The holidays are almost here! For many, this season can be both a fun and stressful time. The holidays are also a time full of delicious (fattening) foods. During this time of year, it can be easy to forget about healthy eating or proper exercise, especially with so many plans. However, if you are an employer that offers a group health insurance plan, the holiday season can be a great time of year for you to promote employee wellness in the office.
Group health insurance plans and wellness-related benefits encourage and reward employees for leading healthy lifestyles. Studies have shown that group health insurance and benefits help decrease employees being out of office and they help improve morale.
Take the joy of the holiday season and create some fun, health initiatives in the office! Give your employees incentives to get healthy. Employee wellness programs have a positive impact on employee benefit costs. On average, for every dollar spent on wellness initiatives, about three dollars is saved in health care premiums and two dollars is saved in employees being absent.
During the holiday season, Americans gain one pound and overweight individuals gain about five pounds. This isn’t a lot of weight, per se, but it could be avoided.
As an insurance agency in Jacksonville, Florida, our team at Thomas & Associates wanted to share with you some healthy holiday ideas to help you promote employee wellness in the workplace.
Healthy Holiday Ideas to Incorporate into the Workplace
Get rid of leftovers after one day in the office. Around the holidays, there will be a lot of cookies, candy, delicious foods, and gift baskets. If the food is sitting around, employees can munch on it for weeks! After one day, throw out or donate the food, so people aren’t eating treats they will regret later.
During the holiday season, it’s nearly impossible to lose weight, but it is possible to maintain weight. Create a challenge/contest in the office for money or prizes. People register, pay a fee, and weigh in. The goal is to maintain their weight throughout the entire holiday season. Those that maintain (or lose) weight within a certain percentage get a portion of the money/prize.
Host a Thanksgiving potluck where everything is healthy.
Offer an in-office yoga or meditation class where employees can de-stress for a moment. Work can be stressful, but the holidays can make that stress even worse. This class can help them relax and get their mental state in a better place.
Do a steps challenge for money or prizes. See who can get the most steps in during a week or month. Employees can track this on their phone of fitness device.
Stock the office with healthy options like fruit, water, veggies, whole grains, and nuts.
Give employees credit or points to a prize for every time they take the steps instead of the elevator.
Do a workplace 5K run or walk.
Create a space in the office where employees can unwind and destress for a few minutes throughout the day.
These are just a few health employee wellness programs and ideas for the office. See what you can come up with! Your employees will have a lot of fun with these ideas!
From all of us at Thomas & Associates, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!
Do you need a group health insurance plan?
If you’re in the market for a group health insurance plan, our certified agent brokers at Thomas & Associates insurance agency in Jacksonville, Florida, can help you get the most cost-effective plan for your company’s needs.
Group health insurance and other employee benefits are an essential part of an employee compensation plan. If a health plan is seen as high quality, employees might be willing to accept a lower salary to have the valuable benefits.
We take pride in finding you the right group health insurance plan. To get started with us click our Jacksonville health insurance contact page or call 904-730-3900 .