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Published on Feb 20
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Wellness initiatives help promote a healthier lifestyle, encourage employees to become more active, and get people thinking about their food choices. But if no one is participating in your efforts, your program may not be making much of a difference in the health of your employees. Creating buzz around your wellness program is vital to its success, but finding ways to get everyone excited can be difficult. Here are some tried and true ways to build excitement around your workplace wellness initiatives.
Make wellness a team sport
Almost every activity is better when you’re not alone. Make wellness a team sport by organizing clubs that promote healthy activities and choices.
If you work in a bike-friendly city, promote bike to work days and encourage people to meet up at a location off-site to ride in together. Cycling is an extremely healthy activity that is low-impact and accessible to almost anyone. Not to mention – cyclists definitely love sharing information about their chosen activity, so you’ll give them a chance to educate their co-workers while everyone gets healthier.
Encourage small group on-site or off-site wellness activities like yoga, running, or walking. Have a conference room that doesn’t get used at lunch or an empty office? Put a few workout videos in a cabinet and let employees know that they can sign up in small groups to use the space at lunch to hold group exercise classes. Nothing gets people bonding like “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” together!
Free samples
Who doesn’t love a freebie? If you’re working with a vendor or provider to conduct your wellness program, ask for free samples that you can hand out to employees throughout the cycle of your program. Don’t have a partner? That’s ok, too. Just order some small company branded merchandise to give out during sign-ups for the program or during program-related events. Pedometers, water bottles, and lanyards are all excellent options for wellness initiatives.
Spice up the décor
Get employees hyped up by offering a change of scenery – sort of. Encourage employees to decorate their desks, office, or common areas around a wellness theme. Employees in shared spaces can even form teams and decorate their area around a favorite sport, activity, or healthy food. Let everyone vote for their favorite décor and announce the winners at a wellness-themed lunch event. Be sure to use this time to encourage enrollment in the program for anyone who isn’t already participating!
Bring on the food
Let’s be honest. People love food. Making the right choices about the food we put in our bodies, though can be difficult for some. When you’re working on a deadline or grabbing a quick snack while sending emails, it’s easy to grab the nearest bag of chips or just order a pizza to eat while you work. Help people forge better eating habits while creating excitement around your program by organizing healthy potlucks and snack days. Have employees sign-up to bring healthy party-sized items for everyone to enjoy, while learning that delicious and healthy can go hand-in-hand. Want to make eating healthier even easier and raise the excitement level of your carry-in? Ask employees to submit the recipe for their dish and have your graphic designer (or an employee who enjoys getting creative) put them all together into a small booklet with the company logo, pictures from the potluck, and other graphics related to your wellness program. Distribute the recipe book in a PDF document to everyone and add to it every year.
Workplace wellness and Sheakley
Effective workplace wellness initiatives can offer huge benefits to your company and your employees, but only if they participate. By helping create excitement around your program, you can encourage more employees to sign up and achieve their wellness goals.
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