Hello and Happy New Year! It's a new year, a fresh start. I, like many others, have implemented my 2018 resolutions. One item on the list this year and probably every year is to be healthier. Healthcare cost are horrible and don't appear to be subsiding anytime soon. Cost alone would seem to be a motivator in having a healthier lifestyle.

For employers, healthcare is a double whammy in premiums and loss of employee productivity due to absenteeism from illnesses. Per the CDC, employers lose up to $225 billion per year to absenteeism. So why not do something about it? As an employer, you can. You can make wellness a focus and motivate you and your employees to be healthier. In the next few sections, we will give you some ideas and suggestions on ways to create a win-win wellness program for you and your employees that will hopefully lead to better health, productivity and life.

Wellness Program - Getting Started

If you're not familiar about wellness programs, don't worry, this section will give you some insights. Though many wellness programs will differ from organization to organization, the focus is usually the same: improving the health and well-being of their employees. Most wellness programs are usually implemented and ran by the human resources or benefits departments. The program, like any, will require time and effort to create and implement; don't rush it and have others involved in creating the plan.

There are a lot of resources on the web to help get organizations started on a wellness program. One place to start would be with your company's health insurer. They may be able to provide established programs you can use for your own company. Some insurers even provide premium discounts to organizations for implementing effective wellness programs. Here are some other great resources from the web and a short video:

• Link Between Wellness and Productivity
• Forbes: 5 Essentials to a Wellness Program
• CDC Resources for Wellness Programs

Start Strong, Finish Stronger

Once your wellness plan is developed and ready for implementation, the kick off meeting will be one of the most critical parts of the plan. This meeting will either make or break the buy-in and support from your employees. The kick off meeting will be the best place to provide materials such as pamphlets, goals and introduce the contests. You may also consider this meeting as an opportunity to provide tools to help them achieve the goals such as journals, pedometers, stress relievers and other wellness related items.

A wellness program, no matter how great it is, will fail without some positive motivation and reward. You will need to keep your employees motivated on becoming healthier. Prizes for making goals or winning competitions should be fun and nice. Things such as fitness gear and recognition trophies are great items for a healthy motivation and keeping them committed to the plan.