How to Build a Wellness Program that Benefits Your Small Business Team

Finding top talent in today’s job market is a challenge, to say the least; retaining that talent is often even more difficult. Many people today are looking for a job that will not only fit their skills and personalities, but one that offers them purpose, fulfillment, and job satisfaction.

Having access to a wellness program is an obvious benefit of working for a large corporation; how can small businesses compete? Most small businesses simply don’t have the budget to include things like weight loss or smoking cessation programs, health screenings, or gym memberships. In addition, many small businesses now have remote employees to consider. How can an owner build a wellness program that truly is a benefit to their unique team?

You may not be able to compete with the budget or bells and whistles offered by large corporations, but you can compete in other ways. Because you have the ability to get to know each of your team members and talk with them about their needs. You can figure out ways to offer a wellness program that is actually tailored to their needs — and often, this can be a definite pull for the right employees.

Here are some tips to help you get started!

Discover Your Team’s Wellness Needs

Because every team is different, I really can’t give you a step-by-step plan for building a wellness program that will fit your budget, your company’s culture, and your team’s needs. I can give you some guidelines and ideas as to how to go about it, though!

My team is completely remote and located all over the world; at any given time, I’ve had team members on 5 different continents! Because we don’t have a brick and mortar location (we’re not even in the same time zones much of the time), certain solutions just wouldn’t work for us.

Instead, I choose to work with a combination of equipping my team members to reach their personal goals and supplying some resources that work well for everyone.

During quarterly reviews, one of the questions I ask has to do with helping each team member set a personal goal. This can be anything, but a good percentage of the time, it has something to do with wellness. It might include finding ways to work fitness into their schedule, paying more attention to nutrition and hydration, or focusing on improving sleep habits. We then talk about ways they can work toward those goals in the coming quarter.

In addition, I recently purchased subscriptions to the Calm app for each of my team members through their Calm App for Business program. This app has a ton of different options, so it has something for everyone; my staff can take advantage of everything from daily meditations, stretches, and motivational talks to sleep stories that really do work. In addition, we created a dedicated channel on our team Slack to share different ideas we’ve each found on the app!

Because each area of my business is fast-paced, this app helps each of my team members control stress, get better sleep, and create more balance in their lives — and everyone can do this in the way that best fits their needs and personality. It’s an inexpensive but very effective solution!

Look Beyond the Obvious

Health and nutrition are obvious additions to your wellness program, but there are other areas to look at as well. The mission of Upleveling Your Business, for example, is to help business owners thrive, and I’m committed to doing the same for my team.

This is why I look at wellness as being holistic, rather than as a category.

Our wellness program includes several different facets:

• Vacation time: When I meet with my team members, I ask them about upcoming vacations they want to take — and it’s not just out of interest. I actually require many of my team members to take vacation days each quarter, both to encourage them to enjoy what life has to offer and to ensure they don’t burn out. (One of my mottoes is “Work hard, play hard!”)
  
  This policy has another upside — it allows us to test out our systems and procedures so that we know what to refine in the event that someone is out unexpectedly. I’d rather test things like that out intentionally than have fires pop up unexpectedly!
• Monthly Book Club: We are also intentional about incorporating a monthly Book Club. Each month, we choose a title and provide a copy to everyone who would like to participate. The book topics range from forming healthy and success-driven habits, to management and leadership topics, to books that foster collaboration or a growth mindset.
• Monthly Team Builder: During our monthly Team Builders, we often share suggestions with each other to help add to our own wellness plans. These suggestions range from exercise options like hiking, yoga, and swimming to meditation, getting out in nature, and taking time for hobbies we enjoy. This not only brings us together as a team, it also help us each expand our wellness options!
• Survey Your Team: From time to time, I like to get opinions from my team to get a better idea of what they love to do and what wellness options are currently working best for them. The easiest way to do this is to conduct a survey.
• Special Trainings: Occasionally, we also like to ask special guests to help lead our monthly Team Builders! In the past we’ve had a water specialist help us learn ways to stay hydrated, a nutritionist to guide us in easy ways to stay healthy, and a Zumba instructor to lead a group class via Zoom!

My point is, there is no one way to build an effective wellness program — but with some communication and creativity, you can build one that fits your culture, your team’s needs, and your budget. This program can not only have a significant impact on your productivity and employee retention, but also on your overall culture.

Looking for ways to build the right team and develop a strong culture? Let us know — we have resources available for every size and stage of business, and we’re here to help you build!

Kristen David, a former trial lawyer and partner who went from working 85 hours a week and taking home way too little money in her law firm, built it up to a million-dollar-plus business, then sold her shares and pivoted into a business coach guru. She is now an international speaker, bestselling author, and operates a successful business, empowering business owners to build thriving, profitable businesses that are self-managed with systems. She helps busy business owners build those systems by implementing policies and procedures the Fast Track Way.

Originally published at https://www.uplevelingyourbusiness.com/.