Find out how effective communication can help your company’s health and wellness program maintain high levels of effectiveness and efficiency.
Health and wellness programs are an increasingly popular way for companies to invest in their employees, especially since the onset of the pandemic. Programs that focus on physical and mental health have been proven to increase productivity, improve job satisfaction, and reduce healthcare expenditure.
However, employees are not always aware of the tools and programs that are available to them at the workplace. This is due to a lack of effective communication at all levels of the organization. Here is why communication is so important to the success of corporate health and wellness programs.
Why Communication is so Important for Program Success
Collaboration and communication often form the basis of successful corporate initiatives. A recent study by Salesforce found that 86% of employees and executives consider lack of communication the most common reason for workplace failures. When companies fail to communicate the existence and importance of workplace initiatives, employees can often be left in the dark about the opportunities that are available to them. Even if leadership teams can increase awareness of these programs, they must go a step further and clarify the benefits that participation can have on mental and physical health.
Why Some Companies Fail to Effectively Communicate With Their Employees
Despite the importance of effective communication in the workplace, communication gaps exist. This creates a lack of understanding between employees and executives. As a result, executives sometimes fail to direct health and wellness programs to their employees. Since each team of employees has a unique set of needs, executives must avoid taking a standardized approach to conduct and communicate health and wellness programs.
Research from Deloitte found that over three-quarters of employees do not believe that their companies are considerate of their employees’ goals when designing company-wide programs and policies.
Here are three ways companies can effectively communicate with their employees to ensure that corporate health and wellness programs remain beneficial in the short and long term.
3 Ways Companies can Improve Communications and Encourage Program Participation
1. Find out what your employees want from company programs and initiatives
Creating effective communication channels begins even before company programs and initiatives are put in place. Health and wellness programs have grown in scope and complexity in recent years to meet the rapidly evolving needs of an increasingly stressed workforce. This means that employers who wish to introduce corporate initiatives must choose the right program or collection of initiatives that best meet the specific needs of their workforce.
An effective way to do this is to conduct a company-wide survey to get a clear overview of the workforce needs. Managers can also be helpful by reaching out to their teams and having meetings to discuss which programs would be most beneficial to them.
2. Conduct regular check-ins to ensure existing programs are meeting employee needs
Communication does not only happen before and after initiatives are implemented. It is also important for executives to evaluate the effectiveness of corporate initiatives as they are happening. This is especially important for long-term initiatives such as gym partnerships, regular wellness exercises, or commitment to a responsive health wellness provider.
A check-in that can effectively capture employees' thoughts on their health and wellness program is to survey them while using the program. Employers that use a wellness platform for all their employees' wellness needs can easily add a questionnaire or pulse survey onto each employee's wellness dashboard. Surveying employees about their wellness program experience allows employers to adjust their employees' wellness journies - should the need arise. This communication is also useful in deciding whether to expand or extend existing programs.
To mitigate unengaging wellness journies that are less relevant to a certain percentage of our employee population, be sure to check that your wellness provider has tailored wellness solutions based on individual health and wellness needs.
3. Create an environment that encourages employees to share their ideas and concerns
Companies that conduct mental health programs often overlook the impact of stigma in the workplace. Research from McKinsey & Company showed that stigma ranked last in the list of mental health priorities in the workplace. However, if companies fail to create an environment where employees feel comfortable and safe to engage and discuss the challenges they face with mental health, the corporate programs designed to solve them will remain ineffective.
To solve this, companies can create communication channels between employees and their managers or HR teams with the assurance that discussions will remain private. The availability of online wellness programs can also make assistance more achievable for employees who might be wary of seeking help at the workplace.
Once effective communication channels are established and maintained, employers can be certain that their policy decisions are aligned with the unique needs of their employees. With an improved understanding of their workforce's needs, consistent evaluation of their program's effectiveness, and a safe and welcoming workplace, companies can reap all the benefits that corporate health and wellness programs can provide to the company and its employees.
If you would like to learn more about how you can ensure the success of your company’s health and wellness program, connect with us.
About CoreHealth Technologies
CoreHealth Technologies Inc. is a total well-being technology company trusted by global providers to power their health and wellness programs. Our wellness portals help maximize health, engagement, and productivity for 3+ million employees worldwide. We believe people are the driving force of organizations and supporting them to make behavior changes to improve employee health is in everyone’s best interest. With the most flexibility, customizations, and integrations of any software in its class, CoreHealth’s all-in-one wellness platform helps grow great wellness companies. Simple to sophisticated, based on you. For more information, visit the CoreHealth website.
