Wellness Programs for Small Businesses

In its most recent issue, the American Journal of Health Promotion discusses the challenge of bringing employee wellness programs to small businesses. It's an important subject: The same issues affecting large corporations--rising health care costs, absenteeism, and reduced productivity--impact small businesses with even greater force.

Small businesses do have at least one advantage over the big guys. Participation rates in their wellness initiatives are often higher, and the article lists four reasons:

• Management tends to be more supportive
  
• Employees are brought into the decision-making process
  
• Workers and managers generally have a positive working relationship
  
• Employees are accustomed to working together
  

The article also describes a unique effort taking shape in Maine. With the help of 28 non-profits called Healthy Maine Partnerships, employers are able to draw from a variety of public resources to augment their own wellness programs. It's an interesting idea, and I'm curious to see how it plays out.

If you're considering a wellness initiative and don't quite have 10,000 employees, don't worry. We've designed successful programs for companies of all shapes and sizes, and we can help you, too!