In this age of rising healthcare costs, the idea of a wellness program has probably crossed your mind each time you review your company's health plan. These programs are hailed as a valuable way to curb company costs while improving your employees' quality of life. As your employees make their New Year's resolutions, a wellness program might be the incentive they need to keep on-track with a healthy lifestyle.

As with any new plan, there are several factors that greatly increase the success of a wellness program:

ª      Leadership buy-in: Management must fully support and promote the plan in order for employees to see it as a valuable benefit.

ª      Comprehensive plans: The plan should include preventive and general wellness aspects.

ª      Tangible benefits: Do the employees see short-term, as well as tangible long-term benefits from participating?

ª      Cultural adaptation: The company needs to build its culture around the wellness program. Perhaps it's time to bring in bagels and fresh fruit for meetings rather then the old donut fallback.

Each company's program may have unique components that appeal to their needs and their employee's lifestyle. However, the bottom line of each plan is to improve the quality of your employee's life while increasing productivity.

-By Cheryl Coblentz, CPA (Millersburg office)