Why Your Workplace Wellness Program Isn't Working
Gallup and Healthways have developed a comprehensive, definitive source of well-being measurement, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being 5. This scientific survey instrument and reporting experience measures, tracks, and reports on the well-being of individuals and organizations. The five essential elements of well-being are:
Purpose: liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals
Social: having supportive relationships and love in your life
Financial: managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security
Community: liking where you live, feeling safe, and having pride in your community
Physical: having good health and enough energy to get things done daily
Engagement isn't enough to guarantee well-being
Though engagement is essential to creating a culture of workplace well-being, it's not enough on its own to create high well-being in all five elements. When employees are engaged, they're twice as likely as average employees to have thriving well-being in four or five elements, but two-thirds of engaged employees still struggle or suffer in two or more of the five elements.
What's more, the five well-being elements are interdependent and reinforce one another. When employees are thriving in multiple elements, it becomes easier for them to accomplish things that are in their own best interest, such as maintaining good physical health. If you have thriving Social Well-Being, for example, it's more likely that people you care about will be interested in your health. People with more daily stress make worse decisions in the moment. But if you have thriving Financial Well-Being, you will have less daily stress, which makes it more likely you will not fall back on instant gratification that may work against your long-term health interests.
What businesses can do
To determine whether their company's wellness program is making a difference at key organizational levels, leaders must be able to answer yes to these questions:
Culture: Do my company's programs encompass all five well-being elements? Does our organizational culture support our wellness initiatives? For example, is it socially acceptable in our organization for employees to exercise in the middle of the day or to leave early to participate in a charitable function?
Leaders: Do all my company's leaders support the well-being initiative? Do they regularly communicate the value of the program and reinforce how it fits with the organization's purpose and brand identity? Do they consistently model the behaviors that the program seeks to impart?
Managers: Are all managers successful at engaging their teams? Do they create the time and focus for employees to participate in the right company-sponsored programs to develop their well-being? Do they help their team members set goals to improve their well-being?
Companies can improve the prognosis for better results if they enlist managers to promote well-being initiatives with their teams and in one-on-one conversations with their employees. Expanding wellness programs to track, manage, and enhance employees' well-being in all of the five elements can help companies reduce healthcare costs while improving employee performance and customer engagement.
References:
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236531/why-workplace-wellness-program-isn-working.aspx