How often have you thought about your employees’ health? You may not think that employee wellness is an employer’s responsibility, but implementing even a small-scale health and wellness program in your company can lead to a reduction in healthcare costs, reduced absenteeism, increased productivity and retention among your workforce.

Wellness Programs Don’t Have to Be Expensive

You don’t have to go so far as offering free gym memberships or an on-site dietician. There are plenty of smaller steps you can take to create a healthier work environment. Here are six tips you can try:

1. Ask Your Employees What They Want. Don’t waste your time or money implementing programs or practices that your employees don’t care about. Ask them what they think would help them feel better and lead healthier lifestyles, and figure out how you can help. For example, they may appreciate educational workshops on healthy cooking or losing weight. Or maybe they prefer mental health tips such as, dealing with stress.

2. Encourage Healthy Behaviors Around the Office. Install hand sanitizer dispensers near doorways and restrooms, to help stop the spread of germs on doorknobs. Make your stairwells appealing—keep them clean, and maybe even decorate them—to encourage employees to take the stairs instead of the elevator. Make sure fresh water is easily available to everyone. You could even consider implementing periodic water breaks thought the day.

3. Start a Health and Wellness Committee. Choose a small group of people who can research other ways to bring better health into your employees’ everyday lives. They can organize employee teams for local fundraising walks or runs, send out weekly health tips via email, and find guest speakers or exercise teachers.

4. Provide Employees with Healthy Snacks. See if you can find a local farm that will drop off fresh fruit a couple of times a week as a healthy alternative to your vending machine.

5. Encourage Activity! Start a lunchtime walking group or an employee softball team. Pass out inexpensive pedometers and set up stair-walking competitions or see who can walk a certain number of steps a day. You can even announce a 5-minute stretch break over your intercom once a day—maybe during the afternoon slump.

6. Provide Health Screenings at Work. You can lessen employee stress and cut down on healthcare-related costs by bringing in medical professionals to administer flu shots or check your employees’ blood pressure, cholesterol or glucose levels. This shows your employees that you care about their time and their health, and it can also tip them off if something is wrong and allow them to address it before it becomes a problem.

Making your workplace healthier is a great way to boost productivity because when your employees feel better about themselves, they’ll feel better about working—and about working for your company. If you’d like to discuss ways you can let supply chain employees know that you offer a healthy working environment, contact ZDA Supply Chain Recruiting today.