Employee wellness programs offer immense benefits to employees and companies alike. From healthier lifestyles to lower healthcare costs and improved productivity, the impact wellness programs have is well-documented.
Yet, wellness experts continue to debate over how wellness programs are designed and administered:
Which type of wellness program is more effective?
Should wellness initiatives be company-driven, with structured oversight and accountability?
Or should they be individual-based, offering flexibility and empowering employees to choose their own paths?
Is employee wellness a personal responsibility or the company’s job?
In reality, the best wellness programs incorporate both approaches. Here, we’ll explore the core differences between company-based and individual-based models, examine what works (and what doesn’t) in each, and show how a blended wellness program strategy drives better outcomes for companies and individuals.
Contents
Company-Based Wellness Programs
Individual-Based Wellness Programs
Autonomy vs. Accountability
Why a Blend is the Best Wellness Solution
Recommendations
Company-Based Wellness Programs
In company-based wellness programs, the underlying philosophy is that the employer is responsible for supporting employee wellness through initiatives such as:
Structured programming
Corporate challenges
Coaching
Company culture
Some believe that employees won’t prioritize wellness unless companies establish a culture and infrastructure that supports it. At work, the healthy choice should always be the easy choice – and it’s up to companies to make that happen.
Company-Based Wellness Program Benefits
Structure: Companies provide the program structure, making it easy for employees to “know what to do”
High visibility: Companies promote their wellness initiatives, ensuring employees are aware of what’s available
Collective participation: Group activities and challenges encourage more employees to participate in wellness offerings
High impact: Employers can use aggregate claims data to identify high-risk areas and design targeted programs that improve health outcomes and reduce costs
Company-Based Wellness Program Criticisms
Lack of personalization: Some say company-driven programs aren’t personalized for individual needs
Can feel coerced: Inflexible structures and incentivized participation can make wellness programs feel coerced to some employees
Reward productivity: Some employees feel that company-based programs emphasize productivity
Note that well-designed programs address these concerns by offering flexibility and focusing on holistic employee health, not just productivity.
Individual-Based Wellness Programs
Individual-based wellness programs emphasize employee autonomy. Employees are empowered to take ownership of their wellness using employer-provided tools, but not structured programming. The idea is that wellness is deeply personal, and programs should avoid a one-size-fits-all approach.
Employees know their bodies and capabilities best, so individual-based wellness programs are especially effective for those who are already health-conscious and motivated to push themselves further, rather than feeling limited by activities designed for the average participant. That said, highly personalized programs cater to employees at all levels of wellness.
Individual-Based Wellness Program Benefits
Personalized programming: These programs are tailored exclusively to individual needs and goals
Empowering: Employees make their own choices and set their own milestones
Enjoyment: Employees participate in the activities they enjoy doing
Individual-Based Wellness Program Criticisms
Less employer responsibility: Some feel that individual-based programs absolve employers of their duty to create a healthy work environment
Employee stress: These programs have the potential to stress employees who must “figure it out on their own”
Lower engagement: Engagement and participation is more challenging without oversight and accountability
Autonomy vs. Accountability
Often, the debate comes down to autonomy vs. accountability. In individual-based wellness programs, employees have more autonomy, but employers might hold them less accountable for achieving their wellness goals. In company-based wellness programs, employees are held accountable but have less autonomy to decide which activities are best for their wellness goals.
Company-BasedIndividual-BasedHealth OutcomesCan influence health outcomes for more employees through increased participation ratesCan help employees achieve more targeted health outcomes according to individual needsProductivityCan boost company-wide productivity through high engagement rates and well-defined wellness cultureProductivity increases are likely limited to those employees who follow their individualized wellness plansEngagementOften achieves high engagement rates through rewards programs and group challengesMay have lower engagement when employees are responsible for making all of their own wellness decisionsCostsCan cost more depending on the level of programming, challenges, rewards, and incentivesOften costs less since there is no group organization, though there can still be incentives and rewardsCustomization & FlexibilityLess flexibility to customize programming for individual needsExcellent flexibility to customize programming for individual needs
Why a Blend is the Best Wellness Solution
The best wellness programs incorporate both approaches, blending autonomy and accountability:
Companies build a supportive environment and provide wellness resources
While employees are empowered to engage in wellness in the ways that work best for them
Here are some examples of how you can blend company-based and individual-based programming across all six pillars of wellness.
Physical Wellness
A company provides an on-site gym while also providing a stipend for activities employees enjoy, such as 5K race registrations or yoga class memberships. Employees get access and incentives from the company but choose which physical activity they like best.
Mental & Emotional Wellness
A company provides access to a mental health platform, but employees choose which features suit them best, such as one-on-one counseling and mindfulness exercises.
Nutritional Wellness
A company provides a nutrition app with incentives for using it, but employees choose their nutritional goals.
Occupational Wellness
A company provides on-site career development programs, but employees can also participate in on-demand training portals – choosing what to learn and when.
Financial Wellness
A company offers financial literacy workshops as well as access to a personal finance app for individual goal tracking.
Social Wellness
A company hosts team outings with incentives for participation but also offers incentives for employees to engage in their own social groups, such as book clubs or hiking groups.
Recommendations
We recommend that wellness leaders seek ways to provide structure and tools but also empower employees with the choice of which tools they use. This approach allows individuals to take ownership of their wellness while also granting companies the ability to hold employees accountable – while providing a solid support structure when employees need it.
Despite the debate, your wellness program philosophy shouldn’t be a battle – it should be a balance – as the most successful programs blend company-based initiatives with individual-based programming.