Wellness benefits evolved from being a luxury to a necessity. They are pivotal in attracting and retaining talent and instrumental in employees' mental, physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing, consequently enhancing their job performance. In short, wellness benefits are advantageous for everyone involved. Since employees are an organization's most valuable asset, investing in the right wellness benefits is crucial. Here are some tips to help you choose a wellness benefit for your employees.
Why is providing wellness benefits important?
To ensure employees can perform at their best, it’s essential to support their physical and mental health. Corporate wellness benefits not only help cultivate a positive workplace culture but also empower employees with the resources they need to maintain a healthy work-life balance, reduce burnout, and prioritize their wellbeing.
By offering wellness benefits, your organization shows its commitment to valuing not just employee contributions, but also their overall health and happiness. This approach fosters a more supportive and inclusive environment where employees truly feel cared for and appreciated.
Criteria for choosing a wellness benefit
Before selecting a wellness benefit, it's important to understand what truly matters to your employees — their needs, wants, and preferences. Collecting feedback through surveys, focus groups, or direct conversations can give you valuable insights into what resonates with them. Once you have a clear understanding, you can use this information to search for a wellness program that aligns with your employees' priorities.
As you research your options, there are some key criteria to consider when making your decision:
- Inclusivity: A wellness benefit should cater to a diverse workforce, including different age groups, lifestyles, and fitness levels, to ensure that employees' unique needs are considered and they're more likely to use the benefit.
- Accessibility and flexibility: Employees should have easy and flexible access to wellness benefits, whether they're in the office, at home, or traveling. This could involve offering virtual, self-guided, or on-demand solutions so that they can participate when and where they want.
- Wellness type: Consider the wellness area you want your employee benefits to address. You can target mental, physical, emotional, or financial wellness, or take a more comprehensive approach with a holistic program that encompasses all of these aspects.
- Customization: Look for a benefit that allows for personalization, enabling employees to choose the activities and resources that best meet their needs, which can drive higher engagement and satisfaction.
Why a wellness benefit is better than a stipend program
In searching for the best wellness benefit for your company, you might consider implementing a stipend program. Stipend programs allow employees to choose how they spend their wellness funds. Although this gives them some flexibility, they need more structure. As a result, employees may not use the funds for activities or services that improve their wellbeing.
Stipends also lack the support, motivation, and engagement that come with structured wellness benefits, causing employees not to actively engage in the program. Lastly, with stipend programs, tracking the return on investment (ROI) is more difficult, and HR departments can't effectively measure stipend usage and its impact on improving employee wellness.
Why the investment in wellness benefits is worth it
The upsides of wellness benefits are two-fold. Focusing on wellness benefits can create a positive and supportive workplace culture. When an organization shows that it values its employees, they feel more cared for, increasing morale, engagement, satisfaction, and productivity. Additionally, when employees are in good physical and mental health, they perform better at work, can avoid burnout, and can prioritize a healthy work-life balance.
Moreover, the impact of wellness benefits on employee health reduces absenteeism due to illness or stress, leading to higher energy levels and focus and greater efficiency and output. These wellness benefits also help retain talent and reduce turnover, helping save on recruitment costs. Lastly, healthy employees are less likely to need medical treatments, leading to lower healthcare costs for employers.
ClassPass Corporate Wellness Program—the easy decision
The ClassPass Corporate Wellness Program offers a comprehensive, customizable, and inclusive solution that helps your employees prioritize their health and wellness. Employees can tailor their wellness experience to their unique needs and preferences.
Whether they prefer a visit to the spa, salon, or fitness class, ClassPass has something for everyone. Our program also simplifies administrative tasks for your HR team, allowing you to track benefit usage easily with real-time data. asw
