When we talk about some of today’s talent management and workplace buzzwords like flexibility and work-life balance, another topic that also comes up is the concept of a corporate wellness program.

Employers are increasingly focusing on the creation and implementation of corporate wellness programs for a variety of reasons. Many of these reasons may focus on the technicalities and costs they face – for example, if an employer shares some or all of the costs of an employees’ healthcare, these costs may be impacted by their level of wellness.

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Aside from these reasons, however, there are other valuable factors that can lead employers to adopt a wellness program. When a company is focused on their employees’ well-being in a holistic way, they’re going to get employees who tend to be happier, more engaged, more productive, miss less work, and employees who feel like their employers care about them.

Having an effective, comprehensive wellness program in place can be a key component of a good retention strategy, but with that being said, why do so many wellness programs fall flat?

There’s a number of reasons, which we’ll explore, and offer tips to ensure the wellness program you put in place isn’t a waste of time or money.

Problem #1: Lack of a Personal Focus

Solution: Give It Personal Value and Base It in Real Life

For a lot of employers, when they put in place a corporate wellness program it becomes something generic that could apply to anyone, or no one at all.

Most employees don’t have the urge to get healthy simply for health’s sake alone—they want to get healthy for some other reason, whether it’s to be able to play with their children, to look better, or to be able to feel better.

Regardless of what that reason is, employers need to focus on putting that real, individualized spin on it, and showing employees that being part of a wellness program is an opportunity to change their life in a real, measurable way.

Problem #2: Stagnancy

Solution: Create a Dynamic Program

Often, employees feel wellness programs are boring, and even if they’re initially exciting, they aren’t dynamic. People are dynamic and they want to take part in a wellness program that grows and changes along with them, rather than staying the same as they themselves progress.

Employers should constantly be looking for ways to add a new spark of creativity to their wellness program, and they should also look at new trends that could be more interesting or exciting for employees.

As with most components of talent management and employer brand management, the best wellness programs are always evolving along with a corporation, and there’s a long-term perspective in place to address them.

Problem #3: Blanket Solutions That Don’t Fit the Workforce

Solution: Get to Know Your Employees

Every workplace is different, which is why so many generic, blanket wellness programs don’t have much, if any impact.

Before you can create an effective and engaging corporate wellness program, you need to first get to know your employees. Understand the demographics of your workforce, how you can best market the program to fit their needs, and how their individualities will impact their preferences in terms of wellness.

For example, a company that’s made up primarily of Millennial employees may have a very different wellness plan than a company with Baby Boomers.

If you have an extremely large or diverse workforce, create a wellness program with customizable options, and provide plenty of opportunities for employees to tailor the program to their own needs.

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