People and Management March 2019 | Page 43

www.peopleandmanagement.com Often health camps and talks that happen sporadically are not well thought out and are seldom tethered to a goal. They are usually one-off activities as part of wellness week with sometimes low participation. The writing on the wall points towards creating holistic wellness programs that are ongoing in nature and agile enough to incorporate changing employee needs. How to make your corporate program successful A well designed corporate wellness program adopts a holistic approach that supports and encourages employees to put their health on top priority and can lead to a 25% reduction in health care costs. Some important elements that can make your corporate wellness program successful are: Personalize the program for employees: One size doesn’t fi t all when it comes to employee health and wellness. Generic wellness programs and activities ultimately result in a waste of budget. If you are spending your wellness budget on seminars on mindfulness to help with work-related stress when the main source of stress is rooted in fi nancial issues, your company is essentially wasting budget on something that won’t help employees. Building a wellness program for employees based on data regarding their health and well-being means they are more likely to be engaged in the wellness activities and services made available to them. It gives you the opportunity to develop a wellness program that is based on the needs of your employees, rather than ticking a few usual boxes. At ekincare, we help organizations understand the employee health profi le, segment the entire population based on health risk, and use AI to personalize health journey for every employee. Leverage Data and Analytics: Analytics on data beyond utilization can help you understand the requirement of your employees. Data and analytics can also be used to optimize healthcare initiatives and help negotiate better group insurance premiums. Data allows organizations to identify which elements of their program are popular and how employees are responding to program challenges. It can help in profi ling and identifying areas of risk. It also gives organisations a clearer picture of their employee population. Answers & questions like: What is the population’s health profile? What are the common ailments and challenges? What incentives resonate? Analytics on the results of health checks help understand the risk categories, their impact and drive next steps. Drive using technology: In today’s world where everything from booking a taxi to ordering food is done through technology, why shouldn’t wellness for your employees happen the same way? The latest in health-tech like tele-medicine, ordering of medicines online, health coaches online etc. have completely renewed the traditional wellness program. These offerings would truly be appreciated by the employees who are used to the WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram culture! With ekincare, you can provide this to all your employees on a single app! Linked to ROI: The litmus test for a good corporate wellness program lies in improved employee productivity and loyalty’, which is why an effective and effi cient program can only be built if its ROI can be measured. This is not only from the perspective of the business deriving benefi ts of the program but is also important when it comes to assessing the effi cacy of the wellness program. However, wellness should not just be limited to a program but really embedded in the culture of the organisation. These programs should not be treated as a one-tie exercise. Rather, health and well-being should become one of the KRAs for employees so that wellness continues to get the attention and focus that it deserves. Drive health as a culture: Building the perfect wellness program is just the first step, implementing it to drive utilization delivers the proverbial pie! While it sounds easy to link it to employees’ remuneration or thinking of an incentive program sounds inviting, it does not help in the long run. Health should be built in as a culture in the organization and the best way to do it is by example. Wellness should be a mandate driven from the top of the pyramid. Keeping these in mind, we will help you design, implement and drive a wellness program at your corporate that will actually be impactful and effective! For any questions or suggestions about your existing wellness program, please write to [email protected]. P & M * Reference: TowersWatson: Staying@WorkTM Survey Report Vol. 10 Issue 3 • MARCH 2019, Delhi NCR | 43