Most employees would probably agree that workplace wellness programs are a good thing.
They may appreciate having access to an Employee Assistance Program, fitness reimbursement, wellness challenges, mental health resources, health education, or other programs designed to support them.
Yet many employers still run into the same frustrating problem:
The resources are there, but employees are not consistently using them.
Low participation does not necessarily mean employees do not care about their wellbeing. More often, there is friction somewhere between having access to a program and actually engaging with it.
Understanding where that friction comes from can help employers create wellness programs employees are more likely to use throughout the year.
Awareness Does Not Always Lead to Engagement
There is a big difference between an employee knowing that a resource exists and knowing how or when to use it.
An employee might know their organization has an EAP without knowing what services are included. They may remember hearing something about a fitness reimbursement but have no idea where to submit it. They may have downloaded the wellness app during launch and forgotten about it three months later.
That is why awareness is only the first step.
For employees to engage, they need to understand:
- What is available?
- Why would it be useful to me?
- Where do I find it?
- What do I need to do?
- Is participating worth my time?
If those questions are difficult to answer, even a valuable program can go unused.
Too Many Tools Can Become a Barrier
Organizations often add resources with the best intentions.
Over time, however, employees can end up with one place for benefits, another for wellness, another for telehealth, another for an EAP, and another for rewards.
Each tool may be useful on its own. Together, they can create a fragmented experience. The easier it is to find and access programs, the lower the barrier to participation.
This is one reason employers are increasingly looking for ways to create a more connected employee experience. Bringing resources together, or at minimum creating one clear place employees can go to find them, makes it much easier to turn awareness into action.
That is why creating a more connected employee experience can make such a difference. Bringing wellbeing, benefits information, challenges, rewards, recognition, and communication into one central place can make it easier for employees to find what they need.
Motion Connected helps employers create that more connected benefit and wellbeing experience so employees can actually use the resources available to them.
Incentives Help, But They Cannot Carry the Entire Program
Sometimes employees need a reason to take that first step.
A gift card, prize drawing, premium incentive, or other reward can create curiosity and encourage someone to participate for the first time.
Recognition can be powerful too. Celebrating employees for reaching a milestone, completing a challenge, or simply participating helps reinforce that their effort matters.
But incentives work best as part of a larger engagement strategy.
If the program itself is difficult to navigate, poorly communicated, or requires too much effort, increasing the reward may temporarily increase participation without solving the underlying problem.
The goal is to give employees a reason to start while creating an experience that gives them reasons to return.
Communication Needs to Continue After Launch
One launch email is not a communication strategy.
Employees are constantly receiving information about work priorities, deadlines, meetings, benefits, and company updates. Even an important wellbeing resource can quickly disappear from view.
Organizations with strong engagement tend to keep their programs visible throughout the year. One Motion Connected client doing this especially well is Southern New Hampshire University.
With a workforce that is largely remote, SNHU uses consistent, multi-channel communication to keep wellbeing resources in front of employees. Their strategy includes monthly newsletters, quarterly communications, webinars, seasonal programming and an internal wellbeing landing page.
That ongoing visibility has helped drive strong engagement across their initiatives, including increased use of programs such as fitness reimbursement, dietitian services and their Employee Assistance Program.
The takeaway is not that every employer needs to send more emails.
It is that employees need to hear about programs more than once and in more than one place.
A challenge announcement in an employee newsletter might be followed by a manager reminder, a message inside the wellness platform, signage in a common area, or a quick mention during a company meeting.
Repeated visibility keeps programs from becoming something employees vaguely remember hearing about six months ago.
Programs Should Not Feel Like Extra Work
Even employees who genuinely want to improve their wellbeing have limited time and attention.
If participating requires a long registration process, multiple logins, complicated rules, or a large time commitment, the program can start feeling like another task on their to-do list.
Simple entry points matter.
A five-minute activity may feel manageable when a 45-minute one does not. A mobile option may work for employees who rarely sit at a computer. A challenge with several ways to participate may reach more people than one highly specific requirement.
Choice also matters, but more is not always better.
Giving employees only one way to participate can make a wellness program feel prescriptive. Giving them dozens of disconnected options can be just as overwhelming.
The strongest programs typically offer enough flexibility for employees to choose what is meaningful to them while still providing a clear path forward.
Leadership Can Make Participation Feel More Normal
Employees notice what leaders make time for.
When managers and company leaders talk about wellbeing, participate in activities, and recognize employees who get involved, the program becomes more than something HR is promoting. It becomes part of the culture.
A Motion Connected client that demonstrates this especially well is Iowa Specialty Hospitals.
Leadership is highly visible in the organization’s wellbeing efforts. CEO Steve Simonin participates alongside employees, attends events, and intentionally creates opportunities to connect with team members.
That support has helped Iowa Specialty Hospitals build a culture where employees report feeling supported, connected, and proud to work for the organization. The organization has also reported strong participation in its wellbeing initiatives and positive employee retention results.
Not every CEO needs to lead a step challenge, but when employees see leaders genuinely supporting a program, it sends a powerful message that participating is encouraged and valued.
How Can Employers Increase Wellness Program Engagement?
There is no single solution that guarantees participation. Instead, look for ways to remove small barriers throughout the employee experience.
Give employees meaningful choices: Different people are motivated by different goals, activities, and types of wellbeing.
Make programs easy to find: Employees should know exactly where to go when they need a resource.
Use incentives strategically: Rewards can generate momentum, but they should support the program rather than become the entire program.
Communicate consistently: Continue talking about programs throughout the year instead of relying on launch communications.
Keep participation simple: Reduce unnecessary steps, complicated requirements, and time commitments.
Get leaders involved: Visible support helps reinforce that wellbeing is something the organization genuinely values.
Employees Need Easier Ways to Engage With Programs.
For many employers, the answer to low participation is not adding another wellness initiative. It is making the programs they already have easier to see, easier to access, and easier to use.
A good resource can still fail if employees forget about it, a valuable benefit can still go unused if accessing it feels complicated, and even the best wellness program can lose momentum if employees only hear about it once.
Employee wellness engagement happens when programs consistently show employees three things:
This is relevant to me.
I know how to participate.
It is worth coming back.
At Motion Connected, we help employers create that kind of year-round experience by connecting wellbeing resources, benefits education, communication, challenges, recognition, and rewards in one place.
Because offering a wellness program is only the beginning. Getting employees to actually use it is where the impact happens.
Ready to make employee engagement easier? See how Motion Connected brings wellbeing, communication, rewards and resources together in one place. Schedule a demo today.
