Oftentimes small businesses face limited resources and knowledge on how to combat the high costs of healthcare. However, small businesses are often most benefited by wellness incentive programs where the well being of workers can have a great impact on employee morale and productivity. In the past year alone,healthcare costs have increased by 5% according to a Kiplinger Magazine article.
Although the limited resources of small businesses present particular challenges, working with a small group of people can also present unique opportunities. For example, employees can assist in the development of the workplace wellness program. Depending on the size of a business, a diverse group of employees can come together to form a wellness committee to represent employees or all employees can provide feedback on what the wellness program should do for workers and how it can be accessed. After the wellness program is developed, employees can continue to submit feedback on the program by submitting a form on the online wellness incentive programs or a paper form available in a common area of the workplace.
When a company involves its employees in the startup and development of a wellness program, it can lead to employees feeling a sense of ownership in the wellness program. As employees work together towards achieving their personal health and wellness goals, they learn over time that their direct efforts have a positive impact on the wellness program.
Additionally, limited resources tend to result in creative wellness incentive solutions that can be more rewarding for participants. From disseminating health and wellness information to planning fitness challenges and offering wellness workshops, employees in small businesses can use their creativity and innovativeness to plan simple ways to communicate about and encourage participation in the wellness incentive program. WorldAtWork.org featured a survey that found common approaches for communicating a wellness program include: online resources (61%), health fairs (57%) and wellness newsletters (52%).
The return on investment possible with a wellness program, as demonstrated by recent studies, can range from $3 to $6 in premium savings to every dollar invested in wellness incentives. Because of this high return on investment possibility, small businesses can work with employees to achieve health and wellness goals and significantly improve morale, productivity and attendance while reducing healthcare costs.