According to a RAND survey, approximately half of U.S. employers with 50 or more employees sponsor some type of workplace wellness program. As the issues of rising health care costs and increased absenteeism due to health problems grow, wellness programs are an effective method of improving employee health and morale, decreasing health-related costs for employers.

In order to reach improved levels of employee health and a good return on investment (ROI), you need to choose the right wellness program for your company. Success is dependent on both employee engagement and support from all levels of management. Here are the steps to implementing your chosen program in a way that increases the likelihood of success:

Step 1: Get Management Buy-In

  • Senior leadership should communicate your company’s commitment to employee health. To get senior management at your company on board with a new wellness program, you must first determine their level of support. Once you determine where your management’s attitude falls, you can then base your efforts on their outlook and avoid potential roadblocks in the process.

Step 2: Form a Team

  • Creating a wellness team is critical to your workplace wellness program’s success. Teams lead the way for other employees to transform their lives and make positive, healthy choices.

Step 3: Analyze Data and Determine Focus

  • Before implementing employee wellness programs or strategies, it may be beneficial for an employer to assess what common health concerns employees may have. Health risk assessments (HRAs) can be used to learn about general employee health. With an HRA, each employee receives a personal, confidential report, and employers can receive an aggregated summary of group statistics. You can then use this information to help you develop wellness program goals for your company.

Step 4: Develop Your Plan

  • Once you’ve decided on your priorities for your workplace wellness plan, the next step is to develop an action plan. It should include things like your goals and objectives, the time frame, chosen activities and evaluation methods you will use.

Step 5: Decide on Programs

  • Things like distributing a monthly health-related newsletter, designing a healthy vending machine in the office and displaying posters advocating for hand hygiene or healthy eating are all ways to keep your new wellness plan on the minds of your employees.

Step 6: Support Programs

  • Your employees will likely have various levels of interest in workplace wellness programs. While some may already be very concerned with being active and eating well, others may be more difficult to engage. By allotting the proper time, access knowledge and incentives, you will be more likely to have stronger engagement in your program.

Step 7: Evaluate Results

  • Evaluating your workplace wellness program can provide you with the information you need to measure whether your employees’ attitudes, behaviors and health indicators have improved as a result of your program. This information can then help you make any necessary changes to your wellness program.