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Company VS. Individual Wellness: The Great Debate

Employee wellness programs offer immense benefits to employees and companies alike. From healthier lifestyles to lower healthcare costs and improved productivity, the impact wellness programs have is well-documented. 

Yet, wellness experts continue to debate over how wellness programs are designed and administered:

  • Which type of wellness program is more effective?
  • Should wellness initiatives be company-driven, with structured oversight and accountability?
  • Or should they be individual-based, offering flexibility and empowering employees to choose their own paths?
  • Is employee wellness a personal responsibility or the company’s job? 

In reality, the best wellness programs incorporate both approaches. Here, we’ll explore the core differences between company-based and individual-based models, examine what works (and what doesn’t) in each, and show how a blended wellness program strategy drives better outcomes for companies and individuals. 

Contents

  • Company-Based Wellness Programs
  • Individual-Based Wellness Programs
  • Autonomy vs. Accountability
  • Why a Blend is the Best Wellness Solution
  • Recommendations

Company-Based Wellness Programs

In company-based wellness programs, the underlying philosophy is that the employer is responsible for supporting employee wellness through initiatives such as:

  • Structured programming
  • Corporate challenges
  • Coaching
  • Company culture

Some believe that employees won’t prioritize wellness unless companies establish a culture and infrastructure that supports it. At work, the healthy choice should always be the easy choice – and it’s up to companies to make that happen. 

CHECKLIST TO CHANGE: Does your workplace support healthy practices? Use our Checklist to Change to assess the impact of your culture, physical environment, and workplace policies on employee wellness.

Company-Based Wellness Program Benefits

  • Structure: Companies provide the program structure, making it easy for employees to “know what to do”
  • High visibility: Companies promote their wellness initiatives, ensuring employees are aware of what’s available
  • Collective participation: Group activities and challenges encourage more employees to participate in wellness offerings
  • High impact: Employers can use aggregate claims data to identify high-risk areas and design targeted programs that improve health outcomes and reduce costs

Company-Based Wellness Program Criticisms

  • Lack of personalization: Some say company-driven programs aren’t personalized for individual needs
  • Can feel coerced: Inflexible structures and incentivized participation can make wellness programs feel coerced to some employees
  • Reward productivity: Some employees feel that company-based programs emphasize productivity

Note that well-designed programs address these concerns by offering flexibility and focusing on holistic employee health, not just productivity. 

RELATED: 8 Benefits of Corporate Wellness Challenges for Employees

Individual-Based Wellness Programs

Individual-based wellness programs emphasize employee autonomy. Employees are empowered to take ownership of their wellness using employer-provided tools, but not structured programming. The idea is that wellness is deeply personal, and programs should avoid a one-size-fits-all approach.

Employees know their bodies and capabilities best, so individual-based wellness programs are especially effective for those who are already health-conscious and motivated to push themselves further, rather than feeling limited by activities designed for the average participant. That said, highly personalized programs cater to employees at all levels of wellness. 

Individual-Based Wellness Program Benefits

  • Personalized programming: These programs are tailored exclusively to individual needs and goals
  • Empowering: Employees make their own choices and set their own milestones
  • Enjoyment: Employees participate in the activities they enjoy doing

Individual-Based Wellness Program Criticisms

  • Less employer responsibility: Some feel that individual-based programs absolve employers of their duty to create a healthy work environment
  • Employee stress: These programs have the potential to stress employees who must “figure it out on their own”
  • Lower engagement: Engagement and participation is more challenging without oversight and accountability 

RELATED: 12 Corporate Wellness Trends

Autonomy vs. Accountability

Often, the debate comes down to autonomy vs. accountability. In individual-based wellness programs, employees have more autonomy, but employers might hold them less accountable for achieving their wellness goals. In company-based wellness programs, employees are held accountable but have less autonomy to decide which activities are best for their wellness goals. 

Company-BasedIndividual-Based
Health OutcomesCan influence health outcomes for more employees through increased participation ratesCan help employees achieve more targeted health outcomes according to individual needs
ProductivityCan boost company-wide productivity through high engagement rates and well-defined wellness cultureProductivity increases are likely limited to those employees who follow their individualized wellness plans
EngagementOften achieves high engagement rates through rewards programs and group challengesMay have lower engagement when employees are responsible for making all of their own wellness decisions
CostsCan cost more depending on the level of programming, challenges, rewards, and incentivesOften costs less since there is no group organization, though there can still be incentives and rewards
Customization & FlexibilityLess flexibility to customize programming for individual needsExcellent flexibility to customize programming for individual needs

RELATED: 15 (No Cost) Employee Wellness Strategies and Health Promotion Ideas

Why a Blend is the Best Wellness Solution

The best wellness programs incorporate both approaches, blending autonomy and accountability: 

  • Companies build a supportive environment and provide wellness resources
  • While employees are empowered to engage in wellness in the ways that work best for them

Here are some examples of how you can blend company-based and individual-based programming across all six pillars of wellness. 

Physical Wellness

A company provides an on-site gym while also providing a stipend for activities employees enjoy, such as 5K race registrations or yoga class memberships. Employees get access and incentives from the company but choose which physical activity they like best. 

At WellSteps, we offer team-based exercise campaigns in which each user sets their own goals and earns their own rewards for participation while still contributing to their team’s success in company-wide behavior change campaigns. 

RELATED: 50 Office Fitness Challenges

Mental & Emotional Wellness

A company provides access to a mental health platform, but employees choose which features suit them best, such as one-on-one counseling and mindfulness exercises. 

In another example, WellSteps provides “Wellness News You Can Use” and Quizzeo library options where users can choose the topic areas they want to learn more about or try on their own. 

RELATED: How to Improve Mental Wellness in the Workplace

Nutritional Wellness

A company provides a nutrition app with incentives for using it, but employees choose their nutritional goals. At WellSteps, we offer a healthy recipe library as part of our wellness platform.  

RELATED: 13 Ways to Boost Nutrition in the Workplace

Occupational Wellness

A company provides on-site career development programs, but employees can also participate in on-demand training portals – choosing what to learn and when. 

RELATED: How the Best Worksite Wellness Programs Change Behavior

Financial Wellness

A company offers financial literacy workshops as well as access to a personal finance app for individual goal tracking. 

RELATED: 35 Employee Financial Wellness Challenge Ideas & Tips

Social Wellness

A company hosts team outings with incentives for participation but also offers incentives for employees to engage in their own social groups, such as book clubs or hiking groups. 

MY PATH: WellSteps is developing a new tool designed to deliver personalized wellness experiences within a company-wide program. My Path focuses on personal health assessments, biometric data, and individualized learning, integrating all tools and resources to provide personalized recommendations. It empowers individuals with autonomy and self-directed engagement while still aligning with broader company wellness initiatives. 

Recommendations

We recommend that wellness leaders seek ways to provide structure and tools but also empower employees with the choice of which tools they use. This approach allows individuals to take ownership of their wellness while also granting companies the ability to hold employees accountable – while providing a solid support structure when employees need it. 

Despite the debate, your wellness program philosophy shouldn’t be a battle – it should be a balance – as the most successful programs blend company-based initiatives with individual-based programming.

Achieve Wellness for All with WellSteps
Creating a wellness program that balances structure, flexibility, accountability, and autonomy can seem challenging – but you don’t have to do it alone. Partner with the experts at WellSteps to design a proven program that drives real results: healthier employees, stronger engagement, and lower healthcare costs. Schedule a demo today

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