Organizational Wellness

The Ultimate Guide to Wellness Programs for HR Leaders: Boost Morale, Productivity & Your Bottom Line

Last Updated Dec 9, 2024

Time to read: 15 minutes

Have you ever wondered how some people just seem like they can do it all? Excel at their job, pack healthy lunches, work out before and after work, and somehow still manage to handle school drop-off and pickup?

Well, the answer isn’t superpowers. That’s the effects of a holistic approach to wellbeing.

This is a case of more is more. The more you take care of your wellbeing, the more work you can get done. Taking a walk can give you the energy to get to inbox zero. And eating a healthy salad bowl for lunch can give you the energy to crush that afternoon presentation. It’s all about doing the things that will feed your soul and provide you with energy.

So, what does any of this have to do with your organization? Everything in the world, because incentivize your employees to engage in healthy behaviors with an employee wellness program!

From boosting productivity to slashing healthcare costs, investing a little bit in employee wellness can bring great dividends. Your employees are happier, and your bottom line is greener. You won’t regret investing in the right wellness program for your company.

What Is a Wellness Program?

A wellness program is a corporate initiative designed to promote healthy lifestyles, reduce health risks, and improve the quality of life for employees both in and out of the office. It includes all those perks and benefits that remind employees that there’s more to life than just office life. The idea is that a well-rounded employee will be more satisfied and productive than one who is burnt out or doesn’t have much going on outside of work.

But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean mandatory group yoga (unless you’re Lululemon HR, maybe). Wellness programs can include all kinds of activities and initiatives, from fitness challenges and mental health support to nutrition workshops and financial planning seminars.

Not everyone has to participate in all of these programs, but having the option to can help employees pick and choose which areas of their lives they’re trying to improve.

Why Invest in Employee Wellness Programs?

Supporting employees with wellness programs isn’t just about being nice to them, although that is a major value-add. Workplace benefits that improve wellness, health, and safety can significantly increase employee productivity and engagement, according to a study published in the International Journal of Health Medicine and Nursing Practice.

This makes sense considering that, as revealed in Wellhub's State of Work-Life Wellness 2025 report, 85% of workers believe their employer has a responsibility to help them tend to their wellbeing. And are just a few reasons more why these programs are a worthwhile investment for any company.

Increased Employee Engagement and Productivity

Everybody knows how hard it can be to focus on work when you’re not feeling your best. That’s because there’s a strong connection between wellbeing and performance, since happy employees are productive employees, according to the EU Business School. When employees are healthy and happy, they’re more likely to bring their A-game to work.

Even if you already have a very high-performing team, investing in employee wellness programs can take your work to the next level. Employee wellness has a significant impact on innovation and creativity, according to a 2023 study published in the Public Library of Science PLOS ONE journal.

So, if you want to transform your team into hardworking geniuses, wellness programs are a great first step.

Reduced Healthcare Costs

Preventing health problems is generally way cheaper than fixing them later. Just like changing your oil regularly instead of waiting for your engine to go out is a good idea, staying healthy and working out can prevent serious medical complications later in life.

For example, smoking cessation programs can prevent serious health complications later in life, saving the company potentially thousands in healthcare premiums — and the employee even more in grief.

Wellness programs focus on preventive care and healthy lifestyle choices, which can lead to impressive savings on healthcare costs. They can drop $360 in healthcare costs per year per employee, according to research from the American College of Sports Medicine. While $360 might not sound like much, think of it this way: that’s $36,000 for a company of 100, and $360,000 for a company of 1,000!

Improved Employee Retention and Attraction

Let’s start with a chilling statistic: Over 50% of employees state that they would jump ship to a different company that offered better benefits, according to a 2024 Maven report. This means that a fat paycheck is no longer enough to keep your employees around. And offering wellness programs can be a great way to keep them happy, healthy, and motivated.

Not only that, but promoting a healthy lifestyle and work-life wellness can transform your organization into a great place to work. Beyond just making everyone’s workdays a little bit nicer, a strong workplace culture predicts much higher employee engagement levels and lower stress and depression, according to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Enhanced Company Reputation

Last but not least, prioritizing employee wellbeing can give your company’s image a glow-up heard around the country. When word gets out that your employees are living happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives at work —they’ll be posting on social media and talking about their amazing benefits to anyone who’ll listen — people will be finding ways to get their resumes into your hands.

Think about it: Companies like Google and Facebook are famous for their incredible employee benefits programs, which makes them extremely prestigious places to work at. Now, you don’t have to start providing free gourmet meals and massage therapists on site. But cultivating a culture of wellness pays off. There are plenty of low-cost wellness programs that pack a big punch.

Types of Wellness Programs

So, are you starting to think about ways to include wellness programs in your organization? There’s no need to post a job listing for a vegan cafeteria chef or a full-time office yoga instructor just yet. There are more than just a handful of ways to support employee wellness.

