This article was provided by MI Blues Perspectives.
If you want to have an impact on your employees’ lives, one of the best things you can do is help them take care of their physical and mental well-being.
When employees are healthy, they feel happier, more energetic, and are more engaged at work. Promoting health also makes good business sense: Healthy employees are more productive, take fewer sick days, and cost the company less money for health care.
Sure, each company is different and there is no one-size-fits-all wellness plan. But here are some good practices to get you started down the road to employee wellness:
- Encourage employees to download the BCBSM mobile app: Your employees don’t want to waste time finding the information they need, which is why the BCBSM mobile app is so crucial. It provides quick access to claim updates and coverage details, helps them manage their Health Spending Accounts, and connects them to a 24-hour nurse line, the Find a Doctor tool and more. Using the app puts everything under the health insurance umbrella in one place – giving your employees one less thing to worry about.
- Create a healthy environment: Small adjustments to your office environment can make it a lot easier for employees to be healthy at work. You could choose to make your business tobacco free, supply healthy snack options in the kitchen and vending machines, or give the option of having a stand-up desk or exercise ball instead of a desk chair.
- Tweak your company culture: Even small modifications to how your business operates can show employees that you value their health. Give them the option to have walking meetings instead of sitting in a boardroom, encourage people not to send late-night work emails, and bring in experts on stress management to talk to your team.
- Allow families to get involved: A healthy lifestyle doesn’t just happen at work—it also needs to continue when an employee goes home. That’s why it’s a good idea to allow your employees’ family members to benefit from company health initiatives. For example, if the whole office is competing in a 5K or participating in a weekly step challenge, encourage people’s relatives to participate as well.
- Keep lines of communication open: Make sure your employees feel confident they are making informed decisions about their health and help them stay up to date on the newest health trends. You can do this through email blasts, newsletters, infographics and meetings. Encourage employees to submit ideas for other wellness initiatives or company culture changes; it’s the best way to ensure all health needs are understood, managed and met.
Challenge your company to give the power of health to its employees. It will make a world of a difference.
This article was provided by MI Blues Perspectives.