Corporate Healthcare Programs Often Fail. Here are 10 Reasons Why

Corporate healthcare programs and wellness initiatives aren’t just attractive selling points, they make an actual difference in your employees’ wellbeing. Research by Principle Financial Well-Being Index found that “40 percent of workers say they are encouraged to work harder and perform better and 26 percent miss fewer days of work by participating in such programs.”  

Corporate Healthcare Programs

It’s clear then, as a company, you have a lot to lose by not implementing a comprehensive healthcare and wellness program. If you are thinking “I already provide health insurance, isn’t that enough”, the answer is a big no. Modern healthcare and wellness programs aren’t just about insurance, there’s so much more. 

The right corporate healthcare programs should: 

• Reduce health risks 
• Reduce healthcare costs 
• Improve productivity 
• Decrease absenteeism 
• Improve employee retention 
• Help uplift and maintain employee morale 
• Give employees access to preventive care measures 

That’s a long list, and even a Fortune 500 company would struggle to find a healthcare program that ticks all those boxes. Why is that though? Here are the top 10 reasons why corporate healthcare programs fail.  

Healthcare Programs Aren’t Made for People 

More often than not, corporate healthcare programs aren’t designed to help people feel healthier, but for companies to slash healthcare costs. Rather than looking at what works for employees, companies tend to pick programs that are in line with their financial goals. If these programs aren’t attractive enough to employees, they simply won’t care enough. Wellness programs need to be people-centric, which unfortunately isn’t the case.  

“Wellness” is not a Concern for Senior Management 

As this Forbes article has noted, wellness isn’t even in the top 20 of a CEO’s priority list. Since senior management doesn’t care enough, these programs don’t get the attention they need to become popular with employees. That’s despite the strong connection between employee wellbeing and productivity. If corporate healthcare programs are to be successful, adoption and interest need to start from the top. 

Health and Wellness Is not Part of Company Culture 

If senior management isn’t invested enough, it is very likely your company doesn’t have wellness as a part of its company culture. You should be promoting health in every little thing, from urging people to take the stairs to encourage walking/biking to work. Every little bit helps, as it shows health and wellness are just as important as profit and excellence.  

Unattractive Incentives 

Fitness isn’t exciting to everyone, that’s why you need incentives. If the incentives aren’t attractive enough, employees will just ignore corporate healthcare programs. To make fitness and health an important goal, it is vital you have the right incentives – monetary or otherwise. You also need to ensure that the incentives are regular so that employees don’t lose interest after a period.   

Lack of Untrained Staff 

A big issue with employee wellness initiatives is that they are often conducted by the HR department. HR’s are simply not trained or do not have enough expertise to do such a program. As a result, they tend to fall flat in achieving their goals. If you are serious about fitness and wellness, you need to bring a trained staff member on board. Their experience will go a long way in creating an attractive, and enjoyable wellness program. 

 Families Not Included 

Whether it is your group health insurance plan or wellness programs, it is vital to extend employee healthcare benefits to the families of your employees. That will motivate your team to participate. It also helps to show that you, as a company, care about your employees’ families.   

Employees Don’t Have a Say 

When picking or designing your corporate healthcare programs, remember that you are doing it for your employees. Therefore, it is vital you get their input. The best employee wellness initiatives are the ones designed by the employees. After all, they know their body and health better than anyone. Work with them to find out their goals, and plan programs accordingly.  

Complex Apps and Portals 

If you use a digital portal to track your team’s wellness and healthcare, you need to ensure that it is easy enough for anyone to use. In the same way, good design is vital to standing out on social media, it is vital to usability. If it isn’t usable, it won’t be used. You need a single platform that can be used across devices, ideally as an app. 

The One Size Fits All Approach 

Well-thought-out employee wellness initiatives are all-inclusive, which means they have something for everyone. A common reason why such programs fail is that organizations fail to notice that one-size never fits all. While some employees enjoy group activities, others prefer to have their space and zone to achieve their fitness goals. So, having multiple options in these programs is absolutely essential. 

Now that you know all that, the next step is to find corporate healthcare programs that won’t fail. With that in mind, we designed employee healthcare plans by Onsurity. It ticks all these boxes, and much more. Onsurity is an employee healthcare plan designed to be simple, efficient and rewarding.

Check out our website to know more and sign up.