Most employers want the best for the people who work for them. This includes a desire for their employees to be in good health. Still, employee wellness isn’t just about ensuring your team feels good. It’s also recognizing the significant toll that poor well-being can take on the entire organization.
According to Gallup data, 75% of medical expenses are accrued from preventable conditions. If you’re an employer or vendor offering self-funded health plans, the losses can stack up quickly.
Unfortunately, the expenses don’t stop there. Poor well-being costs organizations a collective $322 billion from lost productivity and increased turnover, as well as $20 million of additional lost opportunity for every 10,000 employees.
For employers looking for ways to rein in costs, there’s clearly a need to help employees get healthier. However, most health experts can attest to the fact that this is often easier said than done.
If you’re an employer searching for real solutions, discover why common pathways typically don’t work and how you can build practical and effective approaches to improve employee well-being and build a healthier workforce.
The Typical Approach (and Why It Isn’t Working)
If you’ve ever thought about hosting an employee wellness challenge, you certainly aren’t alone. Most people understand that behavior strongly influences health outcomes. In fact, research shows that health behaviors account for 30% of those results.
Many employers look for ways to influence employees’ behavior, making it easier for them to make healthy choices. This often comes in the form of:
- Gym memberships
- Exercise or weight loss challenges
- Health screenings
- Smoking cessation programs
- Nutrition counseling
While these efforts are certainly noble, they don’t usually produce lasting change. Although they may be fun or convenient, they’re often offered as separate, one-off perks or events rather than presented as central to achieving company goals and objectives.
They also fail to provide employees with any immediate, meaningful financial incentives, which research shows can drive lifestyle change.
How Employers Can Kick Healthy Habits Into High Gear
Today, less than half of employees across the U.S. report that they’re thriving in life. As an employer, you can play a role in increasing those numbers.
Offer Financial Incentives
Research shows that financial incentives are highly effective in encouraging health-promoting behaviors such as smoking cessation and increased physical activity. These incentives work best when they are large, standardized, immediate, and recurring, and they are shown to work especially well with at-risk populations.
You might consider premium reductions or cash incentives for completing screenings, exercise classes, or nutrition counseling.
Opt for Longer-Term Plans
When possible, consider how you can encourage consistency through longer-term health plans. This may require re-negotiating the terms of your contract with health plan vendors or seeking out partners willing to provide long-term service contracts.
Multi-year plans not only help lock in rates, but they can discourage short-term thinking that can derail employees’ health goals.
Improve Data Tracking Systems
When you use AI-driven platforms and other technology to systematically collect and analyze health and wellness data across your workforce, you can gain critical and early visibility into important trends.
Data can reveal significant issues like high stress levels, burnout, decreased movement, or chronic illnesses. Then, you can invest your resources in programs that address these specific issues.
Consider Personalized Incentive Structures
A one-size-fits-all approach to wellness rarely works. Personalization is a much better approach, as it taps into what motivates an individual employee, making it more likely that they’ll keep putting in the work toward earning the rewards they really want.
Personalized incentives also provide employees with a sense of autonomy, which, in turn, encourages them to take more ownership over their actions and outcomes.
Create a Culture of Wellbeing
Connecting employee well-being to company values and objectives can give employees a sense of purpose. It reminds them that all of their actions, including those that improve their health outcomes, contribute significantly toward the common goal.
Build a Healthy, Happy Workforce, One Employee Incentive at a Time
Behavioral change is a critical component of employee wellness. To combat rising healthcare costs, employers must focus on what they can do to encourage and sustain it. For many, this means offering meaningful financial incentives in a predictable and consistent way.
Though this approach takes a bit of creativity, it’s likely to prove worth it in the end. Not only will your team benefit from cost savings, increased productivity, and a better bottom line, but you’ll gain an appreciation for the positive ways you impact the lives of the employees who make it all possible.
