While group wellness classes and events promote culture and team-building, healthy habit formation, and employee engagement, organizations looking to dig even deeper into well-being should consider the one-to-one model of virtual wellness coaching. Virtual wellness coaching programs’ transformative potential lies in highlighting an individual’s goals, work-life demands, and health history, and collaboratively building a personal wellness plan with a board-certified health and wellness coach.

As employees begin to unlock their inner strength, learn practical strategies, and discover how to optimize their time, they’re empowered to be the best version of themselves in their personal and professional lives. This article explores how investing in personal wellness plans for employees yields substantial business rewards.

The Power of Supporting Personal Wellness Goals in the Workplace

In this post:

1. Promotes Personal & Professional Development

2. Bolsters Engagement in Workplace-Sponsored Wellness Opportunities

3. Long-Term Cost Savings for All

4. Strive Virtual Wellness Coaching Programs

Promotes Personal & Professional Development

One of the primary reasons wellness coaching is so successful is its holistic approach. Our bodies and minds often feel and signal the need for change, but we aren’t sure why or where to begin. Employee wellness coaches focus on the individualized nature of whole-person wellness, enabling high-impact, sometimes instant results.

For example, an employee has been trying to lose weight for months with no progress. A wellness coach can help identify ways to optimize their schedule to make time for exercise, provide strategies for integrating activity throughout the workday, build a nutrition plan, and even conduct live workout sessions to practice specific exercises and correct form. As the employee begins to finally see results, they’re not only encouraged to progress and maintain them; they’re feeling more confident, capable, and inclined to tell others to share in their success, contributing to a culture of health in the organization. This intrinsic motivation spills over into our professional lives as our full potential is illuminated and realized.

In addition to physical and personal wellness goals, virtual wellness coaching programs provide resources, strategies, and support for stress management and coping skills (resilience). Personal wellness plans often involve sleep hygiene, energy levels, and relationships with food, and can be as specialized as improving hormonal balance and menopause support. While many employees would find these aspects of their well-being too private to discuss or learn about in a group setting, meeting one-on-one creates a safe space to discuss root issues affecting personal and professional enrichment.

Organizations dedicated to investing in their people’s personal wellness goals have happier, healthier employees who perform better and contribute to a more positive workplace climate and culture. The emphasis on continuous development demonstrates the organization’s commitment to well-being, enhancing job satisfaction and nurturing a proactive and engaged workforce.

Bolsters Engagement in Workplace-Sponsored Wellness Opportunities

Workplace-sponsored wellness opportunities like health talks, fitness/stress management classes, healthy cooking demos, health fairs, etc. create a more connected workforce, but the most crucial component — employee engagement — can be challenging. Virtual wellness coaching programs lay a foundation for employees to become aware of their barriers, educated on solutions, and encouraged to participate when presented with a wellness opportunity. The intrinsic motivation they’ve developed kicks in.

Even well-curated group wellness initiatives can feel like a one-size-fits-all solution for employees who haven’t engaged in wellness yet. Once a personal wellness plan has been developed, it’s easier to see group wellness classes and events as the convenient (and free!) healthy resource that they are. Employee wellness coaches can also help us better understand the benefits and strategize how to fit these activities into busy schedules.

The private, convenient, flexible, and customized approach of virtual wellness coaching often attracts employees with little engagement efforts from internal administration teams. Not only do personal wellness plans naturally increase engagement in other parts of the wellness program, they do so without taking valuable time from other participation strategies your teams are devoted to.

Long-Term Cost Savings for All

By addressing whole-person wellness, virtual wellness coaching programs benefit both organizations and individuals with long-term cost savings by avoiding expensive medical treatments and medications through proactive health management. Employee wellness coaches support their participants in taking responsibility for their well-being and self-directed behavior change that is realistic and sustainable. Some potential focus areas include:

• Chronic disease management, insulin resistance, prediabetes, preventive health, cardiac rehab, bariatrics
• Weight loss, muscle building, toning, fitness planning, injury prevention
• Functional nutrition, emotional eating, plant-based eating, mindful eating
• Hormonal balance, menopause support, hormone/liver/gut health
• Habit formation, mindset transformation
• Stress management, mindfulness, positive lifestyle choices, living purposefully
• Pre/postpartum exercise & nutrition
• Fragmented sleep, insomnia

Healthier employees mean lower healthcare costs, fewer sick days, and decreased absenteeism, all of which contribute to a more efficient and productive workforce. For some organizations, the significant reduction in healthcare premiums and the cost of lost productivity offset the initial investment in wellness coaching. Additionally, prioritizing mental health mitigates stress-related illnesses and burnout, improving employee retention, reducing turnover rates, and creating a supportive wellness culture.

Strive Virtual Wellness Coaching Programs

Strive’s Virtual Wellness Coaching Programs are streamlined for easy implementation and minimal internal administration from your teams. Each program is customizable to your group, with the ability to adjust the number of sessions each participant receives, the longevity of the program, and the number of participants allowed to enroll.

Our board-certified health and wellness coaches are experienced and specialize in a wide variety of health and wellness topics, such as fitness, nutrition, chronic disease prevention/management, and weight loss. Coaches utilize our virtual platform to ensure convenient and flexible scheduling, knowing that employees are often preoccupied during normal working hours and adapting to set a realistic meeting cadence.

Strive’s Virtual Wellness Coaching Programs have been extremely well-received by employees nationwide, with many participants asking to extend or bring back the program. The individualized approach lays the foundation for employees to learn, plan, and habitualize healthy behaviors, so when they’re presented with wellness opportunities like health talks, fitness classes, or healthy cooking demos, they’re more inclined to recognize the benefits and participate.

Book a discovery call with us to customize a corporate wellness coaching program for your organization.