A corporate wellness coach is a role that involves coaching employees in how to maintain or improve their health. Unlike other health roles, such as a nutritionist or trainer, they do not provide specific advice on a particular activity. Instead, they focus on helping people make better choices about their health and wellness goals based on the lifestyle they are living and provides a holistic view of a person’s health.
Corporate wellness coaches have been shown to reduce the cost of health care and prevent absenteeism as well as having a positive impact on productivity and efficiency.
Wellness coaching has become a feature of modern workplaces. It breaches the gap between traditional healthcare and encourages behavioral change to improve health outcomes. It has been shown to have a positive impact on the bottom line for organizations and many now have them on staff. There are some issues, however, with individual employees who may not be willing to engage with the wellness trend and it’s important for organizations not to force employees to work with a wellness coach – even if they are the ones most in need of such a service.
Organizations need to understand that a wellness program is not going to reach all the employees and the actual number of people that are willing to work with a wellness coach can range from as little as 3 to 7 percent of the overall workforce. While this seems like a very small group, it is important to try to focus wellness approaches to where they will provide the most benefit. In accepting such a small uptake and not making the program mandatory, organizations can make employees feel more comfortable about the possibilities a wellness coach might offer; this means those that seek help out will genuinely want it and this will improve the outcome.
Pitching wellness programs to employees should focus on identifying a goal, explaining the program and communicating a unique approach specific to the employee group. It’s important that they know what the program does and how it can help them live a healthier and happier life and to give it a unique spin that will make them want to get involved.
Corporate wellness coaching is only a small part of the overall wellness approach to the workplace and other areas organizations focus their efforts include: biometric screening, culture awareness training, nutrition programs, preventative health screenings, sport competitions and incentives for healthy living and activity tracking among others.