Check out these three great tips for supporting employee wellness through internal communication programs.
In order to make the most of any investment into employee wellness programs, activities and events, a stellar internal communications program is a must.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has impacted and will continue to impact internal communication programs. In addition to meeting federal mandates regarding the dissemination of information, companies are looking to improve employee health through regular communication.
Not only do healthy, happy employees create a more positive work environment, they also contribute to the bottom line. In addition to being more productive, healthy employees reduce healthcare costs.
Implementing employee wellness best practices
Employee wellness programs are becoming increasingly popular. In BLR’s special report, Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2012, some of the best practices for wellness programs include:
- Voluntary screening to check blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and other risk factors
- Personal finance education and counseling
- Smoking cessation program
- Financial incentives for voluntary participation in healthcare assessment
- Discounted gym memberships
- Reimbursement for membership in Weight Watchers® or other weight management programs
- Healthy food options in company cafeteria or vending machines
- On-site medical facility, fitness center, and pharmacy for employees’ use
- No out-of-pocket cost to employee for preventive care, e.g., annual physical exam, well-child exams, mammograms
- Flu vaccinations
This is a full list of best practices. In order to make the most of any investment into these programs, activities and events, a stellar internal communications program is a must. If employees don’t know about these programs or are not motivated to participate in these programs, the time and energy to establish wellness programs will be wasted. But how do you get employees to sit up and take notice?
Download 8 Tips To Improve Internal Communication
3 Internal Communication Best Practices
Based on observations of successful employee wellness programs, here’s a list of three internal communication best practices that will stimulate active employee participation.
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Personal and engaging communication – While email is an easy, efficient vehicle for communicating information, it doesn’t engage employees, and purely text-based messages can be easily misunderstood. Events and meetings provide reasons for employees to take note of your message. Video content also has the benefit of allowing employees to hear and see your message. Even a simple, conversational video shot from a webcam can create a sense of engagement that is missing from text-based messages. The inclusion of video makes messages more personal.
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Consistent regular monthly communication – Pick a topic for the month and communicate with your employees. Put the message on the company bulletin boards and deliver it directly to their inboxes using interactive video email technology. The standard formats will become anticipated and the varied content promoting new ways to employee wellness will help you to get your message out.
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Gather feedback and measure engagement – The ability to know how your message was received enables future communications to be more meaningful. If you know that 80% of the people didn’t even watch your video on the benefits of exercise, you can send a follow-up message that reminds them to watch the video and highlights the positive benefits that will result from a small investment of their time. If you collect survey feedback on attitudes towards wellness initiatives, it can help you to craft messages that address concerns or misunderstandings as well as build on positive responses. Feedback loops make programs dynamic.
These best practices will ensure that your return on investment is fully realized. Motivating change in attitudes and culture requires personal, engaging, relevant and ongoing internal communication. These three tips will help to make this a reality.
Understanding the positive role of technology
Naturally, time is limited and we are all continuing to do more with less. Technology can help to automate communication. Electronic newsletters, wikis and email are effective ways to make information available. Interactive video email makes information available and personal. It simulates in-person meetings but can be produced once and used often.
In today’s work environment, technology enables us to save time and effort so we can be more productive and efficient. The bottom line is that communication technology can help with the implementation of wellness programs and create a sense of connection between employees and the company that is necessary to facilitate a successful culture change.
Today's blog post written by Brad Gant
Photo Attribute: Keith Ramsey, Ramberg Media Group
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