What are employee wellness programs? 8 ideas and examples

Learn how to implement effective wellness programs

A notepad on a desk with the legend "employee wellness program" on it

You’ve heard about company wellness programs and the benefits for your employees. You may have even taken a closer look once or twice. Now it’s time to implement your own. It’s time to provide a program to improve the health and well-being of your employees.

A corporate or company wellness program is an employer-sponsored program designed to support employees in maintaining a high standard of health. These programs often focus on a variety of areas, including physical and mental health, quality of life, and productivity.

What do employees expect from you as an employer? See our survey findings in Oyster's Employee Expectations Report.

Although implementing a company wellness program for employees requires time and money, it benefits the organization by increasing productivity, decreasing the number of sick days, and reducing turnover

What to include in your wellness program

Corporate wellness programs can be customized to suit your workforce, making the benefits more personalized and meaningful. While you want the program to be appealing to your employees, you don’t have to copy what other companies are doing. Work with your provider to implement a program that suits your team’s unique wants and needs in key areas.

1. Juno for flexible employee benefits

Juno is designed to solve the problems that matter most to employees, as decided by those individuals. Employers can allocate a monthly points budget for everyone on the team, and each person can decide how to spend them. Juno offers over 500 targeted products and services ranging from learning and development courses to physical and mental health care.

This system eliminates waste that can come from spending on one-size-fits-all programs no one wants to participate in.

2. Plumm for employee mental well-being

There should never be a stigma around mental health. It’s critical to let your employees know that you’re on their side when they need extra support. 

Plumm is designed to help workers increase productivity, reduce the risk of burnout, and boost morale. The GDPR- and HIPAA-compliant platform gives your team instant access to video therapy and chat therapy with accredited mental health practitioners. 

Users can also access video courses and meditation exercises to better understand their emotional well-being and build their mindfulness skills.

3. Kona for burnout prevention

A Deloitte workplace burnout survey of 1,000 full-time US professionals showed 77% of respondents reporting feelings of burnout at their current job. This is a major problem. Employee burnout reduces productivity, increases mistakes, and results in a higher turnover rate. 

Kona is a well-being check-in tool for Slack. Here’s how it works:

  • Employees check in daily, either privately or with other team members
  • Live support is available for anyone who is struggling
  • Organizations receive health trend data to help them plan for the future

Your team’s data can help you predict the likelihood of burnout before it starts affecting performance and engagement. Being proactive can help you prevent serious cases of burnout and improve your team’s relationship with their work. 

4. Culture Amp for measuring employee engagement

As an employee experience platform, Culture Amp helps you measure employee engagement and implement development tools to build an industry-leading culture. You can get a better sense of people’s engagement, performance, and professional development.

Using this type of platform shows that you’re listening to employees and responding to the cues they provide. This allows you to make more informed, personalized decisions about each employee as they grow. 

Include international remote workers

With remote work continuing to grow in popularity, it’s imperative to include international workers in your company’s wellness program. In addition to providing access to the same tools, consider details such as:

  • Time zones
  • Cultural differences
  • Communication tools

Consider also how you can help remote workers maintain their mental health even without regular in-person communication.

In addition to a corporate wellness program, rely on global HR software to easily hire and manage employees worldwide.

Looking for specific details on how to hire around the world? Check out our hiring guides. (There are over 50!).

Examples of well-being programs that work

Employee wellness benefits aren’t new, even if the methods of providing them have evolved a great deal. Here are a few familiar examples that have already proven to be successful: 

  • On-site fitness centers make it easy for employees to work out when it fits their schedule. 
  • Smoking cessation programs help people avoid health-related concerns and get the support they need when quitting.
  • Remote working arrangements allow for a more stable work-life balance.
  • Flexible work hours help employees successfully balance their careers and personal lives.
  • Unlimited paid time off (PTO) removes the stress of tracking and saving PTO days.

Introducing a company wellness program to your employees can have a positive impact on your organization. If you’re ready to take action, there are plenty of options available. It won’t be long before you have a program in place that benefits every employee.

About Oyster

Oyster is a global employment platform designed to enable visionary HR leaders to find, engage, pay, manage, develop, and take care of a thriving distributed workforce. Oyster lets growing companies give valued international team members the experience they deserve, without the usual headaches and expense.

Oyster enables hiring anywhere in the world—with reliable, compliant payroll, and great local benefits and perks.

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