Wellness Program Ideas for Small Businesses

Wellness Program Ideas for Small Businesses

We all benefit from our nation’s universal health care plan. However, it doesn’t cover all the medical services that you or your employees need. You can help your workforce stay healthy, recruit health-minded employees, and improve your retention rate with an employee wellness program.

As part of a wellness program, you can develop customized, in-house plans to encourage healthy behaviours in your staff. You can also strengthen your new wellness plan with supplement health insurance products. Let’s go over what a wellness program can do for your company, along with some ideas as far as what you can include in your program.

Table of Contents

What Is a Wellness Program?

Wellness programs represent an initiative to improve employee health through incentives, medical coverage, and more.

Once upon a time, most wellness programs existed as part of an overarching health insurance scheme. However, many businesses have started developing their own programs to increase employee satisfaction, loyalty, and productivity. When implemented correctly, a wellness program can lead to lower absenteeism and turnover, too.

Types of Wellness Programs

Wellness programs come in all shapes and forms. You can establish your company’s wellness program with a truly unlimited range of creative solutions. The open-ended nature of an in-house workplace wellness program allows you to tailor employee incentives in response to specific health issues observed in your workforce.

For instance, if you have several employees who would like to lose weight or quit smoking, you can customize your plan to focus on providing resources for them to achieve those goals.

Here’s a brief overview of some common additions to wellness programs in Canada: 

Smoking Cessation Program

On-site Fitness Center

Healthy Food Program

In-office Wellness Challenge

Wellness Retreat

Benefits of a Wellness Program

A wellness program will keep your operations running smoothly and increase employee satisfaction. However, the perks do not end there. Here’s just a small sampling of the benefits of a wellness program:

  • Lower absenteeism
  • Increased productivity
  • Improved profitability
  • Reduced risk of an on-the-job injury
  • Lower supplemental insurance premiums
  • Decreased workers’ compensation premiums
  • Improved company morale
  • Strengthened employee loyalty
  • Better recruitment and retention

How to Establish a Wellness Program for Your Company

Creating an in-house wellness program can present several challenges. However, but you can avoid many of them by taking a systematic step-by-step approach to the process. While that process may vary from company to company, you can use the steps below as a rough guide.

Step 1 – Assess Your Employees

Step 2 – Circle the Wagons

Step 3 – Create a Wellness Task Force

Step 4 – Create Goals for Your Wellness Program

Step 5 – Fund Your Wellness Program

Step 6 – Promote Your Wellness Program

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Support Your Wellness Program with Supplemental Insurance

One of the best ways to bolster your wellness program is by coupling it with supplemental health insurance. By filling the gaps in provincial plan coverage, you’ll help your employees thrive under a turbocharged wellness program. Like wellness programs, group benefits packages also offer a plethora of options:

Extended Health Care

Group Dental Insurance

Group Disability Insurance

Health Care Spending Account (HCSA)

Call Us Today to Discuss the Perfect Group Health Plan for Your Company

Feeling overwhelmed? Our experts here at Group Enroll can help. Take a minute to fill out our quick quote request form. We’re happy to answer all your questions and provide you with quotes from Canada’s top health insurance providers. You can count on us to find the best group health insurance plan for your employees and your budget.

We can also be reached by email at hello@groupenroll.ca or by post at 10 Great Gulf Drive, Unit 5, Vaughan, ON, L4K 5W1.