Wellness is working — but there's room to improve

Wellness finally seems to be taking hold among workers.
Case in point: 53% of employees used weight-loss programs in the fourth quarter of last year – according to the most recent Principal Financial Well-Being Index. That’s a 25% increase from the previous year.
Multiple benefits
There’s also there’s some solid evidence that wellness offerings are paying off for employers.
For example, as a direct result of participating in a wellness program:
•43% of employees felt motivated to work harder and perform better
•    38% said they experienced improved energy and productivity while at work, and
•    28% missed fewer work days.
These programs may even go a long way toward preventing turnover: 48% of employees said that wellness benefits encourage them to stay in their current employment situation.
The study also highlighted a prime opportunity for employers to get more out of their wellness offerings.
How? It highlighted the types of benefits employees were clamoring for, as well as the perks they didn’t really care for.
What workers want
Employees’ most-desired wellness benefits included:
•    Fitness facilities (27%)
•    Fitness center discounts (24%)
•    Weight-management programs (17%), and
•    Access to experts – nutritionists, helath-mangement coaches, etc. (15%).
Some of the least-desired perks were at-home health screenings (3%), educational tools/resources (4%) and smoking cessation programs (5%).
Granted, you probably can’t give employees everything they desire. But surveying your staff on what they want from a wellness initiative will improve the chances of your program’s overall success.
Info: http://bit.ly/well393