How organizations can strengthen wellness programs now

What should organizations do to enhance employee wellness programs going forward? The pandemic and related events of 2020 clearly represented a turning point. The phrase “Never let a crisis go to waste” is attributed to a lot of people, and it certainly applies now.

But with a staggering array of employee needs, and an even more overwhelming choice of options and priorities, it can be difficult to build an action plan—putting a framework around goals and then implementation and measurement. We asked three workplace wellness experts for their advice.

Pat Flynn, associate vice president of employee wellness at Northwell Health, a network of 24 hospitals in New York State, suggests locking in wellness programs created during and for the pandemic. “Employee well-being initiatives that you might have implemented quickly during the peak surge of COVID cases can be re-evaluated and perhaps continued as longer-term initiatives to support employees,” she says.