Wellness programs are totally ineffective in most organizations, simply because they miss the opportunity to address employee’s health holistically. Companies usually turn to them to reduce health costs, but they’re often poorly designed and somehow discriminatory. Many of the programs are punitive, so they feel like something done to employees rather than for them. Even the most positive of these programs are often superficial – they don’t elevate company culture, inspire commitment, or tie to business goals. Any program that alienates, annoys, and distracts those it means to serve will fail to deliver results in the long term.
Most corporate wellness (now often called “well-being”) programs have so far failed to deliver on their potential. Simply because such (well-intended) initiatives are not designed with the employees in mind.
The work/life balance has morphed into work/like integration. Buzz word! Like CSR, D&I, Employee Engagement.

Employees bring work home, and they bring home to work, but yet organizations AND managers fail to address this “integration” phenomenon.
Companies that run successfully wellness initiatives understand that it should be part of their overall employee strategy, not just a check-box to reduce health insurance premium, or to look “cool” to prospective employees.

Rachel Druckenmiller is the Director of Wellbeing at SIG, she is a respected speaker and writer, who named by Wellness Council of America (WELCOA) as the #1 Wellness Professional in the U.S. in 2015 and among the Top 10 in 2017. Rachel guides and supports organizations to engage their employees in meaningful ways, so they can become employers of choice. She believes in creating safe spaces for the whole person to show up at work, and strives to bring more compassion, hope, gratitude, and kindness to the companies and cultures she supports. 

Today with Rachel we talk about:
- What are the common misconceptions about wellness.
- Why most wellness initiatives fail.
- How HR executives must place wellness and wellbeing at the center of their people strategy.
- What metrics should organizations put in place to measure the success of their wellness strategy.
- Examples of companies that have successfully implemented wellness programs.

Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn and on her blog, Rachel’s Nourishing Kitchen, and SIG on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Further Reading:

• Well-Being: The 5 Essential Elements byTom Rath & Jim Harter
• The Healthy Workplace Nudgeby Rex Miller
• Everybody Matters by Bob Chapman & Raj Sisodia
• The Healthy Workplaceby Leigh Stringer
• How to Build a Thriving Culture at Workby Drs. Rosie Ward & Jon Robison
• Workplace Wellness that Works by Laura Putnam
• Cracking Health Costsby Tom Emerick & Al Lewis
• StrengthsFinderby Tom Rath

LinkedIn Pulse Posts Rachel has written:

• The 3 Cs of Wellbeing: A Return to What Matters Most
• Be, Belong, Become: A New Vision for the Workplace
• Get Curious: A Simple Question to Ask Your Employees
• SIGSpark: One Company’s Quest to Come Alive(specific initiatives within our wellbeing strategy)
• 6 Takeaways from the 2017 WELCOA Summit: Redefining Wellness
• Making a Difference: What’s Next in Meaningful Employee Wellbeing

This episode is brought to you by Spring International. Spring is a woman-owned boutique firm that focuses on performance-based employee engagement and people analytics. From onboarding to exit, Spring uses proven techniques to help companies improve the employee experience and calculate the ROI of HR programs and initiatives.
Spring can help you on your human capital analytics journey – visit their website at www.springitl.com or email [email protected].

If you want to send me feedback, suggestions for future topics or guests, you can reach me at [email protected] or on Twitter @eX_Summit. 

Thanks for listening.

Interested in learning more about Business To Employee Branding (B2E branding)?

Interested in sponsoring or speaking at the next Employee Experience Summit (eX Summit) in your city?