How to Engage Employees in Wellness Programs & 7 Best Practices for Success

Sitting at a desk all day isn’t just boring—it’s also bad for your health. Prolonged sedentary behavior can lead to serious health problems, including an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and even some cancers. You can combat these health risks with a well-designed employee wellness program to improve mobility and reduce sedentary behavior. But first, you need to engage employees in the program. The statistics show that many wellness programs fail to improve employee health because they don’t attract enough participation. So, how do you turn this around? How to engage employees in wellness programs. This article will offer valuable insights and actionable strategies to help you boost participation in your mobility program to improve employee health, productivity, and workplace morale with seated stretches and outdoor activities.

One key to improving engagement in wellness programs is Pliability's mobility app. Our easy-to-use solution offers a library of targeted mobility routines that help combat the adverse effects of prolonged sitting. With Pliability, you can create customized programs to suit your office's needs, engage employees with interactive features like videos and progress tracking, and promote long-term participation to improve employee health and performance. 

What is Employee Engagement in Wellness Programs?

Employee engagement in wellness programs refers to employees readily participating in the well-being programs' challenges. A wellness program that provides the engagement factor allows employees to maintain zeal and a sense of ownership when participating. Also, they will be able to understand the worth of taking part in wellness programs in the long run.  

Why Does Engagement Matter?

The first thought when integrating a corporate wellness program is the return on investment. Having engaged employees in the program will deliver benefits like:
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• Better productivity
• Job satisfaction
• Better overall well-being
• Lower healthcare cost
• Better employee morale  

What are the Reasons Behind Low Engagement in Wellness Programs?  

Wellness programs should be more than adding wellness challenges to engage your workforce. They should add actual value to an employee's lifestyle. Here are three some of the commonly seen reasons why most wellness initiatives backfire:  

1. The Program Only Addresses Some of Your Employee Wellness Needs

Understanding your employee requirements is crucial to driving active participation. If the program doesn't align with your employees' wellness goals, they are less likely to engage in the initiatives.  

2. The Program Needs Proper Incentivization

Incentivization has the power to motivate employees to participate in wellness activities. Nevertheless, offering the correct number of incentives is essential. Only then will the employees feel motivated to continue their wellness journey. 

You can offer variations in the incentive, which is another key to driving employee engagement. It is human nature to get bored. If you provide the same incentive every time, the participants may lose interest in the program. To improve employee engagement, offer a generous incentive from time to time.  

3. Lack of Proper Communication Channels

You may think incentivizing the program is enough to drive employee engagement, but there's more to it. Maintain a clear communication channel to keep your employees' interest and engagement in the wellness program. Encouraging employees to stick to the program is all about reminding them why nurturing their health is essential. 

Everyone needs a boost or a reminder to stay focused. Employees won't find any reason to stick to the programs if you don’t communicate about the benefits of joining a corporate wellness program. And sooner than you realize, their interest in these programs will fade away.  

Related Reading

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• Why Is Employee Wellness Important
• Stretching Before Work
• Team Wellness at Work
• Benefits of Employee Wellness Programs
• Virtual Wellness Activities for Employees
• Benefits of a Workplace Wellness Program
• Benefits of Stretching at Work
• Staff Wellness Activities
• Employee Wellbeing Strategies

How to Engage Employees in Wellness Programs

1. Know the Employees Your Program Serves

To effectively engage employees in a wellness program, it’s essential to understand the people your program serves. Start by getting to know your employee population and their relationship with health and wellness. 

Employees will likely have diverse interests and wellness concerns they want to address. You have the challenge of designing an umbrella program for everyone. The better you understand the trends in your employee health needs, the more inclusive your approach can be. Consider the following:

Range of Health

How engaged are most of your employees with their health and wellness? What are your most active employees already doing? Where are my least engaged employees starting? 

You might have marathon runners, and I might have people who don’t move much. Your program should allow both groups to participate. 

Range of Buy-in to Programming

Understand that engagement will look different for different individuals. Some of your employees will be your wellness cheerleaders without any prompting. Others won’t participate in programming regardless of the benefits. Knowing this can help you set a realistic bar for engagement. 

Range of Motivation

Some people participate for prizes or rewards, while others want community building. Others might join in to learn and educate themselves on their wellness. Strive for a balance of motivational strategies in your program. 

Range of Trust

Different individuals will have varying levels of trust in their place of work and healthcare programs. Build trust by asking for employees’ input and having people managers help share your program's goals. Focus on building this trust over time rather than trying to get 100% engagement in your first initiative.

