Group Wellness Challenges: Happier, Healthier Employees
How is your current health and wellness program being received by your employees? Are they actively involved? Are you receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback?
Or – perhaps your offering has hit a lull and employees aren’t engaged nor excited by what your current plan provides.
It’s time to evaluate. According to a new MetLife report, employees' satisfaction with their benefits fell to 61 percent in 2023, down from 64 percent in 2022 and at its lowest point in the past ten years. If you aren’t paying attention to employees’ needs, they’re going to look for a new employer who ensures their needs – including health and wellness – are being met.
What, Exactly, is a Group Wellness Challenge?
A Group Wellness Challenge is a structured program that spans a set number of weeks, consisting of a small group of participants who set out to improve their health and wellness – together. It takes a “we’re all in this together” approach among colleagues or organization members.
Topics can range from improved nutrition to increasing daily movement to sleeping more soundly – whatever YOU are hearing is MOST important from your employees. If your employees are like most, they are eager for benefits and programming pertaining to physical health, mental health and relief from ailments and/or chronic disease. You may recall from my May newsletter that a program with a focus on nutrition and diet quality will help you deliver programming that your employees will benefit from the most. Research indicates that one’s diet quality and nutrition need to be the focus of an effective program, as incorporating this is one of the most impactful ways to solve many of the health issues that your employees may be suffering from or experiencing - everything from high blood pressure to diabetes to heart disease.
Group Wellness Challenges for the Win
Further, employees who take part in a wellness challenge thrive and implement lasting behavior change when a program encompasses the following three things:
Positive reinforcement from a program leader: “Gold star” Group Wellness Challenges are dietitian-led. Registered dietitians are the nutrition experts, providing cutting-edge programming while guiding and encouraging employees along the journey to improved health and wellness.
A sense of shared community: Teaming up within one’s organization for the benefit of the group is a win-win. Your employees benefit from regular support and accountability. And you benefit from increased participation, motivated employees and improved retention rates. Read more about offering a program that takes a “we’re all in this together” approach. Being part of something larger than oneself is satisfying!
Incentive: Seek out a program that offers incentives for signing up, for participating, for engaging and for adopting new and positive health behaviors along the way. A points-based system will help them see their progress throughout the program. Keep them motivated! In addition, the incentive of knowing that one will feel better and improve their health and wellness while participating in the program is a crucial motivator. Give them the opportunity to improve their biomarkers with an evidence-based program that reinforces accountability.
My 12-Fix Challenge program is all of the above – provides positive reinforcement, takes a “we’re all in this together” approach, and provides incentives for behavior modification. Treat your employees to a program that encompasses all three – for improved morale and retention!
Now is the time to offer Group Challenge programming to your employees.
