Corporate Wellness
More Than Improving the Bottom Line for your Business “Wellness programs are not only valuable for the organizations and their employees, they are our biggest hope for fixing a national health crisis.” – Rajiv Kumar, doctor and entrepreneur, “In Defense of Corporate Wellness Programs” TEXT HEATHER DE PAULO
Many of us have heard of the term “Corporate Wellness” or “Workplace Wellness,” but what does it really mean, what does it entail for a business owner, and most importantly, what’s the bottom line? Specifically, corporate wellness is defined as any workplace health promotion activity or organizational policy designed to support healthy behavior in the workplace and to improve health outcomes.1 It can be carried out in the workplace, as well as many other settings.
difficult to find the time to act on wellness goals. Creating an on-site wellness program is important because the majority of an employee’s time is spent at the workplace,2 however, getting away from the office can prove to be beneficial in it’s own right. According to Harvard Business Review,3 workplaces have a unique power to reframe the mindset around health itself – from one of sickness to one of wellness. The organizations with the greatest success are managing to shift people’s relationship with health from one where health is something thought about and “practiced” annually at the doctor’s office, to one where health is practiced daily through small lifestyle habits. Corporate wellness cannot be treated as a band-aid, and you definitely won’t be able to find it in a fitness app. Engagement, motivation, support, and strategy are the keys to a successful wellness program.2 This commitment isn’t just for employees, it needs to go to the top – it motivates employees to see their CEO’s getting on board as well.
Keys to a Successful Wellness Program People are becoming more and more health conscious, but due to higher stress, longer workdays and constant multitasking, it is more
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CURAÇAO BUSINESS
| NUMBER 1 | 2016
Promoting wellness in the workplace can consist of a variety of activities, such as health fairs, health education, medical screenings,