2. Survey Employees About Their Interests

Survey your employees before you plan your program. This allows employees to voice their opinions, questions, and concerns. It also helps you tailor your program to ensure higher engagement. We recommend making the survey anonymous to get honest answers. We ran a survey for our organization before designing our company wellness program! 

Below is a sample survey you could run based on our questions. Adjust as needed for your organization. 

Participation

Do you want to participate in company-sponsored wellness programming? Why or why not? What are my current fitness/wellness goals? 

Wellness Program Options

How would you most like to engage with your health and wellness? Check all that apply.
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• Fitness challenges
• Habit tracking challenges
• Live classes (virtual)
• Live courses (in person)
• On-demand classes
• Gym stipend
• Reimbursement for healthy activities (weight loss classes, smoking cessation, etc.) 
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What topics are you interested in learning more about? Check all that apply. 
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• Nutrition
• Sleep
• Hydration
• Mental Health
• Stress & Burnout Habits
• Goal Setting
• Financial Wellness
• Weight loss
• Smoking cessation 

Rewards/Motivation

Would you be more likely to participate in a company-sponsored wellness program if a prize was involved? What types of prizes would you be interested in? Check all that apply.
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• Gift cards
• Company swag
• Fitness gear (water bottles, jump ropes, resistance bands)
• Tech (earbuds/headphones, smart mugs, Bluetooth speakers, Kindles, fitness trackers) 
• Charitable donations
• Other (fill in the blank)

3. Identify Your Company’s Needs

When designing your corporate wellness program, remember to work within your company's constraints. After thinking through what individual employees bring to the table, reflect on your company as a whole. Consider these questions:

‍Is your company remote, hybrid, or in-person?‍

This can help you plan any in-person options or lean on virtual substitutions. 

‍How big is your company?‍

Smaller companies might have more flexibility in planning and executing a wellness program. Larger companies require more advance planning to get approval from key decision-makers. 

‍What industry is your company in? ‍

Your industry might impact the type of work your employees are doing. If your employees are sedentary (office workers, truck drivers, etc.), you might build a wellness program focusing on fitness and movement. If your employees are on their feet all day (hospital staff, warehouse workers, etc.) you could focus more on self-care tips. Knowing your industry will allow you to tailor your programming. 

What is your company culture like?‍

It’s essential to gauge company culture before implementing a wellness program. ‍

Is the culture one where individuals work heads down, or is it collaborative? Is it more buttoned-up or relaxed? 

Knowing these answers can help you plan and identify where you need more effort.

4. Secure Buy-in From Company Leadership

Make sure you get support for your program from company leadership. They should understand the program's goals, how it will run, and why it will benefit your organization. As part of this, make a clear ask for their commitment to participate in the program. 

As obvious members of the organization, leadership can model participation and encourage others to join in. They influence company culture and will significantly impact the overarching culture of wellness once the program is off and running.

5. Set Goals That Are Tied To Company Values

When setting goals for your wellness program, consider your organization’s values. Account for your employees’ interests, which you can gather via a survey like we discussed above. Share these goals directly with your employees and ensure they understand why you chose them. This is a sure way to build buy-in and engagement. 

Consider these examples. If one of your company values is:

• Teamwork or Collaboration: Consider running team-building exercises or department-based wellness challenges to encourage employees to work together and build relationships with their teammates. 
• Continuous Learning or Curiosity: Consider sharing themed wellness resources every month or offering lunch and learns related to your employees' interests. 
• Giving Back or Community: Consider offering volunteering opportunities hosted by your company or running 5k fundraisers to donate to charities your employees care about. 
• Break Down the Barriers to Participation: Next, get everyone participating in your program. Consider what might hinder your program’s success, and try to avoid common pitfalls.

6. Keep Your Program Visible and Accessible

Out of sight, out of mind. Some wellness programs start with lots of excitement and buzz but get buried in the busyness of day-to-day life. This is especially true of programs that need help to access or navigate. 

What can you do to avoid this? 
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• Keep Everyone Updated: Share reminders about your program in places your employees check often. These can be physical office spaces or virtual places like shared communication channels or portals. 
• Give Login Reminders: If employees use a wellness platform or app, remind them to log in and check these venues frequently. 
• Share Eligibility Information: Ensure that everyone eligible to participate knows that the program is available and how to participate. 
• Offer Support/Help: Designate a go-to individual or “help” email address that employees can contact if they have any questions or concerns. You want to make sure they know where to go for assistance. You could also share a helpful resource that answers FAQs. If you are using a platform to host your program, remind employees they can also contact customer support.

