative spirit and creativity into their employee wellness program.

City employees form the backbone of the community. About one-third are first-responders, including police, fire, and public safety. The rest of the workforce holds positions in utilities, engineering, finance, communications, parks and recreation, planning, and more.

For the past four years, WebMD Health Services has partnered with the City to develop and refine a wellness program that stays relevant for their ever-changing, growing, and diverse employee population.

A holistic focus on well-being anchors the program.

The City of Aurora’s Wellness Coordinator, Jennifer Hickey, believes that “by supporting and caring for the whole person— mind, body and spirit—we can enhance the health and engagement of our valued employees and build a culture of well-being in our organization.”

This sentiment is evident in the City’s approach to well-being, which is built around five elements: career, social, financial, physical/mental and community. This approach is grounded in Gallup research showing that all aspects of well-being are interconnected: when an employee is struggling in one area, it impacts their quality of life in other areas, too. The City also recognizes that increased overall well-being can boost job satisfaction and engagement.

A key aspect of the wellness program is “Win With Wellness,” an incentive program which includes a variety of ways—across all the elements of well-being—to earn points. The incentive period runs from March through October each year, and employees who earn 200 points on the WebMD ONE portal receive a $200 Visa gift card. Read more on the types of activities across the dimensions of well-being that earn employees points.

Spotlight on mental health.

Like workers all over the world, the pandemic took a toll on City employees’ mental health—particularly for essential workers. City data showed an increase in stress and burnout. And, the shift to remote and hybrid work resulted in a decrease in social connections and employee engagement.

To address these concerns, the City increased its mental health support with:
• More education about EAP and medical plan mental health offerings.
• Stress management tips and education in monthly newsletters, with links to mental health resources.
• The Total Brain Program, a neuroscience-based mental health and brain performance app.
• Additional community-building activities and events to help bring workers together—whether they’re remote or in person.

A special focus on manager well-being.

The City has found that engaging middle managers in the wellness program is key to empowering employees to participate themselves. The organization encourages managers to:

• Practice and promote all five elements of well-being.
• Take a “wellness for supervisors” course that teaches them how to support employee well-being and create a positive, supportive environment where employees can thrive.
• Build strong relationships and trust with direct reports.
• Demonstrate care and empathy in tandem with City-wide values: integrity, customer service, respect and professionalism.

Perhaps most importantly, managers are encouraged to lead by example by taking breaks, weaving well-being into the workday and engaging in self-care.

A Wellness Committee plays a key role in the City’s wellness program.

The Committee has over 20 wellness champions representing different departments within the City. They meet monthly to review the wellness program and plan events, like the popular Bike to Work Day, Benefits Expo, team challenges and Wellness Walks. They’re responsible for promoting wellness programs and events, including posting flyers, sending emails, and giving presentations. They also solicit feedback from peers about wellness program offerings to help create buy-in and build a culture of well-being.

A good communication strategy is essential.

The City of Aurora relies on different modes of communication so that every employee hears about the wellness program on a regular basis. Some of their go-to tactics include:

• A monthly wellness newsletter. The newsletter is emailed to every employee, and is a source of well-being info that employees have come to expect.
• SharePoint site. The intranet site is a one-stop shop for all of Aurora’s well-being offerings. Managers also use the site to direct employees to the right well-being resources.
• Communication for non-desk workers. The team still uses print for hard-to-reach populations, including flyers for breakrooms and mailings to homes.

They’ve also leaned on these communication best practices:

• Keep up a regular cadence of communication so employees know when to expect it.
• Use a variety of media to reach people in different ways.
• Share success stories. People love to hear about employees who have achieved their well-being goals.
• Use print as a “disrupter” to get employees’ attention—like postcards to homes, tent cards in cafeterias or breakrooms.

What can other employers learn from the City of Aurora’s wellness program?

The City of Aurora’s Employee Wellness Program is successful because it doesn’t just address one aspect of health, rather it considers multiple dimensions of employee well-being. An active Wellness Committee and a special focus on manager well-being, along with a steady stream of communication, makes it easy for employees to engage with the wellness program and helps create a true culture of well-being.

