If your institution has introduced employee wellness plans, you’ve made a great first step in the right direction. But how can you fine-tune them and make sure they meet your team members’ needs? Here are a few tips.

• Get buy-in from your board of directors. Supporting employee wellness is a way to manage risks in the workplace. A board that is interested in mental health is more likely to hold an institution’s leadership accountable in this area.
• Make sure your program is properly funded. Your employee wellness plans should be a recurring line-item in your budget. Look at funding current and future wellness strategies as an investment in your employees—an investment that is as important as one into a new service offering. Mentally fit team members can adapt quickly and be productive.
• Get real feedback. Don’t just look at surveys, use rates, and the number of complaints. What gets reported often differs from reality. Create situations where honest conversations and listening without judgment can happen.
• Look for the root of the problem. Make sure team members are part of the decision-making process when you’re implementing and improving strategies. Time off, mental-health seminars, free counseling, and other wellness offerings are important, but if they do not address the root of the problem, you may still have unhappy employees. Workload, resources, team culture, and a host of other factors may need to be addressed. 

For more advice, read “Four Mindsets That Undermine Workplace Well-Being Initiatives.”