What if corporate wellness didn’t suck.

While the number of companies offering employee wellness programs is increasing, these efforts are largely box checking endeavors without much power to “move the needle” on actual employee health and wellness. 

Most of the ineffectiveness of these initiatives comes down to misaligned incentives, indifferent employees, and a murky business ROI, even for the better programs. So what WOULD move the needle? 

Below is my take on what corporate wellness would do if they really wanted to help their employees improve their health and fitness. 

Feasibility aside, if a company were to implement the items below employees could see dramatic improvements in overall physical and mental health, driving down corporate costs associated with absenteeism, turnover, and direct healthcare costs as well as realize an uptick in employee productivity, creativity, and buy in.

1. Overhaul breakroom snacks

Let’s put the granola bars, 100 calorie packs, and other processed food where it belongs: The garbage can. Fresh fruit, vegetables, and high protein options like turkey rolls and smoked salmon should be the norm.  No, this isn’t a shelf stable low cost no effort approach, and that’s the point.  Think fresh food is expensive? Have you priced diabetes lately?

2. Get people moving

If you want to make a human organism sick, keep it from moving.  Oddly it doesn’t take a cage, a screen will do. We know the less people move the more their vital signs look like they’re in a coma. Not surprisingly energy levels, motivation, and creativity concurrently take a nosedive.  

Encouraging walking meetings, hourly movement breaks, and providing access to stretching rooms or outdoor walking trails would be huge. Sacrificing 5-10min per hour, or a longer break a couple times a day, is all it takes to keep your humans out of their screen comas.

3. Set screen time limits

Speaking of screentime, email and slack are killing your sleep quality. If you’re a C-level executive you’re not going to get out of answering emails and texts at all hours of the day and night. But hey, the comp is with it, right? For most though, this culture of urgency is simply unnecessary, and almost certainly damaging.  

Through either company culture norms or actual technologically imposed limits, get people out of their work email, apps, and screens at a reasonable hour.  Almost nobody needs to be checking their email before bed. Allowing, or even forcing, employees to unplug will not only get them to achieve better sleep quality (linked with huge increases in cognition, creativity, and learning) but also have them logging back in after their daily break sharp and refreshed. 

4. Hire an expert

Bringing health and fitness experts like me in on a quarterly basis to present accurate, actionable health and fitness information to employees can dramatically reframe how people think about what they eat, how they move, when they sleep, and more.  

Providing access to expert coaching can be the barrier lowering move that drives individuals to action who otherwise wouldn’t change their downward health spiral. Hosting a short term fitness challenge can be a cost effective way to foster team building and camaraderie in a positive way compared to the traditional alcohol fueled corporate happy hours. Seeing coworkers lose weight, gain confidence, and completely resolve chronic conditions creates a culture of fitness that’s hard to beat. 

If you are in charge of a team and manage people at work, i’d love to collaborate on how to adapt these items, and more, for your people to get the most out of the investment.  Your employees are your biggest asset.  

Wouldn’t it feel great to show them you recognize that?