Fitness and Physical Activity

Regular physical activity can boost energy levels, reduce stress, and improve overall health, according to a study published in the Cureus journal. Some ways you can get your employees moving are:

Subsidized gym memberships
Group fitness classes, like yoga or HIIT
Step challenges or walking clubs
Standing or treadmill desks to encourage movement during work hours
Active break initiatives, like taking short walks or doing some stretches after lunch

Mental Wellness Support

Mental health is just as important as physical health. In fact, about two-thirds of HR leaders think that stress and burnout in their team is their biggest concern, according to a Paychex survey. These programs can help:

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) offering confidential counseling services
Mindfulness training
Meditation sessions
Stress reduction workshops
Mental health first aid training for managers

Health Screenings and Preventative Care

Catching a small problem before it becomes a big one can be a life saver — literally. You can help your employees take care of their health with:

Annual health risk evaluations
Biometric screenings including blood pressure, cholesterol, and BMI
Flu shot clinics
Cancer screenings

Nutrition and Healthy Eating

You are what you eat, so help your team eat like champions. Beyond stacking the rec room with fruits and healthy snacks, an employee wellness program could also look like:

Nutrition counseling or consultations with registered dietitians
Healthy cooking classes
Subsidized healthy meal options in the cafeteria
Nutrition tracking apps or challenges

Financial Wellness

Money matters, and your employees know it. In fact, the Wellhub State of Work-Life Wellness 2024 report found that 66% of full-time employees say their financial situation distracts them from work. Help them out with:

Financial wellbeing workshops
Retirement planning assistance
Debt management counseling
Student loan repayment assistance
Budgeting apps

Sleep Quality

A good night’s sleep is incredibly important for productivity. If your kid or the neighbor’s dog ever kept you up all night on a workday, then you know this better than anyone. Some sleep-focused initiatives you could include are:

Education on sleep hygiene and its importance
Sleep trackers to help employees understand their sleep patterns
Flexible work schedules to accommodate different chronotypes
Meditation apps like Headspace that have sleep-specific resources

Designing and Implementing a Successful Wellness Program

Great, you’ve decided to jump on the wellness bandwagon and create a program that’ll make your employees as healthy as a kale smoothie!

But before you send out those purchase orders for yoga mats and cases of green juice, let’s take a moment to review what it takes to design and implement a wellness program. This includes identifying goals to setting it up for sustained success.

Step 1: Set Your Goals

First things first, let’s talk goals. And not the kind you set on New Year’s Eve and forget by the end of January. The type of goals you should be setting up are SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. These metrics help keep you accountable until you’ve reached your goal.

For example, saying you want “healthy employees” is too vague. What does health mean? How are you going to measure it? When does it need to happen?

A better goal would be to reduce sick days by 20% by the end of the year. That gives you something specific to measure — and a deadline. You could even break it down into mini-SMART goals, like a 10% reduction by Q3, to give you goalposts to your main objective.

Step 2: Budget Planning

Of course, it’d be great if every company could just hire full-time health food chefs and fitness instructors, but that’s not realistic all the time. Some wellness programs are very low cost, but others do require a significant investment. Figuring out how much money you’re dealing with can help you understand what corners you might need to cut and how to best maximize your ROI.

Ask yourself these questions:

How much can you realistically allocate to wellness?
Are there any untapped resources you can use?
Can you partner with local businesses for discounts?
What holistic wellness packages roll a vareity of services together to maximize dollar-for-dollar impact?

Step 3: Secure Leadership Buy-in and Budget

Time to channel your inner salesperson and pitch your wellness program to the C-suite. This is where you want to pull out the stops: charts, graphs, and maybe even a PowerPoint presentation with cool transitions.

And you do have good news to share: As revealed in Wellhub’s Return on Wellbeing report, 56% of organizations enjoy an ROI of over 100% from their investment in a wellbeing program. That means they get more than $2 back for every $1 invested! This drives home that wellness is a strategic advantage.

Step 4: Select a Flexible and Holistic Fitness Program Provider

Now that it’s time to put your plan in motion, choosing the right wellness program provider is extremely important. You want a program that’s flexible but also able to provide comprehensive support where it matters.

Every employee is unique, so they’ll be asking for different things. Some might be gym rats, others might prefer meditating. And others might think “downward dog” is a command for their pet.

The right provider should be able to offer:

A mix of physical and mental health support
In-person and digital fitness classes
Access to personal trainers
Nutrition guidance
Stress management tools

Step 5: Launch the Program

Launch day is here! Although you might be amped up for the launch after weeks of hard work, your employees may be fully unaware of what’s been going on behind the scenes. That’s why it’s so important to generate buzz. Maybe kick things off with a company-wide yoga session or a healthy cooking demonstration.

You want employee buy-in. So, help them learn about these new resources you’re sending their way!

Step 6: Continued Communication and Promotion

Launch day is just the beginning. Now’s the time to keep the momentum going, as health and wellness can’t be achieved overnight. Here are some ideas to keep the wellness flames burning:

Regular email updates with wellness tips and program reminders
A wellness corner in the company newsletter
Posters in common areas
Wellness ambassadors to spread the good word

Just keep in mind that subtle reminders tend to work better than constant nagging. You want to inspire your team to be healthier, not annoy them.

