Author: Kara Reynolds
November 2019 SIG U Roundtable Recap
Setting the Stage
61% of organizations call corporate wellness a must-have. And 63% of employers say it’s “extremely impactful.” We often hear our clients say that while they are well-intentioned in creating a wellness program for their organization but they fall short of creating a clearly defined and measured set of goals as it relates to wellness in the workplace. Whether you’re using it as a tool to improve your company’s culture or cut healthcare costs as a strategy, it’s important to be aware of what others are doing in the space, and what the future of wellness at work looks like.
SIG brought together an expert panel that was highly interactive – sharing about different types of workplace wellness programs and initiatives and what you can expect to see from the future of wellness as it relates to emotional, financial, social, physical and community wellness. The outcome was a well-rounded picture of how we can help shape career wellness in the workplace as leaders.
Our Expert Panel Line-Up
Daniel Freedman
Co-CEO, BurnAlong
BurnAlong is an online video and social motivation community that helps people achieve their health goals or overcome challenges. They bring online what works for people in person: A relatable instructor – choose from 100s of instructors across 45+ categories (from cardio to yoga to nutrition to diabetes to mindfulness to stress to chronic conditions to kids classes to pet workouts ) and social motivation – including taking live classes in private sessions with others you invite. BurnAlong works with cities, insurers, universities, and companies of all sizes globally.
Gideon Taub
CEO, Pinkaloo Technologies
Pinkaloo’s mission is to modernize charitable giving for donors and non-profits. Their platform helps employers empower their employees to drive the greatest charitable impact. Their modern giving accounts create better workplace engagement aligned with employees’ interests and passions.
Laila O’Brien
Regional Vice President, Primerica
Today’s families face major financial challenges. They’re being forced to downsize their goals and dreams — to settle for less. Primerica shows them how they can change their life. They are a company focused on the middle market and helping middle market families get the financial help they need from life insurance to investment opportunities.
Dawn Motovidlak
President & CEO, BHS
BHS transforms organizations by empowering individuals to achieve their fullest potential. Work-life balance and behaviors. Wellness and fitness. Overall well-being. BHS products and services are designed to improve the entire scope of your employees’ and organization’s needs. It’s a common-sense, holistic approach to workplace effectiveness that delivers results.
Major Takeaways
- The future of wellness at work lies in the ability to offer a menu of options to meet people where they are. Whether that is healthcare options, options for different types of wellness programs, financial options, people are wildly different and want to be able to relate in order to engage. If your content is not relatable, your participation will likely suffer.
- Companies that only pay attention to the physical aspects of their employees’ health, aren’t seeing that there are so many other facets to a person’s life that affect their work performance, their overall health and ultimately, their healthcare costs.
- “Don’t look at a wellness program as a cost, but as an investment.” Ask your employees how you can relate to them. Engagement surveys are a good way to collect valuable insight into what your employees want. If you take the steps to conduct an engagement survey, make sure you are transparent in communicating out the results.
- According to a recent Gallup survey, the NPS Score for wellness programs is a -15%. That’s likely due to programs that are one size fits all, not relatable, and one directional in experience. People are social creatures so the more you can develop programs that allow employees to team up and collaborate, the more effective your program will be.
- Storytelling is a critical component of the future of wellness at work. When you have internal wellness champions to share their personal success stories, others too will buy-in. “If I knew 25 years ago that this could have helped me, I would have taken advantage sooner.”
- Awareness is everything. An example of helping people be more mindful is having a creative poster next to the elevator to encourage taking the stairs as a reminder of a free workout or a way to cut calories and be heart healthy. After they take the stairs they will have a mindfulness that they actually made small progress. Tip: Google “Take the stairs signs” and have a good laugh for the day and some good ideas!
- Mentioned read from CEO, Gideon Taub: The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow’s Employees Today. Find it here.
Ways to Take Action
Want to hear the recording from the live session? Access it here.
Interested in challenging your current wellness programs or starting one with your company?
Reach out to Liz Entin, SIG’s Director of Health Strategies at liz@silbs.com or connect here.
Interested in joining us for our next roundtable? Check out our upcoming events here!
