Evolving wellness programs benefit employees, employers

There is more to wellness than physical health, and it may benefit employers to consider adding a wellness program to their workplace, area benefits experts say. The wellness plan of today looks much different than the past, when all it may have done was encourage employees to get their annual physical or have their blood pressure checked, says Jessica Albanese, VP, director of employee benefits at Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU).

“Things have come a long way,” she says, and the wellness plans of today incorporate physical wellness along with emotional, social, and even financial wellness. From healthy recipes to financial workshops, wellness programs can be tailored to provide an array of information and benefits to employees. “There’s something out there for everyone.” Businesses of any size can offer a wellness program, starting with simple in-house challenges and rewards, Albanese says. “You can start on a small level,” she advises. “We get wellbeing information from all our carriers.” Sharing that information with employees is a great start to a wellness program. One action Albanese recommends when starting a wellness program is to have a focused team to work on the program. That can include surveying employees to see what they are interested in and outlining goals for the program and what the company wants to incentivize people to accomplish. Start by looking at data, especially medical-claim data, and identify problem areas to focus on. There are also numerous wellness platforms available, which can make it easy to offer a program to employees, Albanese says. “We actually use an online platform. We need that platform to provide content, to collect data, and to make it easy for employees to participate.” But why offer a wellness plan? It can be the difference between whether a potential employee chooses to work for your business or for someone else, Maureen Gillan-Myer, executive VP and chief human resources officer at Community Financial System, says. Today’s employee is looking closely at benefits, she notes, and offering a wellness plan can give a business a competitive edge when it comes to recruiting. Additionally, a wellness program can reduce absenteeism, boost productivity, and boost employee morale. “There are a lot of ways you can look at the value of a wellbeing platform,” Albanese says. While it isn’t always easy to track a tangible number, a business can track things like employee engagement with the program, changes in absenteeism, and any impacts on medical claims. When it comes to starting a wellness plan, it really begins at the top of an organization, Gillan-Myer says. “Have a discussion with leadership,” she says. “You’ve got to have buy-in from the top.” That’s because there is often an element of cost to offering a wellness program, so leadership needs to be on board to support that. “Don’t shy away from it because you feel like you can’t prove it’s going to work,” Gillan-Myer adds. “Not everything comes with a number. We know it makes a difference in our organization.”