7. Make It Easy To Participate

Another common pitfall for corporate wellness programs is that they can be overly complicated or time-consuming. Avoid a confusing program with these steps:
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• Have clear goals for your program: Limit yourself to 2 or 3 simple goals you can share with all employees. If you try to take on too much, your program will seem complicated, and people might not want to participate. 
• Limit what you ask of people: Don’t add much work to your employees’ plates. Automate any parts of the program that you can. Try to make participating in the program as straightforward as possible. 
• Plan in advance: Build an annual wellness calendar, or at least plan a few months in advance. This allows you to hype challenges, build cadence, and ensure nothing falls through the cracks. It also allows employees to plan. 

8. Build An Inclusive Program For All

Build A Comprehensive & Inclusive Program

A well-rounded, inclusive program offers various activities to suit different fitness levels, personal interests, and schedule constraints. 

Offer Holistic Activities

Incorporate a range of initiatives that address various dimensions of well-being, such as:
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• Fitness classes and healthy snacks in the office for physical wellness.
• Meditation sessions and stress management workshops for mental wellness.
• Financial literacy courses and budgeting workshops for financial wellness.
• Team-building activities and group sports events for social wellness.

Accommodate Different Stages Of The Wellness Journey

Ensure the program caters to employees at various stages of their wellness journey, from beginners to more advanced participants. For example, a marathon training initiative may only appeal to seasoned runners. At the same time, a step challenge is an inclusive alternative that allows employees to set personal goals that match their current fitness levels. 

Similarly, basic budgeting workshops may be more approachable for those new to financial planning, whereas advanced investment seminars may appeal to those looking to expand their financial knowledge. 

Providing options that suit different levels of experience and readiness engages a broader range of employees in the wellness program. 

Provide Flexible Participation Options

Offer a combination of on-demand and live activities to accommodate employees who work remotely or have commitments that prevent them from attending in-person events. Virtual classes, online wellness workshops, and remote support groups ensure that all employees, regardless of location, can participate.

9. Make It Fun!

When your program is fun, people will want to participate! On the other hand, if your program is boring or too competitive, it will lose engagement rapidly. While the journey towards better health can be challenging, you also want to try to make it enjoyable. 

Gamify Your Program

Running competitions and wellness challenges quickly boosts engagement and prevents your program from getting stale. 

Personalize the Program

Like we mentioned above, you can survey your employees to figure out what they are interested in. Then, try to build a program that answers those needs. Ask yourself if you are having fun! This is simple but telling. Are you enjoying the program you’re participating in? If you’re having fun, chances are good that employees are as well. If it isn’t as fun as you’d hoped, ask yourself and others why. 

When you’re busy running a program, it can be easy to forget to pause and reflect. Build in chances for yourself to take the pulse on the program.

10. Host Wellness Challenges

Wellness challenges and health-based events are an easy way to drive employee engagement and improve employee health. You can theme challenges around various topics, including 5k races, step competitions, and habit tracking challenges. 

We suggest keeping your challenges between 1 week to 1 month to avoid challenge burnout. You can manage wellness challenges manually or run them on a platform.

11. Use Technology To Your Advantage

Apps like MoveSpring allow you to run wellness challenges and communicate directly with all participants easily. This can be especially helpful if you need more time manually administering wellness challenges. Some key benefits of using a wellness platform include: 

Automated Syncing

Platforms like MoveSpring will connect to various fitness-tracking devices and sync user activity data. It’s easier for users and program admins. Users don’t have to send their data to admins manually, and admins don’t have to track each employee’s data manually.

Higher Participation

Employees are more likely to join in a program that is easy to use and has an engaging interface. Wellness platforms make the user experience simple and gamified. 

Reporting

A key part of running a program is seeing your results. Apps like MoveSpring allow you to easily pull reports on user engagement, activity data, and change in activity levels over time.

12. Create A Wellness Channel

Consider creating a shared virtual space dedicated to employee wellness. This could be on a communication platform such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. A channel like this allows you to share crucial communications or updates about your wellness program. 

A wellness channel can also serve as a venue for organic conversations. It is a space for employees to chat with each other and build a shared community around wellness. It provides a valuable opportunity for others to chime in with their questions and tips. A shared channel focused on health can lead to organic and authentic engagement year-round.

