Corporate wellness programs are designed not only to reduce healthcare expenses but also to promote health and wellness among employees and to make the workplace atmosphere inviting and comfortable.

Research has proven that healthy employees contribute more on the production, increasing the company’s profit. One problem that arises with the implementation of wellness programs is the lack of employee participation. This may be due to the lack of information or the conflicting schedules of work and wellness activities.

To capture the attention of employees and increase their participation in the wellness program, offer some simple yet healthy and interesting perks. Below is a list of some easy, yet effective solutions;

Wellness Seminars

Conduct a survey about the primary health concerns of your employees and hold a seminar that tackles them. Information dissemination is very important, so make sure that you give out flyers and post about the seminars on bulletin boards. Also, consider the working hours of your employees and try to schedule the seminar on a date that is ideal for most of them.

Seminars are usually perceived to be boring, and this may discourage employees from attending. As much as possible, have interactive discussions and prepare interesting games and activities to perk up their interest.

Health Expos

Request your partner health agencies to conduct hands-on activities which are more informative and attention-grabbing compared to the passive ones. Have a write-up about the expo and include it in the company’s newsletter. Also, instruct the managers or department heads to remind their staff about the upcoming health expo.

Work often equates to stress, so stress management is an important issue that must be discussed in the expo. Also, have booths that will discuss proper hygiene, disease prevention, physical activities, tobacco use prevention, and nutrition. It would also be beneficial for employees with children to have informative child care discussions. To cater to female employees, have booths assigned to women’s health.

On-site Fitness Activities

To entice employees to exercise, have an on-site fitness center and instructor. Ask the advice of fitness experts as to what exercise equipment is necessary. To supervise the physical activities of employees and to have someone who can answer some health issues on the spot, have a fitness instructor. He or she can also give advice employees on how to do exercises at home with their family members. On-site massages are valuable especially after intense exercises at the fitness center. These are also great after a hectic day at work to relax tired muscles.

Once in a while, have medical professionals on-site to conduct health assessments. Ideally, these are done at the beginning and at the end of a wellness program to determine the healthcare needs of your employees and to evaluate the improvement of their health at the end of the program.