Company wellness plan: Get the most out of yours
Expats working in Thailand may not fully appreciate how the country has developed over the years, but their very presence in the country is a testament to its growing international business sector. Companies in Thailand are aware of this and thus have made efforts to attract top international talent to help their businesses grow and prosper on a larger scale.
Of course, attracting and retaining world-class professional talent means standing out from the competition. In addition to offering a competitive salary, accomplishing this task often involves other perks and benefits, including a company wellness plan. This Pacific Prime Thailand article delves into the topic of corporate wellness programs and how your company can ensure that it is best addressing the needs of employees, their families, and the company alike.
Wellness programs in Thailand and beyond
Businesses in Thailand are increasingly turning to a company wellness plan to improve the overall health – and thereby the productivity and quality of life – of their workforce. So what kind of features are these companies using to reach out to their staff?
For years, the focus of wellness plans had been mostly on physical fitness, exercise, diet, and preventive medicine. While this is still an incredibly important aspect of corporate health and wellness in an era where waistlines are expanding and sedentary lifestyles are becoming more and more common, more companies are starting to implement features into their wellness plan that focus on emotional, psychological, social, spiritual, environmental, financial and social wellbeing. In order to address these various facets of people’s lives, wellness plans can now include an array of benefits, such as:
- Gym membership
- Counseling (Occupational, financial, marriage, family, alcohol/drug, etc.)
- Employee assistance programs
- Professional development
- Life coaching
- Personal training
- Yoga classes
- Nutrition advice/programs
- Smoking cessation programs
- Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Company sports events/teams
- Charitable and family events
- Health seminars and screening
- And much more
Companies operating in Thailand that offer to assist with a company wellness plan promise that the types of benefits listed above will lead companies to better productivity and morale in the office, as well as reduced absenteeism and sick days. Similarly, the benefits of wellness programs for employees are said to be better overall health, increased energy levels, and sharper mental acuity – to name a few. Some have even gone so far as to report that certain companies have seen up to a sixfold return on their investment, meaning that for every baht they’ve invested in their program, they’ve seen a 6 baht return on that investment.
The holistic approach mentioned above has shown promising results for many companies, but is it right for yours? Well, that all depends.
Cater to your audience
One of the pitfalls of trying to create a comprehensive wellness plan within a company is ensuring that you are addressing the needs of employees. While it’s not so difficult to throw a bunch of features that sound good down on a piece of paper and pass it on to staff, doing so without considering their demographics is done at the risk of not tailoring the plan to the people that are intended to use it.
To avoid this potential issue, it’s highly advisable to communicate with employees before securing your wellness plan. Find out from them what it is that they want from their wellness plan. Not only will you be sure to address their needs, but you could also potentially save money by avoiding unwanted benefits that might not be used even if made available.
Think of it this way, if the demographic analysis of your office shows that you have a very young staff, then a wellness program big on physical fitness may be the best to address their active lifestyles. An office that skews significantly older on average, however, may not make good use of these benefits and rather focus on benefits that will lower their stress and help them save for retirement. Likewise, your program may change over time as the demographics of your office shift.
Further reading: Key steps for implementing a corporate wellness program
Simplifying wellness programs in the workplace
With several companies offering corporate wellness programs, choosing the right one for your business can be a daunting task. While there are examples of wellness programs across the web, an employee wellness program template is simply somewhere to start. What’s more, sourcing a wellness program can be even more difficult when you try to figure it into your existing health insurance benefits structure. You may find yourself asking questions like:
- Will my insurer be able to collaborate with my wellness provider?
- Is it possible to get a better value by obtaining all of my benefits from the same source?
Examining all options and arriving at the best decision can be challenging to do on your own. That’s why utilizing a trusted partner like Pacific Prime Thailand can be an indispensable help. As a leading health insurance broker and employee benefits specialist with over 20 years of industry experience, Pacific Prime specializes in helping corporations secure comprehensive group health insurance in Thailand and globally.
Our experience allows us to deliver your company options based on its specific needs with the least amount of hassle possible for your team. Contact us today and find out how we can simplify all aspects of your employee benefits plan in Thailand, including your company wellness plan.
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