Are your health and wellbeing initiatives aligned with purpose or “what matters most” to participants? If not, then it might be time for a design refresh…
Why is purpose important?
Employer well-being programs can be perceived by employees as “cost containment initiatives”. If the goal of the programs is solely focused on reducing healthcare costs, these programs will likely “miss the mark” on with what matters most to participants. However, if wellbeing initiatives empower participants to identify and align their work and life purpose, they can improve participant health, and result in improved worker engagement. According to recent Metlife study employees with a strong sense of purpose are more productive, more engaged, and have higher job satisfaction.
How to integrate “what matters most” into health and wellbeing programming
The concept of “putting meaning back into work” and aligning programs with “what matters most” to employees is not new. Actually this idea has been around for many years in HRD and Organizational Development, but only recently, has this concept been aligned with workplace well-being programs. So how do employers align their wellbeing initiatives with “what matters most” to employees? There are many ways to do this, but a few best practice ideas to consider are listed below:
- Incorporate tools and resources encouraging participants to identify and focus in on their purpose, and “what matters most” as part of their professional development, and company wellbeing initiative.
- Partner with the HR, Career Development or Training organization to sync up messaging and branding around personal/professional development with health and wellbeing programming. Look for opportunities to ensure people leaders and supervisors are trained to have dialogue with their employees about how their performance goals align with company goals. These conversations can help employees to “connect the dots” to understand how daily progress on individual goals and helps the organization achieve its overarching goals.
- Align health and wellbeing program goals with the objectives of the organization. This will help integrate the wellbeing programs into the culture of purpose-centered organizations, and it helps employees see how the wellbeing initiatives can enable them to make progress toward their own professional and personal goals.
- Collaborate with your internal Corporate Sustainability, and Community Giving teams to integrate wellbeing programs (such as challenges) with employee giving or sustainability initiatives. Aligning participation in programs with important corporate sustainability goals or community giving campaigns, fosters intrinsic motivation by encouraging participating in programs for more than just personal gains. Participation in programs aligned with a “greater good” encourages individual and team effort, and can align wellbeing initiatives with charitable giving campaigns, or company-wide environmental and sustainability initiatives.
It is not necessary that you hire an outside supplier to integrate purpose into your culture and wellbeing programs- you can do this yourself. However, if you would like more information on purpose offerings through Kumanu and how this supplier helps employers provide resources to help employees “thrive through purpose” access this link.
If you are interested in learning more about how to design and integrate purpose into your organizations health and wellbeing initiatives, in the US or globally please contact us.