The Importance of Employee Wellness Programs During the Holiday Season

The Importance of Employee Wellness Programs During the Holiday Season

Wellness programs have long been a staple in businesses. That’s because, healthy employees lead to fewer sick days and a reduction in chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and chronic pulmonary conditions, according to the United States Department of Labor.

Although these programs are essential year round, during the holidays, they’re even more important. That’s because the holidays tend to slow everyone down, give people excuses to fall off the healthy-living bandwagon, and make poor decisions.

As an employer, you’re already working hard to offer ways to make your employee’s lives easier throughout the year, such as easier scheduling systems and discounted products. But during the holidays, it can pay off to help your team feel their best through overall healthy wellness.  

Here are three of the wellness programs to focus on and how to incorporate them into your workplace.  

Healthy Eating

It’s tempting to eat just one more cookie when they’re sitting right there in the break room, or to reach for one more beer at the holiday party. Unhealthy food and drink choices surround us non-stop during the holiday season but that doesn’t mean your employee’s health has to suffer.

One way to do this is to cater lunches at your office once a week with something healthy. Instead of ordering pizza, order salads and healthy proteins. Your team will feel better when they eat better. The more you can do to encourage this behavior, the better everyone will feel!

Fitness

Parties. Shopping. More shopping. Work. The list of to-dos during the holiday season goes on and on, which makes it easier than ever to push other tasks off to the side, such as going to the gym regularly. Yet, without continuing a healthy fitness regimen, your employees will feel more tired, increase their chances of getting sick, and have higher mood swings – especially when consuming unhealthy amounts of sugary treats.

Encourage fitness throughout the holiday season by offering an employee program that gets your team into the gym so they can keep up with their workouts. This could include a pre-work yoga class just for your team, or an office running club on the weekends. Whatever it looks like, having fitness as a wellness program during the holidays is a smart move your team will thank you for.

Just Saying No

Quitting smoking. Drinking less alcohol. Saying no to any vice is a standard New Year’s resolution. Most of your employees know that they want to say no to at least one of their guilty habits in the New Year, so why not help them get started early?

The holidays are busy, crazy times already, which makes your employees more likely to make bad decisions when it comes to alcohol and tobacco use. Offering a wellness program that encourages them to put the bad habit to bed will help them start the year off stronger and knowing they have your company backing them during the struggle to just say no is great incentive.

Is Your Team Healthy?

Employee programs are a great way to keep your team’s health on track during the season when it’s the easiest to fall off. In addition to making their lives easier by offering simple scheduling systems and discounts on products (or potential gifts), encourage healthy nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle choices to keep your team feeling their best.

Author Profile Jon Forknell is the Vice President and General Manager of Atlas Business Solutions, Inc., a software marketing company specializing in employee scheduling software, including ScheduleBase employee scheduling software, and other business software solutions. In the past, Jon has been recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as a SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Atlas Business Solutions was named as one of Software Magazine’s Top 500 Software Companies in 2004 through 2007 and again in 2010, 2013 and 2014.