February 10th, 2020

One of the Most-Forgotten Employee Benefits Could Be the Most Important

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When you think of employee benefits, what comes to mind? Health insurance? A 401k? Paid family leave, perhaps? Or the option to work remotely? There are a lot of different perks a company can offer employees that will increase morale and productivity. But one subset of these benefits is often overlooked: Workplace wellness programs.

But how could wellness programs possibly be more useful or appealing than paid vacations? You may just be surprised.

Wellness-Based Employee Benefits Are Good for Everyone

If an employee gets sick, paid time off can be a lifesaver. It gives employees the ability to recover at home, minimizing the spread of infection to coworkers. They come back feeling refreshed and rejuvenated… until it’s time to dive into all the work they missed.

But what if they never got sick in the first place? That’s where employee wellness programs come in. By putting the focus first on your workers’ wellness, you reduce their chance of needing to use their paid time off to recover. And, if your company offers employees health insurance, keeping them healthy through wellness benefits can reduce the ever-rising cost of health care they’d need, which is that much more money in your pocket.

Workplace wellness programs also boost employee morale and reduce stress levels. Less stress and higher workplace engagement lead to a reduction in employee turnover; happy employees, after all, won’t want to quit! Healthier and happier employees are also markedly more productive. In other words, workplace wellness programs don’t just help your company save money, they also help your company make money!

Employees Want Workplace Wellness Programs

As the workforce changes, so too do employees’ needs. Employee stress is going up while engagement is going down. Workers want to be able to enjoy their jobs. They want to connect with their coworkers and feel like they’re a part of something greater than themselves. And they want a sense of feeling cared for.

Workplace wellness programs have the potential to do all this and more, especially programs that focus on long-term positive behavior change in employees. Implementing them doesn’t have to be costly or complicated, either. Even something as simple as having healthy snacks on-site can improve employee morale and, by extension, productivity. And more than a quarter of employees surveyed by benefits provider Unum want healthy snacks. More than a third wished for an onsite fitness center or complimentary gym membership. And one in five said they’d like incentives for achieving fitness goals.

And the best part? These modest employee benefits pay for themselves in the form of energized and engaged workers who need fewer sick days and can work harder for longer.

Help Your Workplace Feel Fabulous

Fabulous for Work is a terrific starting point to help you help your employees meet their wellness goals, for less than $100 USD per user annually. Fabulous is designed to teach users how to gradually train themselves into developing and maintaining habits that will make them healthier, happier, and more productive. Bringing Fabulous to your workplace has the potential to boost your employees’ focus, creativity, and camaraderie. They’ll feel more satisfied with the work they do and be more willing to collaborate. And, through Fabulous’s science-backed training, they’ll learn to develop their self-efficacy and grit, which will increase their confidence and drive them to push themselves even further.

If you’d like to help your employees become happier and more productive while also improving your business outcomes, then it’s time to get Fabulous.