Companies offer employees great wellness programs. How do they get them to use it?

As an employer, you naturally want to offer whole-person, inclusive health insurance plans with benefits that keep your people healthy, present and engaged. Along with traditional health benefits, wellness tools and health coaching provide ways to help employees meet their own health goals at home and on the job. It takes constant communication—delivered in small, repeatable messages—to help people adopt wellness programs and make lifestyle changes, whether they want to train for a Katahdin hike or cook healthier meals. After all, you can have every gadget in your kitchen, but if you don’t know how to use it beyond plugging it in, you’re probably not using it.

What kinds of information should companies share?

It’s important to use simple terms, whether talking with employees or engaging leaders so they can teach employees. For instance, someone might be intimidated by a “tobacco cessation program,” but all-in to quit smoking. Not everyone feels confident and comfortable using wellness programs or benefits like preventive screenings, and an annual push to promote these programs won’t gain momentum. Repeating messages and sharing successes—like someone sharing how a health coach helped her reach her third month of being tobacco free—will get people to see they can succeed, too. You know your people and culture best, along with common health issues in your workplace, so you can tailor the outreach to your business.

What are some tips and tricks to get people engaged in a wellness program?

Give people an easy-to-use, personalized program that nudges them to participate—while contacting them at least monthly via email, lunch and learns, webinars, texts or videos. Once folks join a program, use those same tools to prompt them to explore activities based on their interests. Company leaders should also routinely chat up wellness offerings at staff meetings. Your employees will be surprised to find that wellness goes beyond eating less and exercising more—it includes reaching financial goals, reducing stress or beginning a new hobby. Friendly in-house group wellness competitions also provide a chance to team up and have fun with others.

Some employees are never at a desk. How do employers reach those whose jobs are in factories, classrooms, hospitals or a lumber yard?

You can post notices on bulletin boards, breakrooms, or share beginning or end-of-shift handouts, and encourage supervisors to highlight programs at team meetings. Supervisors, meanwhile, should be trained so they can direct employees toward helpful programs and build trust by ensuring their privacy is always secure. Work cultures outside of an office are definitely different, and success stories from coworkers tend to hold more value than typical office-based training tools. It’s also helpful to show people how well-being—focusing on getting enough sleep, drinking enough water or eating well—can keep them more alert so they make fewer errors that could get them hurt.

What kind of help should employers expect from a wellness partner?

You should expect help setting up your wellness program and ongoing support to get your employees to use it. At Community Health Options, we partner with employers and brokers to create a program unique to the business and a strategy to get employees involved, including financial incentives that often spur participation, whether it’s a monthly raffle for folks using the tools, or a year-end benefit based on participation. Our employees use the same program we offer, so we have plenty of experience when it comes to knowing what works. Like you, we want people to actually use these tools in ways that help them thrive.

Dr. Lori Tishler, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Community Health Options, is devoted to providing high-quality, value-based care.