Employers – Do You Know Enough About Corporate Wellness?

Corporate wellness and wellbeing is a hot topic with employers at the moment, with around 67 percent of all employers offering some sort of wellness programme. These programmes are based around the idea that employees can receive breaks on their health insurance if they undertake certain tasks to increase their health, such as giving up smoking, changing their diet, losing weight or increasing their exercise. They also have to have health tests to find out about their current state of health and receive personalised wellness programmes to help them improve.

 

A recent survey showed that around 18 percent of employers are now offering a financial incentive to those who achieve a certain health standard, and around 15 percent offer a lower health premium to those who do not smoke.

 

Savings vary hugely from employer to employer, but the programmes themselves are on the increase, as there is a growing body of evidence showing that when employers use these wellness programmes, the costs of medical expenses and employee absenteeism for illness are greatly reduced. One study even showed that the average employer has seen a reduction in medical costs of $3.27 for every dollar spent on a wellness programme and a reduction of $2.73 in absenteeism for every dollar spent on the wellness programmes.

 

If you are an employer and you are thinking of putting into place a wellness programme, or improving an established one, it is important to carefully evaluate the design of the programme and consider carefully what the goals should be. This reduces the risk of discrimination claims and also makes it more likely that the whole workforce will want to and be able to participate in the wellness programme. Employers should also read up on the law in their area, relating to sickness, health in the workplace and absenteeism.

 

Categories: Corporate, corporate wellness, dollar spent, employers, health, Programme, Programmes, Wellness, Wellness Programme, Wellness programmes

What Everyone Ought To Know About Workplace Wellness

The term ‘wellness’ is used a lot these days, especially in corporate environments. You will hear this word in the media, in insurance documents and within the HR departments of big companies, but what does it really mean?

 

Many of us have now read up more on how wellness in the workplace is an important thing and we now understand that employers can play a strong and very positive role in the wellbeing of their employees.

 

It is very easy for employers to get a bit tangled up in the wellness programme procedure, however, instructing employees to participate in specific programmes and fill in certain health assessments, without having a clear idea of what they hope to achieve from the programme itself.

 

This kind of surface approach tends to produce middling results at best, as it narrows the focus of wellness to what becomes by and large a simple case of nagging. This kind of programme fails to realise that the best way to motivate employees and change habits in the long term is through company-wide wellness programmes that engage employees fully and actually support them as they make serious lifestyle changes towards healthy behaviour, rather than simply lecturing them on how they ought to be behaving.

 

This is important at a time when around 52 percent of Americans surveyed recently admitted to being disengaged at work, whilst only 18 percent claimed to be actively engaged in their job.

 

To fix this, a culture-first mentality must be created in the workplace, where productive employees are created by focusing on their quality of life in every possible sense, including work-life balance, social, spiritual and financial wellbeing and even physical and mental health. Employers should care truly about their employees and aim to be a supportive part of their lives in a holistic sense.

Categories: culture, employees, employers, nbsp, Wellness, workplace

What Are the Best Gifts for Your Employees at Diwali?

Diwali is probably the most celebrated festival in India, and this includes within corporate settings. The wellness and wellbeing of employees is intrinsically linked to how they feel in their job, and so it is in employers’ best interests to keep them happy, and a thoughtful gift at Diwali can go a long way to achieving this.

 

During Diwali, there is much celebration of the happiness and prosperity of those around us, such as family, friends, neighbours and colleagues, so a gift is actually very appropriate as part of this festival. Many employers already do celebrate by providing their employees with gifts.

 

It is said that when Lord Rama returned to his Kingdom Ayodhya on the day of Diwali, the people of his kingdom were so happy and delighted that they celebrated with fireworks, lights and worship, and that he distributed gifts to them, and this is where the tradition of giving gifts originates. The tradition of employers giving a gift to employees has actually stood for a long time now. Initially, it came in the form of a bonus that workers were paid by their employers – usually a salary in advance or a few shares in the company that they were working for. Shares were particularly popular, as workers tended to work harder for a company that they felt they had an actual investment in.

 

Times have changed, however, and now corporate gifts have taken the place of these bonuses or shares. Corporate gifts are often things like sweets, chocolates, apparels and watches, or other utilities such as cameras and microwaves.

 

Many employers also gift a bonus in addition to this, such as a fixed sum of money for each employee. A lot of employers believe that this gesture actually gains them money rather than loses it, because they feel (quite rightly) that it will make their employees feel valued, and that this will give them loyalty to the company, and increase the likelihood of them working hard for the company.

Categories: Corporate, corporate gifts, Diwali, employees, employers, gift, gifts

Diwali Can be Wonderful When Celebrated With Colleagues

Diwali is celebrated all over the world by the Indian community, and it is a festival of joy, light and celebration. The sheer pleasure of it helps to improve the wellness and wellbeing of millions, as they revel in the annual celebration, but can this also be transferred into a corporate environment? Increasingly, the answer to this is yes.

 

Corporate Diwali gifts are actually an important part of the celebrations, and date back for years now. Employees and employers alike look forward to the opportunity to exchange a bit of good will. Employees benefit by receiving a much-welcomed gift from their employer, and the employers themselves benefit by receiving the goodwill of their employees, which frequently leads to increased productivity from employees who feel both happy and valued as part of the company.

 

Celebrated by Indians both in India and throughout the world, Diwali is about celebrating love and friendship, and these are important qualities to value in the workplace as well as at home. Some companies even get fully into the spirit of things, with Diwali decorations around the office as well as gifts.

 

The gifts given by employers can vary hugely, but traditionally they are of the monetary type, either in the form of a cash bonus, or in the form of a few shares in the company. The latter is a particularly popular option, and has the added bonus of giving employees a real financial investment in the company that they are working for, which gives them an extra incentive to work particularly hard and ensure that the company is performing as well as it possibly can.

 

Other employers prefer to be a little more low key, and buy their employees a special Diwali card and give them a small gift such as special fruit, trinkets, handmade chocolates, special food in a gift basket or some kind of cake.

Categories: company, Diwali, employees, employer, employers, gift, nbsp