Healthcare

A top motivation for utilizing wellness programs is to promote the health and wellness of employees. When starting to think about developing a workplace wellness program, keep in mind these guidelines outlined below.

Step 1 – Conduct a Workplace Health Assessment

Ask your employees a few simple questions to understand the current state of health at your company. This can be done through informal conversations, a call for ideas (suggestion box or bulletin board), or even an online survey.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. small business employed 56.8 million people, or 48% of the private workforce in 2013. For this reason, effective workplace wellness programs, policies and environments have the potential to significantly benefit a large amount of people through employers, employees, their families, and communities. For small business owners who often work day-in and day-out with the same people for years, employees feel like family.

A workplace wellness program can be whatever you want it to be. Simply put, it is a basic investment in your employees, similar to how you invest in them when you offer training, mentoring, and other basic employee programs. Small employers often see wellness programs as sizeable endeavors undertaken by large corporations, such as organized exercise competitions, on-site gyms, paid gym memberships or healthy food offered in corporate cafeterias. Small and simple programs that can lead to increased wellness and a culture of health are often overlooked, but can provide a long lasting impact on your company and your employees.

HealthCare.gov is a health insurance exchange website operated under the United States federal government under the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which currently serves the residents of the U.S. states which have opted not to create their own state exchanges.