Wellness In The Workplace

By Lisa Goodall, Marsh & McLennan Agency, LLC

Wellness, what does it mean to you? Achieving 10,000 steps a day? Consuming 5-10 cups of fruits and vegetables per day? Sleeping eight hours each night? A stress-free work environment? Saving for retirement? When we think of wellness, a few common things come to mind: exercise, nutrition and even disease management. In reality, wellness has a very broad definition and means something different to each individual. The trend in the past few years is a shift toward overall well-being. Well-being encompasses all factors of life: physical, emotional, financial, social, career and community.

Employers know a lack of “presenteeism” is as detrimental as absenteeism. When a well-being component is not aligned, employees are often not engaged or present while at work. Leaders of organizations are now realizing they must figure out what motivates their employees both extrinsically (their paycheck) and intrinsically (being fully engaged in work activity).

In the past, most wellness programs encouraged employees to complete a biometric screening and a health risk assessment. Once completed, gift cards were typically distributed as the incentive and that was the end of the wellness program. If a glaring problem was uncovered, a recommendation to a physician would be made, but no follow-up occurred. This would result in a short-term win, but wasn’t likely to lead to long-lasting results or change.

Recently, wellness vendors have switched their focus to a more holistic approach: mind, body and spirit. This empowers employers and leaders of organizations to think more about the VOI (Value on Investment) rather than the ROI (Return on Investment). ROI is measured by reduced healthcare costs. While VOI is not as easy to measure, it is equally as important. Employee morale, decreased use of sick days, productivity, positivity and talent retention are all important aspects of workplace culture. Employees spend 40+ hours a week at work; therefore, the culture in the workplace environment is key. As Laura Putnam, author of Workplace Wellness that Works, states, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

Workplace wellness or well-being is dependent on culture and leadership participation. Change takes time, patience and experimentation. The key is infusion of well-being into daily conversation, work rituals and business objectives.