3 Companies That do Wellness Programs Really Well – and What You Can Learn

Looking out for employee wellness is vital to the success of any business. Surveys have shown that three out of every four employees believe that health and wellness programs have a beneficial impact on workplace culture.

For companies that are wondering how they can improve their own wellness programs, one of the best tactics is to find inspiration by looking at businesses that have already found success in this area and taking hints from them.

With this in mind, here are three companies that do an extremely good job of creating corporate wellness programs that help their employees stay happy and healthy.

General Electric

GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, is a major worldwide conglomerate that employs over 300,000 people and brings in annual revenues of over $140 billion. However, GE is also well-known for its corporate wellness programs.

In 2009, the National Business Group on Health published a case study detailing GE’s Healthy Worksite program. The goal of the program is to help employees improve their health by quitting tobacco, eating more fruits and vegetables, and taking 10,000 steps each day. The program was an astounding success. In 2007, GE’s original goal for the Healthy Worksite program was 60% participation worldwide. By the end of 2008 participation was already greater than 90%.

GE’s other notable program is called HealthAhead. This comprehensive corporate wellness initiative allows individual GE workplaces to become “HealthAhead certified” if employees meet requirements about fitness education, physical activity, and nutrition. In 2012, HealthAhead won the Health Promotion and Community Well Being Award from the UK’s Royal Society of Public Health.

JetBlue

JetBlue is an economy airline headquartered at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, New York. For several years now, the airline has been one of the most progressive businesses around when it comes to employee wellness. JetBlue offers employees up to $400 to put towards health initiatives, such as purchasing exercise equipment or nutrition education. It has also designed its headquarters to make it easy for employees to relax and eat a healthy meal.

JetBlue is also an excellent example of a company that is happy to use technology to help employee wellness. In 2014, they partnered with an organization known as LifeVest, which offers JetBlue employees a dashboard that treats health like a stock; negative actions cause the stock to go down in value, while positive health actions cause it to increase.

ZocDoc

You would expect that a company that offers a service that helps customers take advantage of corporate health initiatives would offer its own employees excellent corporate wellness programs, and you’d be right. The New York City-based startup caters lunch for its employees every workday, to help them make better decisions about nutrition. The company also offers fresh fruit available throughout the day for snacking.

In addition, ZocDoc has an 800-square-foot recreational area that features ping pong tables, yoga balls, and video games to help staff members unwind and relax. At company happy hours and events, ZocDoc offers beer and wine along with healthy snack options like vegetables and hummus.

The examples set by these companies are excellent ones to follow if you are interested in improving your employee wellness. For assistance managing your employee wellness program in a way that will make employees more likely to participate, Paypro’s Employee Benefits Solutions is a great choice.