13. Form a Wellness Committee

Invite members of your team or interested employees from across your organization to help run your wellness programming. Create a wellness committee with extra hands on deck to ensure your programming runs smoothly year-round. 

The ideal wellness committee includes between 2 and 5 members. This gives you more perspectives with fewer cooks in the kitchen. Members of a wellness committee can also help promote the program and answer employee questions.

14. Communicate Strategically

Communication is a key tool for engaging employees in your wellness program. You can communicate through a wellness channel like we described above or use email, a company portal, or a wellness platform such as MoveSpring. 

Here are some of our favorite ideas for communicating with your employees:

Communicate with Employees Year-Round

Communicate frequently and consistently with your employees to maintain interest in your wellness program. We recommend communicating at least monthly and once a week throughout the year.

Here are our suggestions and more templates you can use:

Information About Various Wellness Topics

Share inspirational and fun wellness tips throughout the year to keep your employees engaged. Check out our templates for general wellness engagement. 

Seasonal Events and Holidays

Share seasonal wellness information throughout the year. Check out our templates for events and holidays. 

Educational/Informational Campaigns

Announce any relevant company-specific wellness information. Examples include:
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• Sign-ups for flu shots
• Reminders about taking PTO
• How to access insurance benefits

Communicate with Employees During a Wellness Challenge or Event

Aim to communicate with your employees at least once weekly and once daily during a challenge. Here are our ideas: 
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• Important updates: Ensure everyone knows how your event will run and share updates throughout it. Check out our templates for helpful announcements to post during a challenge. 
• Fun and lighthearted banter and prompts to engage as a community: These communications can help employees build community with each other. Check out our chat ideas for inspiration. Stat callouts to recognize participation will engage your more competitive employees. Check out our templates on stats to call out. 
• Educational material related to your event: Focus on any resources relevant to the topic of your challenge or event.

15. Ensure Managers Are Involved

Ensure managers are modeling engagement in your program and encouraging employees to participate. Here are some ideas for how team leads can help foster engagement: 
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• Host a “beat the boss” day: Have employees compete to out-step their managers or company leaders. 
• Ask managers to interact visibly with any content you share. They can “like” resources and comment on them to help start the conversation.
• Interview team leads about their favorite wellness tips: Share their advice with employees in a wellness channel or newsletter. 
• Have managers build wellness checks into 1:1s: Managers can help keep wellness at the forefront of employees’ minds during check-ins. They can ask their team members how they are doing, and if they have any feedback about the program. 
• Host a “Join Me” series: Have leaders select classes they would like to participate in, such as fitness classes, meditation classes, or nutritious cooking classes. Then, have them invite employees to join them by signing up for the class. 
• Ask managers to share reminders: This is simple but impactful! Managers can remind their teams about how to participate in your program or about any upcoming events. This communicates that they see the value in their teams engaging in the program.

16. Offer Rewards & Incentives

While participation in wellness programs is ideally intrinsically motivated, incentivizing participation can kickstart wellness motivation and sustain it over time. Rewards can include: 
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• Wellness products like fitness gear, yoga mats, or supplements.
• Tech gadgets like fitness trackers, smartwatches, or headphones. 
• Experience-based rewards like spa vouchers, cooking classes, or fitness club memberships 
• Public recognition like social media shout-outs or awarding a “Wellness Champion of the Month.” 
• Extra work flexibility like additional vacation time or work-from-home days. 
• Company swag like branded water bottles and T-shirts.
• Offer Rewards & Incentives. Although immediate rewards can be effective motivators, a continuous reward program keeps employees engaged by offering ongoing incentives for participating and hitting milestones. 
• Another way to maintain long-term wellness motivation is to implement a system where employees earn points for participating in activities, attending workshops, or achieving personal wellness goals. These points can be redeemed for lifestyle spending account funds, allowing employees to select rewards that best fit their needs and interests.

17. Measure Your Impact

To keep engagement high for the long term, you’ll need to know both what’s working and what isn’t. Measure the success of your program so you can make changes as you go to make the program even more effective. Here are a few tools we recommend using to measure the success of your wellness program: 

Surveys

Surveys allow employees to let you know what parts of the program they find engaging. You can ask questions after individual events, quarterly, or at the end of the year. Asking people to rate things offers you quantitative data to analyze. Leave room for fill-in-the-blank answers to collect more open-ended insights. 

