Corporate Wellness: The Real Reason Millennials Are Quitting Their Jobs

April 06, 2021

Traditional health benefits aren’t enough anymore; a lack of wellness programs for employees can mean a drop in employee health, retention and satisfaction.

A global pandemic was bad enough for business. But recent data shows that employers may be facing a new crisis. More than two out of ten Millennials have changed jobs in the last 12 months, while 22% say they do not expect to remain with the same employer for more than five years. And if given the chance, more than seven out of ten Millennials say they would leave their current position for the right opportunity. Ask yourself: What would you do if nine out of ten of your Millennial employees were to jump ship?

One of the factors leading the charge on Millennial job switching is the pursuit of better work benefits. Interestingly, though, surveys have shown that the benefits Millennials are most interested in are relatively low in cost. One example: corporate wellness.

This has never been more true than it is today. Wellness has been a top priority for many during the COVID-19 pandemic. More people are prioritizing fitness, healthy eating, and improved hygiene and relishing the opportunity to work remotely.

Meanwhile, companies are struggling to find candidates to fill important positions despite the unemployment rate sitting at 6.2%.

Attracting the right employees to your team may be as easy as giving them what they want. In this case, a big “want” is the right work benefits — including those that help employees take care of their own well-being. Employers are stepping up to support employees where they are with highly valued self-care technology at home. Jefferies Financial Group, for example, recently delivered at-home wellness technology to each of its junior bankers. Employees were given the option of a Peloton bike, a Mirror home workout system, or select Apple products.

Wellness as a Competitive Hiring Advantage

Millennials currently make up a large slice of the workforce—about 35%. In just four more years, they will become the majority at 75%.

As a whole, Millennials believe they are more health-conscious than other generations. They smoke less, exercise more, and tend to favor foods with fewer artificial or processed ingredients.

This is also a hardworking group of individuals, with 73% logging more than 40 hours each workweek. And yet, less than 30% of Millennials say they feel engaged in their work. In a USA Today report, many Millennials admitted to being so busy they don’t always eat three meals a day and instead rely on convenient snacking.

It’s no wonder Millennials are also called the Burnout Generation. They work longer hours, face greater living expenses than previous generations at the same age, and feel societal pressure to do more and be more. They wear their burnout like a badge of honor.

So when a company steps up and helps them take control of their wellness—physically and mentally—it doesn’t go unnoticed. In fact, it’s very much appreciated. And among some Millennials, help in the fitness and wellness department is expected.

In a recent HR Dive, nearly three-fourths of Millennial employees agreed that their employer should play a role in helping them manage and reduce workplace stress. Benefits like vacations, gym memberships, and flexible work schedules motivate them to make healthy choices and be proactive in their wellness. What’s more, a whopping 85% of employees agreed they would be more likely to participate in wellness programs if their employer offered relevant support and resources.

These statistics don’t only hold true for your current employee population. They can also be powerful recruiting tools, showing you’re invested in the well-being of your employees from Day 1.

The Tangible Benefits of Corporate Wellness

The advantages of better corporate wellness and fitness-related benefits aren’t limited to employees. There are powerful, tangible benefits to the company, too—in terms of employee engagement, employee retention, greater productivity, and competitive talent.

For example, employee sick days cost companies an average of $3,900 per employee each year and a total of 1.5 billion missed days of work. In companies that offer little or no paid sick leave, employees feel obligated to come to work sick, which can spread illness within the organization and result in more lost days.

However, the root cause isn’t just a lack of sick time. Going a few layers deeper, companies can promote a higher level of health with the right wellness benefits.

These benefits can create a domino effect. For example, healthy employees mean fewer days missed due to illness, which means a greater level of productivity. Employee engagement at work can lead to a higher level of employee happiness and motivation. More can be done in the same amount of time without the need to hire more positions. And, from a financial perspective, better employee health ultimately saves the company money since the employer is paying the majority of the employees’ health insurance premiums.

When you factor in the costs of lost productivity, low employee engagement, and low retention rates due to a lack of employee satisfaction, any costs related to corporate wellness are easy to justify.

