Organizations looking to launch a wellness program or supplement an existing program with new initiatives must consider several decision-making factors. While every detail needn’t be solidified, being equipped with relevant information enables a quicker process and a more productive consultation.

Factors like the type and size of workforce you have and the budget you’re working with guide the wellness program’s design and ensure its sustainability. Establishing success metrics to measure the success of the program reveals any changes needed to evolve it over time. Leveraging a wellness vendor like Strive provides access to a wellness expert to help you create a custom program that employees engage in and derive value from.

Creating a Wellness Program That’s Effective

In this post:

1. Determine the Needs & Interests of the Workforce

2. Confirm a Budget

3. Identify What a Successful Wellness Program Looks Like

a. Ease of Administration

a. Data Collection

4. Explore Wellness Program Offerings

a. Corporate Wellness Program Examples

5. Creating a Wellness Program with Strive

Determine the Needs & Interests of the Workforce

The most efficient avenue for identifying wellness initiatives employees are most likely to engage in is to ask them. Deploying a needs and interest survey prior to, or in the early stages of, creating a wellness program provides direction and focus.

Implementing a wellness program takes time and strategy, and individuals tasked with getting it off the ground are often already at capacity. Allowing the workforce to voice their opinions on the front end of the process eliminates time wasted on zero-interest offerings and increases the chances of an effective program with consistent engagement.

Confirm a Budget

Effective wellness programs range from $5-$20 per employee per month, so it’s important to consider the size of your workforce in the initial planning phase. Other determining factors lie with leadership. What are their intentions for the wellness program? What’s their mission? The answers to these questions reveal what they’re trying to accomplish and at what expense.

The duration of the wellness program affects the budget as anything shorter than a year, or a-la-carte offerings can get expensive quickly. It’s ideal to set an annual budget to enable program planning and administration to be unaffected by competing priorities, provide consistency for lasting behavior change, and to demonstrate the organization’s commitment to wellness.

Identify What a Successful Wellness Program Looks Like

Another aspect of creating a corporate wellness program is establishing main objectives. Engage the C-suite to answer the following questions:

• Why are we doing this?
• What does success look like?

Leadership needs a clear understanding of how the main objectives of the wellness program align with overall business goals (i.e. reduced health costs, workplace culture, recruiting & retention). From there, leadership, or with the help of a wellness consultant, identify measurable success metrics to evaluate and evolve the wellness program.

Ease of Administration

Additionally, success is analyzed by the administration of the wellness program. Determine an internal wellness leader or team responsible for driving the program mission forward. On average, these wellness leaders aren’t solely dedicated to wellness initiatives. Planning the program can seem simplistic, but administrative duties begin to compound. Administration includes:

• Recruiting, screening, & hiring instructors
• Liability waivers
• Registration
• Marketing/communications
• Equipment for virtual offerings

While many wellness leaders are passionate about championing the program, they don’t necessarily have the time to devote to maximizing employee engagement. Organizations looking for a fully-administered wellness program with streamlined processes can utilize a vendor like Strive.

Find out How-To Promote Your Wellness Program in the Workplace.

Data Collection

Another administrative factor is data collection and reporting. As mentioned, it’s vital to have measurable metrics to determine the success of the wellness program. Vendors like Strive utilize a technology platform for liability waivers, registration, and data collection.

Organizations seeking to optimize their wellness program can leverage our monthly data collection and analysis to incentivize engagement or reward participation.

Explore Wellness Program Offerings

There’s no cookie-cutter approach to creating a wellness program. Consider:

• Does the organization have multiple offices? Different time zones?
• What’s the environment like? Office setting, warehouse, hospital, etc.
• What’s the dynamic of the workforce? Onsite, hybrid, or remote?

It’s helpful to meet with a wellness consultant that collaborates with you to recommend custom solutions for your organization.

One-off wellness events like a walking challenge or annual health fair aren’t effective. Comprehensive wellness programs consist of health education, fitness, and interactive wellness elements to reap results. Developing routine is an important engagement factor. The more consistent the wellness offerings, the more value employees experience.

Learn more about 3 Corporate Wellness Initiatives to Support a Healthy Workforce.

Corporate Wellness Program Examples

Here are some examples of how wellness program designs vary based on the unique workforce:

Enterprise Business with Corporate Offices Nationwide

• 2 monthly health talks
• Onsite fitness center classes 10x per week
• Virtual fitness classes 15x per week
• 2 monthly healthy cooking demos

Mid-sized Local Business with Onsite Manufacturing & Remote Clerical Workforce

• 1 monthly health talk
• Onsite stretching classes 2x per week
• Healthy cooking demo every other month
• Massage event every other month

Mid-sized Onsite Office Staff

• 2 monthly health talks
• Onsite fitness classes 5x per week
• 1 monthly healthy cooking demo
• 1 massage event per quarter

Creating a Wellness Program with Strive

Strive provides a complimentary consultation with a wellness expert to discover if we can serve as a resource for your initiatives. We’ll explore our wellness offerings and collaborate on which ones are most applicable to your unique workforce. With a tentative budget, we can even map out a sample program calendar. If a survey hasn’t already been conducted, we can help with that, too.

Strive’s wellness programs are fully administered and include an assigned account manager and technology platform for liability waivers, registration, and data collection and reporting. We provide all communications for ongoing engagement and offer programmatic guidance when it’s time to evaluate the success of the wellness program.

Learn more about implementing a corporate wellness program or book a discovery call with a wellness expert to start creating your wellness program.