3 Corporate Wellness Trends You Need to Know About

Corporate wellness programs are gaining steam as the benefits of investing in your organization’s health continue to demonstrate value. In fact, 61 percent of employees agree that they’ve made healthier lifestyle choices because of their company’s wellness program. Are you looking to revamp your corporate wellness program in 2019? Here are 3 trends to keep in mind.

1. Personalization

The idea of “personalization” is increasingly popular in marketing, and it should be in your corporate wellness program, too. The more you can customize products and services to people’s goals, habits and desires when it comes to wellness, the more success you’ll see! There are many different areas of your corporate wellness program that you can customize and move away from the “one size fits all” approach, including (but not limited to):

• Inclusion of Families: Many organizations offer Employee Assistance Programs, and lifestyle or health spending accounts that not only benefit employees, but their spouses and families as well.

• Offer a Range of Services and Products: Vendors like League do a great job at offering all kinds of classes, workouts, massages, health challenges and more through their Health@Work program, allowing people to pick and choose services. By covering a wide variety of topics around health, they create options for webinars and workshops, addressing individual employees' health needs and current health conditions.

• Offer Individual Coaching Packages: Health coaches are crucial as they create one-on-one relationships that help individuals recognize and overcome personalized barriers. By including people’s families in coaching programs, you can also increase the likelihood of the employee’s environment at home supporting their health goals.

• Add Some Incentive: 91 percent of people agree that they would engage in healthier behavior if they received a financial reward. League offers points towards their marketplace for participation in health challenges, giving people that extra push to get moving! Other notable apps, such as Praktice Health make it fun and easy for teams to participate in health challenges while developing better health habits.

[Related: Why Your Wellness Program Isn’t Working — and How to Fix It]

2. Virtual Wellness

It’s 2019, and virtual teams are here to stay. That means that your health and wellness strategy will have to support both your in-person and remote teams. Virtual sessions and virtual wellness programs are a highly attractive option to the busy employee. Some investments your organization can make to create a more seamless experience include:

• Virtual Options for Remote Workers: While creating virtual options for things like workshops or live events may create some extra backend work, the best wellness programs allow people to join in whenever/wherever they are. For example, if you’re offering in-person sessions with a mindfulness coach, make sure to schedule separate sessions where remote workers can join in and participate as well. All sessions could be recorded, and posted internally for anyone unable to attend live events.

• Investment in Intuitive Technology: In order to support a culture of remote health and wellness, you’ll have to invest in easy-to-use platforms that encourage participation, easy video streaming and scheduling. Tools like Slack, Google Hangouts and Highfive make it easy to record and participate in live events, regardless of location or time zone.

[Related: Why the Future of Work Is Remote]

3. Total Well Being

Aetna reports that "only 10 percent of your health is determined by the health care you receive, while 90 percent is determined by lifestyle choices, genetics and social determinants." This means that organizations must take a holistic approach to their employee’s health. Some areas that companies can consider, when looking at the mind, body and spirit connection include:

• Holistic Education: When browsing through League’s health blog, you’ll notice topics spanning from nutrition, psychology, sleep and financial literacy, all the way to preparing for a camping trip. Wellness needs to be viewed and introduced from a 360-degree view, exploring all of the facets that influence a person’s health.

• Introduction of Mindfulness and Meditation: Beyond tackling stress and improving employee health, improved mindfulness can lead to increased profits. The effects of mindfulness and meditation have been so profound that tech companies like SAP have rolled out mindfulness training across the organization, and have seen major results!

• Recognition of Soft Skills: While concepts such as Emotional Intelligence, Resilience and Growth Mindset may have previously been seen as “touchy-feely” ideas typically left out of the boardroom, but these soft skills are now recognized as crucial for success at work when it comes to leadership and team dynamics, and they should be taught in the classroom.

Given the growing body of research demonstrating the importance and benefits of a happy and healthy workforce, corporate wellness should no longer be seen as an added perk. Rather, make 2019 the year that you weave wellness into the DNA of your organization!

Stacy Pollack is a Learning Specialist with an MA in Educational Technology. She is passionate about building leadership programs that engage and contribute to the success of her organization. She loves to share her perspective on workplace development, human resources, career building, and networking for success. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter, or at www.stacypollack.com

Learn More:

The Employee Wellness Playbook