Corporate Wellness Programs That Work

A well-designed wellness program lets your employees know (and truly believe) you care about them. A poorly designed one, however, can do the exact opposite. Let’s look at some best practices to bring in a corporate wellness program that gets results:

Incentivize Participation in Wellness or Fitness Programs

While you never want to force participation in a fitness or wellness program, you can encourage participation with incentives.

For example, you might offer paid time off, gift cards, or raffles for reaching certain goals or completing specific tasks, or donate money to a charity of the employee’s choice. Another way to keep participation high is by making fitness fun. For instance, you might do seasonal events, such as SUP Yoga in the summer or 5Ks in the fall. Or, you can do specific challenges, such as a body fat percentage loss challenge that rewards people for improving their body composition in a given timeframe.

Consider a Variety of Options

Corporate wellness programs can take many forms, features, and functions that go beyond the basic gym membership.

One idea is to provide all interested employees with a DEXA body scan so they can get scientific insights into their health profile. A DEXA body composition scan is unique to every individual. It looks at your height, weight, body fat, and muscle mass to determine how your body weight breaks down into lean tissue and fat, including visceral fat. Not all body fat is created equal, and knowing this balance may help employees better target their workouts and make their fitness activities more effective. These are important details if your employees are trying to gain muscle or lose fat (or both). Sponsoring a DEXA scan along with an annual biometric screening to help employees learn their numbers can take your wellness program to the next level.

Another unique benefit to consider is bringing in weekly chair massages, which is what AppDynamics did. Sitting at a desk all day can take a toll on the spine and body, which can trigger other issues like carpal tunnel syndrome, low back pain, neck pain, and more.

Sometimes, wellness benefits aren’t programs at all. For example, you might upgrade all your workstations to ergonomic ones. Desks that allow users to sit or stand can help them relieve pain from sitting and encourage them to be more active at work. Ergonomic chairs provide better back and neck support when sitting. Adjustable height monitors can also relieve eye strain and neck pain.

Promote Holistic Wellness Options

Many companies are realizing that physical wellness is often related to emotional, social, and financial well-being. For example, if an employee is struggling with student loans or saving for retirement, the stress caused by money worries can also have a negative impact on productivity, eating and exercise habits, and general feelings of well-being. This can lead to a cycle of poor overall health.

This is why companies are starting to incorporate non-physical wellness programs, such as financial literacy, into their overarching corporate wellness initiatives.

No matter what you choose to include in your corporate wellness benefits, make sure all employees have equal access to them. Tell all your new hires during onboarding about the available wellness benefits and programs and how they can take advantage of them. Remind employees about the benefits available to them throughout the year. And, when you introduce a new wellness opportunity, make sure you reach every employee. You might also consider extending corporate wellness programs to employee spouses to further increase engagement.

Kickstarting a New Corporate Wellness Program

Ready to ramp up your corporate wellness? Here’s how you can put the above ideas to work in a way that will be well-received by your employees.

Ask Employees What They Want

Your employees will be your single best guide for choosing corporate wellness programs and incentives. Remember, you’re doing all this work to increase employee happiness and engagement—not just for the sake of having a wellness program.

Ask your employees about the health and wellness benefits that matter most to them. You can even have some ideas ready to see which activities they’d be most interested in—like a DEXA body scan, yoga classes, nap rooms, or online coaching—and which incentives they’d appreciate most—such as a Peloton, fitness trackers, healthy catered lunch, or self-care days.

Get Leadership Buy-In

Got your wellness plans? Make sure your company’s leadership is on board before investing money into a wellness program. Your best approach to do this is to back up your ideas with statistics, surveys, benchmarks, or other types of data. Show the value of your ideas—not just the ideas themselves. Even better, if you can get leaders to participate, you will see more employees following suit.

Track Engagement

Are your efforts working? Are employees really happy, engaged, calling in less due to illness, and staying with your company? Track engagement by seeing who is taking advantage of the wellness activities you offer. Not everyone will participate, but you can sit back and notice the difference in the ones that do.

Wrapping Up

Corporate wellness is an important piece of the recruiting and retention puzzle. It not only helps support a more productive and profitable workplace but also shows employees you’re on their side. This alone can turn your company into a place where people really want to work.

For more corporate wellness ideas, head back to the Fitnescity Journal.