Reasons Why Corporate Wellness Programs Fail

Franklin Kavanaugh

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We spend more than half of our day in office and our workplace environment plays a crucial role in our lifestyle and well-being. That is the reason that companies provide medical insurance and claim to their staff. To reduce this cost and absenteeism, employers are adopting several programs related to corporate wellness in India. They organize and conduct various activities and events that involve participation of workers and ensure healthy environment in the workplace. These tasks keep them fit not only physically but also mentally and eventually improve the quality of their work.

Unfortunately, not every wellness program is successful as they fail to achieve their goals and objectives. It may be because they are not well organised or designed and couldn't influence employees' health or behavior. We are sure that you don't want to sail the same boat and create a wellness program that turns out to be a flop at the end. You invest your efforts, money and time into implementing these schemes and deserve success. Therefore, we have listed a few reasons of failure that you must take care of in your office. Read further:

‘One-size fits all’ approach

Not every human being is same, we all have different attitudes and comfort level. So, when a wellness program is executed, employers often ignore this fact and launch schemes which may not be suitable for every member of the company. Some people may be more private while other may prefer group activities. Some may need coach or guidance while a few may like to do things at their own pace. So, make sure that you make plan that is flexible and offers choices to employees. You can work with wellness vendors who will ensure that it is multi-dimensional and tailor it to meet the demand of each person.

Focusing on wrong reasons

Well, every employer has a different reason to implement wellness program in the office. A few create it to reduce cost and increase productivity while others think that this is the right way to keep the staff happy and retain them. Both of these reasons are justified but expecting drastic change in a short span can lead to failure of the wellness strategy. There are various elements that contribute to an effective wellness program other than its quality and many of them are external factors which cannot be controlled by anyone. So, do not rush and strive for better outcomes than simply saving cost. Expand the definition of corporate wellness and focus on Value of Investment. Better sense of work culture and job satisfaction, happier employees, boosted retention, reduced sick time, improved morale, etc., must be your primary concerns.

Lack of engagement

Just because you have built a wellness programs doesn’t imply that employees will accept it and participate in it. You might have to go an extra mile to explain the benefits of the schemes and promote it amongst employees repeatedly. Lack of awareness and involvement of staff can lead to the failure of these programs, so share the benefits of wellness with them. You can set targets that they need to attain and announce rewards to the achievers. Moreover, do not make a narrow program that can limit the engagement of the workers.

If you can identify any of these errors in your wellness program, then remove it immediately to make it better. Take a moment and think about the solution or search on the internet about corporate wellness India programs to come up with an effective scheme.