How you can increase engagement and overall impact of your wellbeing program
For many employees, health and wellbeing can be overwhelming. Because of that, it can be challenging to gain trust within your organization and grow your wellbeing programs. Two experts from the Public Sector share the first step to take when building your wellbeing program and how they have instilled trust within their organizations, increased engagement, and the overall impact of their programs.
“Life is a celebration, and I want our wellbeing program to reflect that idea,” Dr. Grace Ingram, Wellbeing Program Manager for the City of Alexandria, explained.
So how do you create a wellbeing program that effectively engages your employees and creates change within your organization?
By using a simple addition math problem: creating trust + making it fun = comfortable change.
Wellbeing doesn’t look the same for everyone within your organization. Some people might be looking for financial tips or want to learn to meditate. Others might want to find ways to be more social or try goat yoga, but it’s important to look at wellbeing in a holistic and personalized way. Personify Health has programs and challenges that create meaningful interactions.
“We wanted to keep our people engaged and trusting in us, even if they were remote and on the other side of the screen, so we had to come up with programs that did that effectively,” says Dr. Grace Ingram, Wellbeing Program Manager for the City of Alexandria.
Overcoming challenges to support your employees’ wellbeing
Instill trust
Establishing trust within your organization when creating a wellbeing program is important because employees need to trust your motives and understand why they should be engaging with the program. When you get to know your employees and what impacts them personally, you help establish trust and make them feel valued. You also learn how to present information to them in an effective way. What works for one person might not work for another, but by creating a personalized response to the issues they’re facing you continue to establish trust and help them overcome their challenges.
Another way to establish trust is to make yourself known and available to your employees. This helps them talk about difficult subjects and encourages them to approach you about their challenges.
“Make them know that you see them and make them see you as you work to establish trust and get to know their culture,” Lili Rojas, Wellness Program Manager for the Montgomery County Government explained.
Make it fun
Wellbeing shouldn’t be another chore on your employee’s list of things to do. In fact, it should be something they want to do; for that to truly happen, it’s important to make wellbeing fun.
Provide opportunities for your employees to focus on the future and the goals they want to accomplish. This could be through social events like competing on an obstacle course or a luncheon where they learn about health issues affecting them. It could be celebrating national observances like World Art Day with a virtual Paint and Sip event to encourage people to tap into their creativity. It could also be them completing daily challenges on their Personify Health app to get points toward their benefits.
By encouraging your employees to participate in events they enjoy, you can increase their trust in you while also encouraging them to take steps toward improving their wellbeing.
Create comfortable change
When you can instill trust within your organization and make wellbeing fun, you will begin to create positive change. A wellbeing program that encourages employees to participate and be part of their health journey helps them accomplish their goals without it being a burden or tedious. Personify Health solutions fit seamlessly into their daily lives so they can make the most of their benefits and create positive changes.
By creating a wellbeing program that promotes positive change and instills trust in your organization, you will see an increase in engagement and overall impact.