The results speak for themselves:
• 3 in 4 employees say employees say the Wellness Program has had a positive impact on them;
• 87% are satisfied with the wellness program; and
• 90% reported that the wellness program is a valuable benefit.

What’s next: continued program evaluation and reinvention.

Never one to rest on their laurels, the City reviews and evaluates their wellness program each year, using data on participation, WebMD ONE health assessment data, medical plan utilization, engagement survey results and employee satisfaction feedback.

In the coming years, they plan on including a mental health awareness training for leadership, promoting additional mental health programs through their medical plan and continuing weight management and health coaching options. They’re also refocusing on preventive screenings, which declined during the pandemic.

Finally, they plan to work on strengthening social connections between employees through community-building events and activities.

And, because the City is hiring new employees all the time, they want to make sure new hires get engaged in the wellness program right away. So, they are actively promoting their wellness portal and all of their wellness program offerings both during recruitment and onboarding.

It all adds up to a wellness program that continuously evolves to meet the needs of the City’s changing population. WebMD looks forward to continuing to partner with the City to empower well-being in everyone and keep Aurora a healthy, vibrant place to live and work. Click here to read more about the City of Aurora’s wellness program.

But before we begin, let’s first talk about what constitutes engagement with a health and well-being program, since it can be a little murky.

At WebMD, we say a person is engaged if they’re fully committed and intrinsically motivated to pursue their well-being goals. In other words, they have an emotional connection to improving their health.

The research on employee engagement in health and well-being uses a wide variety of definitions; there is no current consensus on either the definition or how best to measure it. For many organizations, engagement associates to program participation. This makes sense—participation is a leading indicator of engagement in health and well-being. In fact, our research shows that repeated and sustained participation over time can lead to powerful results that impact both the individual and the organization.¹

So why should you measure well-being program engagement?

There are several key reasons:

• Engagement metrics can showcase the value of the program and solidify the business case for offering it.
• It provides a way for organizations to learn how to improve, adjust their strategy, and refine offerings based on what is working and engaging participants and what just isn’t.
• The benefits of employee engagement in a well-being program can be felt in numerous ways, including higher retention, improved productivity, and increased morale.²

When it comes to measuring employee engagement in a well-being program there are many approaches.

To us, there’s never just one metric to track, a prescribed scorecard, or even one set of variables to analyze. Since every organization is unique, engagement measurement should reflect:

• Your organization’s goals;
• The type of program you offer; and
• How mature your well-being program is.

In other words, just as well-being is personal, so, too, are the metrics you use to measure engagement.

That said, we typically recommend first looking at participation metrics to get a feel for how well a program is being utilized. If we see high levels of activity completion, then we know a well-being program is successful at getting people to participate. From there, we can explore data to further understand engagement status.

There are multiple variables we can monitor and analyze to determine if someone is truly engaged. When our analytics team dives into a client’s data, we typically look at key performance indicators, like:

• How are people connecting with the program? Via a mobile device, tablet, or computer? In-person or by phone with a Health Coach?
• How frequently are people interacting with the program? Do they log in once or twice or are there multiple touchpoints each week or month?
• Are there segments of the population that are interacting with the program more or less frequently, or in a different manner? This might help you tailor certain aspects of the program to different employee groups.
• Are people delighted with their program experience? Quick pulse checks to gauge satisfaction while a user is interacting with the various program opportunities can help here.
• Do people keep coming back to participate in different ways? Do they try different modalities or program opportunities? – e.g., using a certain program, like Daily Habits, then setting up a meeting with a Health Coach?
• Do we see goal attainment, behavior change, and risk change? Leveraging different data sources, like health assessments and program surveys, we can monitor program impact over time.

It’s critical to analyze the data and evolve your program to best match your organization’s objectives. Remember, the way you measure engagement may change based on the goals of your program each year.

Some additional best practices…

Aside from gathering the statistics above, it’s also a good idea to do some qualitative engagement research through surveys and focus groups. Also, keep in mind that well-being engagement studies should be conducted at regular intervals to measure progress over time.