Here are a variety of sample questions you could ask at the end of a quarter:

Rate your thoughts on the following statement: I found the wellness program this quarter to be engaging.
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• 1: Strongly disagree
• 2: Disagree
• 3: Neutral 
• 4: Agree
• 5: Strongly agree

Employee Wellness Program Feedback Form

Rank the Wellness Program Offerings
‍
Rank the following wellness program offerings from this quarter, from most engaging to least engaging:
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• [List all offerings for employees to rank]
  ‍

Engagement Feedback

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• What did you find most engaging? Why?
• What did you find least engaging? Why?
  ‍

Progress Toward Personal Health Goals

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On a scale of 1 to 4, how much progress did you make toward your personal health goals this quarter?
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• 1: No progress
• 2: Some progress
• 3: A lot of progress
• 4: Have achieved/consistently achieved health goals
  ‍

Impact of the Wellness Program

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• Did the wellness program help you reach your personal health goals? Why or why not?
  ‍

Suggestions for Improvement
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• What are we missing?
• What could we do differently?
• ‍

Note: This is not an exhaustive list but can serve as a starting point for creating your own feedback form.‍

Check out this CDC resource for more information about different types of survey questions. This will help you design a best survey for your program and your employees. 

Data

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• Look at any data you’re able to gather. Some helpful stats to consider are:
• How many people participate in your program?
• Is the number going up or down over time?
• Are the participant numbers different for different types of initiatives?
• Which events are seeing higher participation?
• What is getting lower participation?
• Are the numbers changing if you measure activity data (such as step totals or active minutes moved throughout an event)?

Self-Reported Measurable Health Outcomes

Depending on your program's goals, ask employees to report their outcomes. For example, they might report losing weight, staying hydrated, or eating more vegetables daily. If employees share that they’ve seen a positive change in their wellness journey or experience, this is a great indicator of your program's success.

Related Reading

‍

• Workplace Stretching
• Wellness Incentive Programs
• Workplace Wellness Program Ideas
• Stretching Exercises for Warehouse Workers
• Company Wellness Programs
• Successful Corporate Wellness Programs
• Employee Wellness Software
• Employee Wellness Program Ideas
• Corporate Wellness Initiatives
• Employee Wellbeing App
• Corporate Mobility Services
• Corporate Wellness Services

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7 Best Practices for Authentic Wellness Program Engagement

1. Keep the Lines of Communication Open

Regular feedback and communication are essential to keeping employees engaged in wellness programs. Conduct periodic employee interest surveys to learn which aspects of the wellness program appeal to workers and which areas need improvement. This process helps align wellness programs with employees’ needs and preferences so participation remains high. As employees’ interests evolve, continue refining programs to help keep them engaged. 

2. Offer Variety to Address Diverse Needs

Wellness programs often fail to engage employees because they lack variety and don’t appeal to different interests. Holistic wellness programs, like Wellable’s, address various dimensions of well-being. 

Activities can range from fitness classes and mental health workshops to sustainability challenges and financial planning seminars catering to diverse needs and goals, which promotes broader engagement. 

3. Make Participation Voluntary

Wellness programs should be a choice, not a mandate. Employees who feel pressured to participate in a wellness program may resent it and engage only to appease their employer. Instead, make participation voluntary to foster genuine interest and autonomy. 

4. Create Continuous Programs With Ongoing Incentives

Instead of programs with set start and end dates, opt for continuous programs that offer rewards in regular intervals for consistent participation.

5. Use Multi-Channel Communication to Promote Program Participation

Maximize program participation by using various communication methods, such as:
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• Engaging email campaigns
• Reminders in internal messaging apps like Teams or Slack
• Physical office displays like posters Interactive wellness portals

6. Highlight Real-Life Benefits of Engagement

Emphasize the real-life benefits of engagement in wellness programs, such as improved health and work-life balance, through success stories and employee testimonials. 

7. Get Leadership on Board to Support Wellness Initiatives

Leadership support and participation are critical for effective communication and engagement in wellness programs. Leaders must “walk the walk” by endorsing and engaging in wellness initiatives. When employees see leaders prioritizing their health, they’ll be encouraged to follow suit.

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Related Reading

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• Stretching Exercises for Warehouse Workers
• Stretches For People Who Sit All Day
• Corporate Wellness Initiatives
• Corporate Wellness Services
• Workplace Wellness Program Ideas
• Employee Wellness Software
• Workplace Stretching
• Corporate Mobility Services
• Company Wellness Programs
• Successful Corporate Wellness Programs
• Wellness Incentive Programs for Employees
• Employee Wellness Program Ideas
• Employee Wellbeing App

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