Step 7: Add Incentive Programs

Every now and then, we all need a little extra motivation to go for a walk instead of watching another episode of our favorite show. Offering some incentives and rewards can be the extra help to carry your employees through on those hard days. Try offering some of these rewards:

Points system redeemable for company swag or extra vacation days
Recognition programs, like kudos or shout-outs on company memos
Friendly competition between departments
Cash rewards, because money talks

Step 8: Program Evaluation

You want to be honest with yourself (and the higher-ups) if you want your wellness programs to be successful. There’s nothing wrong with cutting an underperforming program or ramping up the most popular ones.

But how do you even know which programs are successful and which ones aren’t? By tracking these key performance indicators (KPIs), of course:

Participation rates
Health assessment data
Employee feedback
Healthcare costs
Absenteeism rates

You can use pulse surveys to see how employees are feeling, or you could just talk to them directly to learn more about their wants and needs.

Step 9: Celebrate Achievements and Continuously Improve

Don’t forget to celebrate the wins! Celebrating achievements keeps everyone motivated and reminds them why they started this journey in the first place. But don’t forget to look for ways to improve. Even if you’re doing great now, you could be doing even better tomorrow. Isn’t that the beauty of life?

Wellness Program Best Practices

You can only go so far in encouraging employees to live a healthy lifestyle. After all, it’s not exactly legal to force-feed staffers kale salads when clocking in. If you’ve already launched your wellness program and aren’t seeing the results you were hoping for, these best practices can give you the best chances of success.

Leadership Buy-in and Support

Imagine you’re at a party, and the host is hiding in the kitchen. Not fun, right? That’s what a wellness program can feel like without visible leadership support. But, sometimes, executives can have a hard time seeing the benefit of these programs. Here’s how to win them over:

Show them the money: Highlight the ROI of employee benefits. Think reduced healthcare costs, fewer sick days, and increased productivity.
Align with company goals: Show them how a healthy workforce can improve creativity, decision-making, and company culture.
Use peer pressure: Share case studies of competitors killing it with their wellness programs. If you’re not killing it too, then you risk losing employees to the competition.

Once leadership is onboard, get them involved with program activities. They can share any personal stories they have or encourage their teams to join in, all of which have been shown to boost employee participation across the company

Holistic Approach

You can’t plant a tree and expect the fish to come climb it. The same is true for your wellness programs — you want to account for your diverse workforce. Offer all kinds of wellness options like:

Classes from gentle yoga to intense HIIT
Apps for meditation, step tracking, and online fitness classes
Nutritional guidance including cooking classes or personalized meal plans
Financial wellness tools from budgeting apps to retirement planning workshops

Effective Communication and Promotion:

An underutilized program doesn’t necessarily mean that employees hate it. It sometimes means that they just don’t know about it. The best way to help everyone hear about these great new initiatives is by using as many communication channels as possible:

Email
Company intranet
Newsletters
Posters
Meetings

And don’t forget to keep it simple, sunshine. Explain the what, the why, and the how of your program so clearly that even your lunch (kale salad, of course) could understand it.

Program Evaluation and Improvement

You can’t improve what you don’t measure, so it’s important to track everything from participation rates to health outcomes. Here’s how:

Regular evaluation: Schedule regular check-ins with your providers to see how things are going. Quarterly reviews can help you spot issues before they become crises.
Feedback mechanisms: Ask your employees what they think. You can use employee surveys, focus groups, suggestion boxes, or casual conversations.

Just keep in mind that a lot of this data is sensitive, so keep it ethical and respect your team’s privacy.

Sustainability and Long-Term Success

Making wellness part of your company culture takes time — just like seeing the results of healthy habits. Focus on integrating it into every aspect of work life, like offering healthy snacks in meetings or even having walking meetings.

You also want to offer plenty of support to your employees, including resources and educational materials. Maybe they haven’t signed up for the latest wellness program because they’re not sure what’s in it for them.

Technology and Tools

You can’t succeed these days without apps and online platforms that make managing and running wellness programs easy and intuitive. From step counters to meditation apps, technology can make everything easier.

Just make sure that you only rely on reputable tools that will handle employee data with great care. Choose secure platforms and be transparent with your team about how data is used and stored.

Transform Your Workplace With Wellhub's Wellness Programs

You now know quite a bit about wellness programs, from understanding employee wellness to implementing best practices to make your program shine like a diamond. But let’s face it, it can be challenging to stick to even the very best of wellness programs, just as it can be challenging to stick to a diet.

A comprehensive employee wellness program can provide much-needed support, amplifying the positive effects of your wellness initiatives. By integrating holistic wellbeing strategies into your workplace, you’re fostering a culture of care that can boost productivity, engagement, and job satisfaction across the board.

Wellhub specializes in creating wellbeing programs that can take your wellness initiatives from “I think I’ll pass” to “I can’t wait for tomorrow’s workout!” Talk to a Wellhub Wellbeing Specialist to see how we can help you create a program that addresses the unique needs of your workforce, whether they’re office dwellers, remote workers, or both!