According to a new poll of 617 full-time workers by
Flex+Strategy Group and Work+Life Fit, about half of all U.S. workers take part in some kind of wellness initiative, while about a third of all workers participate in some kind of employer-sponsored initiative. So if half of employees are doing some kind of exercise, and a third are doing it with work, what’s everyone else up to?
- 25% say their employer doesn’t offer any kind of wellness program (that they know of)
- 20% say their employers have a program but they don’t participate (millennials are more likely to opt out than older colleagues)
- Another 20% say they participate in wellness activities like group exercise classes or tracking their steps with a wearable device such as FitBit, but choose to do so on their own.
Do you participate or manager a wellness program? If so, your input is important to our 2016 Corporate Wellness Survey.
Take it now, the first 50 responders get a gift card! Survey closes May 20.
Wellness Initiatives: Teleworkers vs. Traditional Office Workers
Another way to dice the data is to analyze teleworkers versus traditional office workers. Teleworkers are more likely to pursue independent wellness initiatives rather than an employer-sponsored program. This makes sense because teleworkers are already living independently of their co-workers and employers. Rather than going into an office each day and interacting with others who might share similar fitness interests, teleworkers remain virtually separate from colleagues and their daily routines. There’s little opportunity for coincidental overlaps in fitness, like runners discovering they both go out for a 5k after work. Teleworkers’ independent working style translates directly to their wellness initiative engagement.
Understanding Employee Differences
Whether you’re focused on how millennials measure up to baby boomers and Gen Xers or your concerned about how your remote employees compare to your office employees, it is important to understand your individual workforce’s wellness habits. Understanding how your staff engages is the key to ensuring that you can create wellness initiatives that fit their needs. If every employer took time to audit this engagement we could significantly increase not only the number of employees who engage in wellness initiatives but those who engage through their employers, connecting their healthy living to their insurance premiums.
