How to Add a Health & Wellness Program to Your SMB

As a recognized Psychologically Healthy Workplace, we know that a healthy workplace is crucial to your company’s success and prosperity. Caring about your workforce increases employee engagement, which benefits your bottom line. After over three decades running my own company, I feel comfortable saying that one of my top priorities as Chief Visionary Officer at InfoMart will always be the wellness of my people. Here’s how to add a health and wellness program to your SMB.

According to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), diabetes has the largest impact on health costs felt by employee benefit plans. Other illnesses hurting offices (joint pain, obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol) are all chronic illnesses tied directly to lifestyle. It is our mission at InfoMart to nurture healthy behaviors in our employees and the company at large. Here’s how we promote a healthy, positive employee experience:

Create an Employee-Led Health Committee

InfoMart’s I’M Committees are employee-led groups that encourage work/life balance. They each have different focuses: fitness, celebrations, community service, personal development, and professional development. I’M Fit, our health and wellness committee, is tasked with curating new and existing fitness initiatives for our employees. They design our monthly fitness challenges, organize our Summer recesses that get employees outside and moving, and spearhead healthy lunch potlucks.

Design Quick Fitness Challenges

Businesses do the most for their employees in the long run when they instill healthy habits as an essential part of a daily routine. Habits are hard to break, so as leaders we should provide positive influences both inside and outside the workplace. The wellness initiatives at InfoMart vary, including short fitness challenges like wall sits and jump rope sets. Even something as simple as “Fruit Fridays” (a quick break for a healthy snack) can make a difference.

Host a “Biggest Loser” Contest

At the start of the year, we host a Biggest Loser Challenge to encourage employees to work towards a cash prize and a healthier lifestyle. We have two winners, one woman and one man, chosen based on the greatest percentage of healthy weight loss in their group. Weekly weigh-ins are private to protect employees’ privacy and morale, and the winners each win cash prizes up to $500. By encouraging innovative ideas, we continue to foster employee engagement. In trusting our employees to take on more responsibility within the organization, we hand them the reins to their futures with the full weight of InfoMart to support their efforts.  How do you encourage wellness programs in the office? Do you know how to add a health and wellness program to your SMB? Share your thoughts with me on social media.

About Tammy Cohen

Tammy Cohen, an industry pioneer and expert in identity and employment screening, founded InfoMart 30 years ago. Deemed the “Queen of Screen,” she’s been a force behind industry-leading innovations. She was most recently the first-to-market with a fully compliant sanctions search, as well as a suite of identity services that modernizes talent onboarding. Tammy revolutionized the screening industry when she stepped into the field, developing the first client-facing application and a due diligence criminal search that has since become standard for all background screening companies. Cohen has received national awards and honors for her business and civic involvement, including Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Top 25 Women-Owned Firms in Atlanta, Enterprising Women Magazine’s Enterprising Women of the Year award, the YWCA of Northwest Georgia’s Kathryn Woods Racial Justice Award, and a commendation in the 152nd Congressional Record.

About InfoMart

InfoMart has been revolutionizing the global background and identity screening industry for 30 years, providing businesses the information they need to make informed hiring decisions. They develop innovative technology that modernizes talent onboarding, including a first-to-market biometric identity authentication application and a verified sanctions search. The WBENC-certified company is a founding member of the Professional Background Screening Association, and they have achieved PBSA accreditation in recognition of their consistent business practices and commitment to compliance with the FCRA. The company is dedicated to customer service, speed, and accuracy, and it has been recognized for its success, workplace culture, and corporate citizenship with over 45 industry awards. To Get the Whole Story on InfoMart, please visit www.InfoMart-USA.com, follow @InfoMartUSA, or call (770) 984-2727.