Gartner's well-being studies revealed that while 96% of organizations offered a wellness program in 2020, only 42% of their employees knew about it.¹   Creating a dynamic wellness program to boost your company culture is the first step. Next, you must build awareness about the program’s goals and benefits to maximize the impact.  

Here are ten tips to effectively communicate your well-being initiatives 👇

Listen first.  To design an effective communication plan, you must understand your audience.  Identify existing high-engagement initiatives and build awareness of new endeavors alongside them.  Survey employees or host focus groups to understand their wellness goals at work and at home evaluate the impact your benefits will have on both.  

Align the message to your team’s benefit.  Focus on the ways your well-being programs support your employees.  Don’t add your wellness program as another thing on their to-do list.  Show your employees you care about them as people, without the need to improve performance at work. 

Make the memo clear. To jumpstart engagement with these perks, keep the message accessible and direct.  Have a clear call to action.  What do your employees need to do next?  Do they have details on how to access new benefits? 

One thing to consider in your benefit selection process: the more holistic your wellness benefits, the easier adoption will be.  This way, the call to action will be simple.  Rather than one solution for movement, another for nutrition, and yet another for meditation, find one that offers all. 

Consistency is key.  Communicate to employees regularly through channels that are easy to access.  Build awareness in email updates, Slack, town hall meetings, and open enrollment. 

Vary your message.  Employees will have different reasons for taking part in your wellness program.  Appeal to the diversity of your team with a mix of scientific and emotional evidence.  

Vary your messenger.  Try these communication pathways:

        Leadership → Employee: Senior leadership buy-in will underscore your commitment to employee wellness.  

        Manager → Employee: People managers will empower employees by modeling the program’s utilization. 

        Employee → Employee: Use internal message boards to normalize healthy behavior and identify risks. 

Keep it positive.  Avoid scare tactics.  Research shows behavior change is rarely motivated through fear. 

Celebrate success! Don’t continually communicate what your employees can do; celebrate what they have done!  Share team and individual (note: with permission) wins.  

Start strong.  After your new initiatives have been launched to the team, make sure to integrate these well-being benefits and company practices into your onboarding with new employees.  Programs will lose momentum without leadership buy-in and company support.  Be the first to tell your employees about your wellness program.

Keep listening.  Regularly survey employees and provide a channel for questions and concerns. Evaluate feedback on your programs and address problems directly, immediately, and openly.