Today's employee population is more multi-generational than ever, with 35 percent of the workforce now made up of millennials, and aging boomers remaining longer in their careers. Creating engagement across such a spectrum means wellness programs must allow for more personalization with meaningful benefits. There are four key areas where new enhancements and innovative thinking can create meaningful engagement to drive greater participation and yield results.

1. Digital tools

When developing a communication plan for a wellness program, it's important to understand the resources available to engage employees. In addition to email, employers may have an intranet site, mobile site or even internal social channels available for employees to access. By capturing the full scope of employee communication channels, the program design can utilize multiple channels across digital platforms to keep employees connected and engaged.

It's also important to connect with employees through channels that are most convenient for them. An external resource website or helpful links page may be more beneficial for employees to access wellness information when away from work. While printed materials and email are still valuable ways of sharing information, millennial employees also expect to communicate through social networking, instant messaging, and other digital channels.

2. Personalized service

Employees want an experience that meets their needs, and one that can be tailored to meet their goals. Health coaching is an essential element to delivering personalized service to employees, capable of adapting in real time. By combining digital tools and online wellness platforms with a trained health coach, employees can fully engage in a focused set of services. For example, an employee engaging with a health coach for stress management, the coach may learn that finances are the driving force of the stress and refer the employee to resources (like an EAP) they didn't know, or forgot, were available to them.

And with more millennials entering the workforce, the issue of loneliness and social connectedness becomes a prominent issue. Recent studies demonstrate the impact social issues can have on an employee's health. The live, one-on-one interpersonal communication can provide emotional support to employees. Again, these valuable experts can offer guidance and resources to employees' well-being needs across a full spectrum of benefits.

3. Meaningful incentives

For program incentives to be beneficial (and drive action) they must be impactful to the workforce. How incentives are organized and presented can greatly impact employee decisions and behaviors. By offering employees a variety of options, they can select what matters most to them.

Incentives should align with the primary goals and objectives of the overall benefits strategy. Employees may perceive behaviors or outcomes with a higher incentive value as more important and should be taken into consideration when implementing a program. If incentives are going to be part of a wellness program, be sure to use them as support for achievements in the program and not simply giveaway gifts.

4. Workplace culture

Employer support plays a key role in creating awareness and driving utilization of wellness programs. Plan design, digital tools, communications and incentives are all important components of a wellness program; but without support for employees from the top-down, and a workplace culture that reinforces participation, the program will largely go unused.

In many cases, wellness programs can be foundational in creating a workplace culture. Employers may even use key moments tied to the wellness program to hold health-focused lunch-and-learn sessions, or sponsor health-focused events in the local community. Especially for workplaces where all employees work in the same location, participation in health challenges and group wellness activities help to create a more engaged workplace and more employee satisfaction with their roles.

Finding creative solutions that are outside the typical plan design can further support employee engagement and become a catalyst for participation. And by understanding a workforce's unique qualities, providing personalized guidance, and top-down support from company leaders to drive engagement, meaningful wellness programs play an essential role in improving the health of the nation's workforce.

Melissa Voigt is a strategic account director for StayWell. In her role, Melissa leads a team of strategic account executives to provide guidance and consultation to clients. She is an accomplished health management professional with over 15 years of experience in total population health management, account management, onsite well-being program management and product development.

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4 ways to drive greater employee engagement in wellness programs

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