Despite increasing prioritization from employers, the number of employees who agree that their organization cares about their wellbeing has hit a record low, new data from Gallup shows. This, even as four in five employers note a significant rise in benefit utilization.
This discrepancy isn’t all that surprising, however, as employee sentiment gathered by Gallup suggests that EAPs and other benefit offerings alone are not a comprehensive solution. Instead, employers must create a culture of care to truly champion workplace wellbeing.
Take it from Lauren Lisko, a wellbeing champion herself. Named one of the top three finalists for ‘Global Wellbeing Champion of the Year’ at this year’s The Investors in People Awards, Lisko is the Internal Wellness Manager and Corporate Fitness Trainer at Workplace Options (WPO), responsible for promoting holistic health and wellbeing within the organization through on-site wellness events, quarterly wellness challenges, and engaging intranet campaigns, among other initiatives. She believes that thoughtful and engaging health and wellness events are essential for sustaining employee wellbeing and fostering trust, belonging, and organizational success.
“The key to a thriving workforce is creating an environment where employees feel empowered to take care of themselves,” Lisko says. “By organizing on-site wellness events, leaders can provide the resources and information employees need to make proactive and informed health decisions, while also fostering a sense of community and support to sustain their momentum and reassure them that their health and career do not have to be in conflict.”
“When employees feel healthy and supported—even if it’s just through small improvements in their environment or routines,” she adds, “they’re going to be more engaged, creative, collaborative, attentive, and ultimately more successful as a cohesive unit.”
Employee Wellbeing: More than a ‘Perk’ or Personal Responsibility
At the core of Gallup’s findings is the fact that far too many employers think of health maintenance as an ‘outside-of-work’ task: Something to do before the morning commute or after the workday ends. But health maintenance is an all-day, everyday task. It encompasses everything from our breathwork during stressful meetings and what we elect to do on our breaks, to how we move and stretch our bodies while performing physical labor and how we fuel and refuel our bodies to meet the demands of the day.
More importantly, however, the strength of our health maintenance is largely contingent upon who we are surrounded by—what we are taught to do and what aspects of our health we are taught to prioritize. This, of course, includes health professionals such as our doctors, counselors, and specialists. But it also includes our colleagues, team leads, and all those in our communities who provide services intended to influence our health and health habits in some way.
Corporate health and wellness events draw on that influence—empowering individuals to make positive, health-conscious choices by leveraging:
- Peer participation to convince staff to get involved
- Manager approval to give staff the ‘OK’ to take care of their health
- Community partnerships to establish a network of mentors for staff to turn to for ongoing guidance and support
These events also serve as a crucial lifeline for those who might otherwise lack guidance on the ‘what,’ ‘how,’ ‘where,’ and ‘why’ of health maintenance—in other words, what aspects of their health to prioritize, how to care for them, where to find appropriate resources, and why it all matters. Through the workplace’s role as an equalizing force—where everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, spends at least a third of their day—on-site events provide a vital opportunity to connect underserved populations with the information, support, and community they need.
That said, here are 6 simple steps leaders can take to plan a successful health and wellness event:
- Gather feedback.
Undoubtedly, the chief reason for the gap between employers and employees who say their organization cares about employee wellbeing is the lack of personalized care. Whether the focus is on wellbeing or engagement, employees do not respond to generic, one-size-fits-all solutions. If they do not feel seen, heard, and valued as individuals, they are understandably not going to believe their organization cares about their individual wellbeing.
Therefore, to organize a successful health and wellness event, leaders must ensure it aligns with employees’ expressed needs and interests. They can do this by proactively reaching out to employees to ask what topics they might like to learn about through an on-site event. This may include sending company-wide emails to solicit advice, posting polls on intranet platforms, disseminating anonymized surveys, engaging one-on-one with staff, and, once an event has been hosted, distributing follow-up questionnaires to assess what worked well and what can be improved for next time.
Consequently, it’s imperative that leaders not only gather feedback but actually use it to guide the event planning process—deciding what topics are addressed, what materials or handouts are provided, what vendors are chosen, etc.
“The goal of an internal wellness event,” Lisko says, “is to inspire employees to get curious about their health and wellbeing and become more proactive moving forward. If you’re not marketing to their interests, they are not going to show up. And even if they do, if they don’t see the connection between what’s being discussed and their own health and behaviors, they are not going to make any meaningful changes.”
- Time accordingly.
Perhaps one of the most substantial changes that employees can make after attending an insightful wellness event is adjusting their benefits plan. Once they have the information needed to establish judicious health goals, it is crucial that they are able to reassess their coverage options to ensure they receive the most relevant support in achieving those goals and maintaining overall wellbeing.
As such, organizing the event around the time of open enrollment is essential to ensuring maximum impact and lasting results. By providing employees with this clear and impactful first step to take following the event, leaders reassure them that their benefits really are for their personal benefit and that their leaders truly are committed to safeguarding their health and wellbeing.
A key element of her own event planning strategy, Lisko also emphasizes the value of having providers in attendance who can field questions about coverage options and help employees navigate any red tape or fine print related to their benefits.
“By having providers on-site who can talk to employees about their health plans and ensure they know how to make the best use of them,” Lisko attests, “leaders can not only increase utilization but also strengthen staff’s belief in their commitment to employee wellbeing.”
Especially if services like flu shots and COVID boosters are going to be provided, planning an event around the start of flu season is also favorable for optimal results. Taking care of employees’ health at a time when it is most likely to decline—amid colder temperatures, shorter days, and higher illness rates—is an effective way to demonstrate genuine care, concern, and consideration for employee wellbeing.
