How do you implement a successful wellness strategy?

What is the strategic importance of wellbeing?

The reason 85% of employees today are not fully engaged with their employer is due to their poor wellbeing, says Alex Wong, MixCare CEO, in talking with HRD.

Employees are burned out, and this is bad for the company and the workplace culture, he says.

A wellness strategy that addresses physical health, mental wellbeing, and work-life balance can lead to reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, and higher employee engagement, according to MixCare. And a strong wellness strategy can be a valuable tool for attracting and retaining top talent.

Lastly, poor workplace wellness can result in increased healthcare costs and decreased productivity. 

“Focusing on preventive health care not only nurtures a healthier workforce but can also lead to a decrease in medical claims, which can in turn keep insurance premiums from rising steeply,” says MixCare. “The equation is straightforward: healthier employees tend to use fewer healthcare services, which translates into cost savings for their employers.”

Burnout will significantly impact businesses this year, according to 80% of surveyed global senior risk professionals.

How do you implement a wellness strategy?

There are multiple steps that come into play when it comes to implementing a wellness strategy, says Wong:

Assess what workers are actually looking for: Employee pulse surveys are crucial to “understand the gaps,” he says. In looking at different departments and positions, employees and employers “always have a huge gap” when it comes to wellness priorities.

Set up a wellness vision: “Define the vision and what kind of… goals you want to achieve. Set up the matrix and KPIs,” says Wong. “After that, you need to scope out the steps [to take]. What are the deliverables and resources you need? The budget? Time? [Who are the] people required to implement [the strategy]?”

Reach out to the right and relevant partners and vendors: These include the health and health and wellness partners and the technology benefit technology vendors, says Wong. “[Employers] with a big workforce, they need to leverage outsiders to help them to put things together. We need a system, we need a digital platform to track all these numbers to comply with internal compliance, and also [to ensure] data privacy.”

Communicate the wellness strategy to workers: “Definitely, when you roll it out, you need to build it into your company culture and communications,” says Wong, and you need to figure out the best way to communicate the strategy to staff, whether through town hall meetings, email campaigns, through social media or any other ways.

Build an advocacy group that includes somebody from the higher ranks: If the leader is not supporting or advocating for the wellness strategy, it's hard to promote to the community, says Wong, “wo we need leadership to drive this.”

A wellness strategy is “a long-term” initiative, says Wong. “It's not like a one-year thing. You have to very much plan things to have [in it]... at least six to nine months before you start [implementing it].”

“Mental health and wellbeing is the genesis for an engaged and productive workforce,” Jamie MacLennan, TELUS Health's senior vice president, previously told HRD.

How do you measure the success of your wellbeing program?

MixCare notes that employers must regularly evaluate the effectiveness of their wellness programme and gather feedback from employees. 

“Use this information to make necessary adjustments and improvements to ensure the programme remains relevant and impactful,” it says.

But what is the ultimate measure of a wellness strategy’s success? Utilization, says Wong.

“If utilization is low, it means the communication is not good enough and people are not aware about it… or they don't care about the program. We need to see whether people… used the program.”

Earlier this year, HRD – in partnership with Aon and Telus Health – published a comprehensive report that provides the latest data and crucial insights to assist employers in minimising mental health risks and optimally supporting their workforce.