A well-designed workplace wellness program can be effective in establishing a culture of health and helping employees adopt and sustain healthy lifestyle change.
Related: So, are wellness plans worth it?
According to Optum's Seventh Annual Wellness in the Workplace Study, employers are interested in creating a culture of health, but most are far from reaching that goal.
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The study shows 60 percent of large employers say it is very important to achieve a culture of health at work, while only 20 percent have actually done so.
While companies define "culture of health" differently depending on their unique personality and priorities, we at Optum define it as "a work environment where employees have the resources, tools, and support system that empowers and motivates them to take responsibility for their own health."
The Wellness in the Workplace study, based on a survey of 554 benefits professionals at U.S. companies across a variety of industries, illuminates several strategies that employers can follow to develop a culture of health.
Go beyond physical.
Nearly all companies' wellness programs address physical health, according to the Optum study. Increasingly, however, the population health management industry is recognizing the importance of total well-being which involves physical, behavioral, and financial health. Yet, despite this, less than two-thirds of employers offer mental health wellness programs and slightly more than one-third provide financial health wellness programs.
Employers need to do more to achieve a holistic approach by offering services that support employees' mental, social and financial needs. This includes investments in programs such as on-site stress reduction activities and financial education services.
Align the players.
Sponsorship from business leaders is a key factor in the successful implementation of any corporate strategy. Establishing a culture of health is no different.
However, Optum's study found that human resources professionals and business leaders are not aligned on the significance of employee well-being: 41 percent of HR professionals — compared with 32 percent of business leaders — say that wellness solutions are very important to the benefits mix. And only 17 percent of HR executives — compared with 30 percent of business leaders — say that well-being among their employees is very good.
One way to bridge this disconnect is to tie health and wellness outcomes not only to medical cost savings, but other business performance goals as well. This could include, for example, demonstrating how wellness impacts recruitment, retention, productivity, presenteeism, and employee quality of life. HR professionals should provide business leaders with the data they need to champion workplace wellness.
Focus on environment.
Introducing health and wellness programs to your workplace culture is just the beginning. To yield maximum results, companies need to build a workplace environment that makes good health decisions the path of least resistance.
Programs such as wellness coaching, fitness challenges, and biometric screenings can create awareness, build skills, and help employees maintain their health goals. However, good health decisions become even easier when they are made in a setting that supports making good choices.
The encouraging news is that 86 percent of employers we surveyed said that environmental changes are at least somewhat likely to help employees make healthy decisions. Unfortunately, the Optum study shows that only 8 percent of health and wellness budgets, on average, are allocated to changing the physical work environment.
Cost-effective environmental changes — such as encouraging stairwell use through attractive lighting, providing healthy food choices and offering outdoor walking paths, to name a few — can promote healthy behaviors.
A culture of health is not just about offering wellness programs. It's about creating an enterprise-wide commitment to healthy behaviors.
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