Should You Offer Your Employees a Wellness Program?

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Wellness programs are becoming increasingly popular with many businesses today, including auto dealerships. In fact, more than two-thirds of employers in the United States currently offer a wellness program, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. Here’s a look at why.

Reaping the benefits

There are many potential benefits to reap from a wellness program. For starters, you may be able to reduce your health insurance costs if the program results in healthier employees. Having a healthier workforce also may reduce employee absenteeism and boost productivity.

Meanwhile, many employees will appreciate your dealership’s efforts to help them lead healthier lives. In this way, a wellness program can become an important employee retention and recruiting tool.

Another consideration: The Affordable Care Act created new incentives and built on existing policies to promote employer wellness programs and encourage opportunities to support healthier workplaces.

Designing your plan

You can take many different approaches to designing a program. Healthcare.gov defines these initiatives as “a program intended to improve and promote health and fitness that’s usually offered through the workplace.” Among the cited examples of wellness offerings are those designed to help employees stop smoking, lose weight and manage their diabetes, as well as partake in health risk assessments and preventive health screenings.

In addition, you can offer your employees premium discounts, cash rewards, gym memberships and other incentives to participate in your wellness program. Other ideas for sparking interest include sponsoring wellness events such as fun runs, weight-loss challenges and spin classes.

Starting small

Ask your employees what kinds of wellness initiatives they’d like to see and then incorporate their input into the plan’s design. Start out small with your wellness program and expand it over time as you evaluate the costs and benefits.

Time to launch?

If you don’t already have a wellness plan, consider beginning one. Chances are, you can develop an affordable plan that your employees will like.

Automotive Dealer Insights - May/June 2016

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