How to communicate about your employee wellness program

If your business has an employee wellness program then it is important that communication with the employees in the company is happening. The reality is that no matter how great the employee wellness program is or not matter what it offers, if your employees don't know about it, and more importantly how to access it, then it is just a waste of time and money. Effective communication is the only way that your employees will be motivated to participate in the program. In addition, it should be noted that initial communication is not enough, you have an open line of communication that is continually being maintained so that employees can be aware of what is currently being offered within the employee wellness program. Here is what you need to know about how to communicate about your employee wellness program-

- It starts with the Health Promotions team-Since the employee wellness program is being run by the Health Promotions team, this is the group that needs to make sure that effective communication is happening. Whenever any aspect of the employee wellness program is put into place, the Health Promotions team needs to make sure that there is an effective means of communication to go along with it. The Health Promotions team should also make sure that whatever means of communication that is used, is easily accessible and understandable. It can also be helpful if the information is portable to the employee, so that they can access at their leisure. In addition, the flow of communication needs to not only generate awareness, but also motivate the employee to want to join whatever the employee wellness program is offering. Finally, the Health Promotions team needs to make sure that the flow of information is constant. An initial burst of information that slows to nothing will leave the employees wondering what happened to the employee wellness program.
- Keep the information rotating-Most employee wellness programs are set up to focus on topic and then move onto something else. Because of this it is crucial that the Health Promotions team keep the information rotating. This way the employees can stay current, on whatever topic is being addressed at the time. The Health Promotions team should also focus on letting the employees know about any current health trends that may be applicable. They can use the communication to focus on the benefits of whatever the current employee wellness program is at the time. However, it is important to remember that once again, this needs to be done on a consistent basis, in order for the communication to be effective. This will also help to keep employees interested in whatever the employee wellness program is offering.
- Use a variety of ways to spread the communication-It is just as important to consider how the communication about the employee wellness program will be decimated, as it is to consider the content. Keep in mind that if you choose to put applicable information on company bulletin, but no one actually looks at the company bulletin board, it is just the same as doing nothing at all. The Health Promotions team will need to determine the best methods to use when sending out communication about the employee wellness program. Preferably, there should be more then one method used, so that employees can gain access to the information in a variety of ways. There are a number of communication methods that can be used including but not limited to: newsletters (either hard copy or online), wellness bulletin boards, email alerts, posters and direct mail pieces that are sent to the employees home.