- Offer variety.
The best way to show support for employees’ individual wellbeing is to cater to the individual as much as possible. This means covering a variety of health topics during the event to maximize engagement and satisfaction.
As Lisko maintains, “the more dynamic the event, the more successful and impactful it will be.” Offering variety not only allows leaders to address a multitude of employee interests and concerns, but it also speaks to the multidimensional nature of health and wellbeing.
“Health cannot be siloed,” Lisko asserts. “You cannot address physical health without mental health; just like you can’t address emotional health without spiritual and social health, and so on.”
Therefore, making sure that any wellness event addresses a number of relevant health topics is key to ensuring employees can go forth and apply what they’ve learned with satisfactory results.
- Communicate effectively.
Personalization and variety aside, the only way to ensure employees show up at all is through effective communication and campaigning. This means giving employees plenty of notice about when and where the event is taking place, why they should attend, how it will benefit them (and/or how they may participate), and what and who will be featured at the event.
A successful communication strategy will ultimately include routine posts across intranet platforms advertising the event. It will involve the distribution of eye-catching flyers (both digital and physical) and the display of posters throughout the worksite. Additionally, it will include direct communication or engagement with staff—asking individual employees if they plan on attending and encouraging them to do so. And it will also feature fun or compelling incentives for attending, incorporating gamified elements such as challenges, leaderboards, and prizes that encourage employees to get involved by:
- Reflecting on their experience
- Adopting healthier habits for the long-term
- Deploy peer ambassadors.
Harnessing the power of peer influence, a successful wellness event will rely on the endorsement and involvement of peer ambassadors who can better speak to the needs and interests of their teams and colleagues. By promoting the event through the tongues of one’s peers, leaders succeed in creating a culture of care and wellbeing where employees feel safe and empowered to take care of their health and to open up about their health journey to their teams.
More than that, however, peer ambassadors are integral to the success of regional wellness events—particularly within large and multinational organizations—by ensuring cultural relevancy. As Lisko explains, “Ambassadors play a pivotal role in enhancing how organizations deliver these events across multiple sites. They have better insight into their local employee base; they have a better understanding of their lifestyles and which topics will resonate most.”
“Because they provide a tangible representation of employee voice,” she adds, “they also help the event feel more personalized, fostering a stronger sense of connection between staff and the event, as well as those with running it.”
- Assess impact.
“Perhaps the bigger challenge that organizations face when it comes to delivering a successful wellness event,” Lisko says, “is figuring out how to make whatever is gained last. You got people to come to the event, great—but how do you measure the impact the event had on their wellbeing afterward? How do you ensure that any improvements made are sustained?”
Following up with employees directly is a great start. This can be done by way of anonymized surveys or questionnaires in the weeks after the event, scheduling one-on-one meetings with close reports to gather feedback, or introducing site- or company-wide challenges encouraging staff to share any newly established wellness goals and track their progress over a set period of time. “If participation grows or remains high with each event,” Lisko notes, “that’s also a good indication of their perceived value.”
Leaders can also look at their organizational health metrics. “There is a strong body of correlative data that shows that offering these events leads to reduced absenteeism, greater engagement, and lower turnover,” Lisko says. “If leaders notice any of these trends in the weeks to months following an event, it’s fair to assume the event played a role in that, and they should investigate further and respond accordingly to build on that momentum.”
Leading By Example: How WPO Uses Health Fairs to Promote Internal Wellbeing
This past October, Lisko spearheaded WPO’s annual on-site health fair at its headquarters in Raleigh, NC. The two-day event, which focused on preventative health, featured several local partners based on feedback Lisko received from employees ahead of the event. This included long-time partner eHealth Screenings and Health Park Pharmacy, representatives from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and Ascensus, as well as The NOW Massage of Raleigh Midtown, RowHouse of Raleigh Midtown, Summerfield Custom Wellness, and Skincare Reboot by Mayra, who provided services ranging from health screenings and flu shots to chair massages and personalized skincare assessments.
“Preventative health is a key aspect of what we aim to communicate through the health fair,” Lisko said about the event. “By offering resources, screenings, and interactive booths with great educational materials, we encourage our employees to engage in proactive health practices. This helps us to identify potential health issues early and remind staff that taking care of oneself is a vital part of a balanced life.”
“We find that this event resonates strongly and has a profound and lasting impact on our employees,” she later remarked. “Attendees often leave feeling informed and empowered about their health choices. Many discover new resources available to them, engage in conversations about wellness, and establish connections with healthcare providers and wellness experts. This sense of community and support not only fosters individual growth but strengthens our organizational culture.”
Getting Started: How WPO Can Help
Planning a successful wellness event requires time, resources, and a deep understanding of employees’ needs and desires. With everything else leaders have to worry about, this is understandably easier said than done. Fortunately, WPO’s expert consultants are here to help leaders provide tailored, meaningful support to their teams.
With the help of WPO Consulting Group, leaders gain access to the tools and data they need to make informed wellbeing strategy decisions, develop effective employee feedback systems, and deliver the care their employees desire.
Our consultants can help leaders determine what their employees want most from a wellness event, what topics they’d like to—or need—to learn more about, who they would like to attend, and where and how often they would prefer these events to take place.
To learn more or to get started today, head to https://consulting.workplaceoptions.com/ or contact us at https://consulting.workplaceoptions.com/contact/.
