A lot of organizations have significant challenges with implementing their corporate wellness plans for a number of reasons. Even with what looks like a pretty sound corporate wellness plan on paper, there are a few common mistakes that a lot of organizations make in implementation. So in this article, we are going to show you the top three things that you should not do, if you want your corporate wellness plan to work:

1. Don’t turn it into a contest

Whenever a task is handed down to group of people in any setting—at work, school, social clubs, etc… there is a very high tendency for it to evolve into a competition whether or not this was the intended outcome. When this happens, inevitably, there will also be winners and losers which is something that you should aim to avoid as it creates tension in the office, and creates an unfavorable working environment for the “losers”. This is also obviously very bad for staff morale.

2. Don’t Stigmatize

A lot of the time, staff who fail to comply with wellness programs are stigmatized and made to look bad by management and these staff end up becoming increasingly non-compliant and resentful. The irony is that such individuals are also statistically more likely to be the most vulnerable, health wise, and should be offered greater encouragement.

3. Don’t Generalize

It’s been said so many times, on this site and others, that creating a generic corporate wellness plan using a one size fits all approach is likely to backfire. Everyone, even the fittest of people, has unique health issues and needs to be managed as an individual. Companies need to understand this and design their corporate wellness plans accordingly.

4. Don’t Formalize

There is always the tendency of organizations to rubber stamp their wellness plans and, if not explicitly, implicitly expect staff to comply whether they like it or not. However , it has been shown statistically, that this approach has an extremely high likelihood of resulting in failure. Employee engagement has been identified as a major factor for the success of any corporate wellness program and one smart way to achieve this is by implementing corporate wellness in social settings. For instance, you might aim for having group workout sessions or having a professional give a talk during a staff day out.

Conclusion

Experience has shown that if you get these four tips wrong, in your implementation of corporate wellness, then you are not likely to have a very high chance of success. Remember that all your staff are individuals and treat them with the  respect that they deserve as you work towards helping them improve on their health.

A professional trainer might be able to help you design a wellness plan that works and if you’re looking to hire one, we’d be happy to connect you with a trainer you can trust. Please contact us at:

WhatsApp number: +971565830067 (Just send us code 4357 and we will get back to you ASAP)
Contact Us: Click here to send us your details or fill in the form below.

You can get in touch with us 24/7 and one of our experts will not only give you a free consultation but also help you pick out an appropriate male or female personal trainer to meet your needs. One-on-one personal training lessons are available in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman and RAK.
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This is a hot topic in the corporate (business) and political worlds; employees want ever more increasing medical and health benefits in the office and employers were reluctant to give them this at first, because of the huge costs and efforts involved; but companies and employers are starting to see the sense of wellness programs and are investing heavily on them now.

Corporate wellness deals with our physical and mental wellbeing and health in the office.

Corporate wellness includes health benefits and packages such as; sick pay, paid pregnancy leaves, health insurance, exercise, healthy and balanced meals at work, nap time, lunch breaks, and etcetera; which all look for a way to make us feel happier and make us more relaxed at work.

Corporate wellness programs have received different views from the public; different governments of nations have different corporate health policies depending on public opinion.

But a good corporate wellness program has many advantages including:

1. Improving standard of living and life expectancy

Healthy habits practiced at work as a result of corporate wellness programs, will also be practiced at home and elsewhere; so the employee lives a more healthy life, and his life expectancy increases as a result.

2. Increasing productivity

When employees are feeling healthy, they become more involved and interested in their work; they are excited with their work, hence they work harder and faster and with more energy and so their overall productivity increases as well.

3. Reducing medical costs

Wellness programs including corporate ones are a prevention program; they help to prevent diseases, illnesses and complications.

The money spent on treating a disease or complication is far more spent on prevention mechanisms; so the more money spent on prevention, the less is spent tackling with the actual disease as there will be fewer and fewer.

In a recent study, it was discovered that about $3.27 was saved on every dollar spent on corporate wellness programs.

4. Reducing or eliminating  sick leaves

With a very good and effective corporate wellness program, employees are healthier and so become sick less often; hence they take less sick leaves and because of this, less money is spent by the company or employer on sick pays and the financial impact of having a reduced workforce.

Instead, the company’s productivity increases as most its workforce are healthy and only a few (if any) are away on sick leaves.

5. Improving attitude

When people feel healthier, they feel happier; they are more joyful and bouncy in their mood, so they are more excited of their work and relate cordially and friendlier with their other work colleagues and their bosses, which makes the office become a hive of positivity and excitement.

6. Creating a family and a community spirit in the office

When employees perform workouts together in corporate wellness programs, a bond is formed and the employees come closer together with their colleagues. Now their colleagues are no longer strangers or someone they just greet in the morning; they are a family.

So employees will now be more eager to go to work in the morning because they are going to meet their other ‘family.’

7. Creating better incentives to learn healthy habits

Because health and fitness is done in a group and is usually in a fun way, employees will stick to these even at home or when not at work and hence it betters the individual health and fitness of the employees for years to come (probably even for the rest of his life).

8. Reducing stress

Workouts reduce mental and body stress by relaxing them so they can produce more; hence corporate wellness programs involving workouts can result in greater productivity as stress in employees is reduced.

9. Creating a greener office

Many companies and employers are now putting flowers and trees in their complexes and facilities, a phenomenon called Going Green, which creates a feeling of tranquility, coolness and calmness.

As a result, employees are relaxed and less stressed.

 10. Afternoon naps

Afternoon naps as part of corporate wellness programs improves our alertness, and is supported by studies which show that a nap of between twenty and thirty minutes improves our performance and alertness considerably, refreshing and rebooting our bodies and minds so we can perform more when we wake up, and, you do not have to nap for very long, so the company does not have to be shut down for too long.

WhatsApp number: +971 565 830 067   (Just send us code 4160 and we will get back to you ASAP)
Contact Us: Click here to send us your details or fill in the form below.

You can get in touch with us 24/7 and one of our experts will not only give you a free consultation but also help you pick out an appropriate male or female personal trainer to meet your needs. One-on-one personal training lessons are available in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman and RAK.
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