'The-Tonic Blog'

Tuesday 29 March 2011

5 tips for increasing staff engagement with wellness

The buzzwords for this year's World Health Day are 'no action today, no cure for tomorrow'.

These words couldn't be more relevant when it comes to the health and wellness of every single individual, within every single organisation around the world.

At The Tonic we're all about instant action to improve the health, performance and energy of everyone we work with. So today, here are the top 5 ways in which any organisation can instantly improve staff engagement with wellness programmes.

Tomorrow we'll post the top 5 individual wellbeing behaviour changes that create the greatest instant impact and provide the longest lasting results.

Make sure you and your business are taking action today to develop a healthy and engaged workforce for tomorrow.

1. Get people excited

Communicate the value to individuals within your business of your wellness initiatives, not the value to the organisation. Explain clearly the personal benefits they will experience if they take part.

2. Create something for everyone

A range of flexible initiative that are well subscribed is much more successful than a limited number of expensive, under-utilised interventions. Be creative with your wellbeing solutions.

3. Cultivate the desire to opt in rather than the desire to opt out

Start small and make your initiatives effective. Word will spread and everyone will want to take part. Before you know it you'll be managing a waiting list rather than spending time persuading people to come along to events

4. Keep it fresh, keep it simple.

Timing is a big part of staff adopting wellness change so make sure you send regular, consistent messages but keep the initiatives simple. Ongoing, straightforward initiatives will have a greater cummulative effect than fancy interventions that no-one understands. Think about awareness raising events and practical, useful workshops rather than complicated competitions or online surveys.

5. Appeal to groups and individuals

Think about the people and the teams within your business and target them accordingly. Some staff will prefer group initiatives, others will opt for interventions targeted at the individual. If you're not sure what people would respond to best, ask them.