Wellness, at its best, isn't just a program. It's a shared experience that employees feel ownership of, adapt to their needs, and use to connect with each other. That sense of agency, personalization, and belonging is where real engagement truly begins.
Here are four ways you can boost employee engagement by transforming your wellness initiatives from a top-down perk into a bottom-up approach:
Not everyone wants to run a 5K or drop down and do 10 pushups. For some, wellness means a 10-minute meditation, a daily stretch, or simply walking the dog before logging in for the day. Instead of forcing participation, giving employees more options will help them feel more empowered to join in.
Try this: Offer a “wellness buffet” of small activities (check out our article on 48 wellness ideas for employees), like taking more regular walking breaks, offering a lunch and learn, running a meditation session, and so on. Survey your employees to help you select a few that resonate with them. By empowering them with autonomy, you’ll find that engagement will flow more naturally.
Why it works: Autonomy is a psychological driver of engagement. When employees feel ownership over how they choose to improve their well-being, they’re more likely to stick with it and feel connected to the workplace culture that supports it.
HEAL is one of the only Corporate Wellness Companies offering customized wellness challenges that meet your employees where they are. Sometimes that means we’re revving up the strength-based challenges for active teams, and other times that means supporting them with work-life balance and stress-resilience principles to help them navigate through a tough transition period.
You’ve heard it before: people don’t leave companies, they leave cultures. One way to build a culture worth staying for? Spark community through wellness.
At HEAL, we’re big supporters of team-based wellness programs. In our post-challenge surveys, 86% of employees feel more connected to their colleagues after the challenge. It allows them to connect over something outside of work and engage in some friendly competition and fun banter.
Try this: Create team-based wellness squads – think “Morning Walkers,” “Stretch-at-Your-Desk Crew,” or “Recipe Swap Slack/Teams Channel.” These small communities promote peer accountability and bring in an often-overlooked driver of engagement: belonging.
Why it works: According to BetterUp, employees with a high sense of belonging show a 56% increase in job performance. Wellness groups foster real connection, even across departments or remote teams (where it’s often needed even more).
If your wellness program feels like another item on a to-do list, engagement will nose dive. Instead, we try to encourage enjoyment from the experience, and we build programs for busy professionals. It shouldn’t feel like something they have to do, but something they want to do.
Try this: Run wellness challenges that are simple, inclusive, and motivating—or even a Steps Challenge where individuals or teams track their step counts over 2–4 weeks. Use leaderboards, friendly competition, and team prizes to keep energy and participation high. The goal isn’t to be the fittest, it’s to get people moving and make wellness feel rewarding and accessible for everyone.
Why it works: Enjoyment drives consistency. When wellness feels fun, people are more likely to engage. Plus, physical movement boosts mood, focus, and creativity – and when people feel good at work, they show up with more energy and connection.
Leadership buy-in is important, we know this. But don’t underestimate the influence of natural culture carriers: the colleagues everyone listens to, respects, or simply enjoys being around.
Try this: Ask for volunteers (or better yet, nominations) for company Wellness Influencers. These aren’t just program champions, they’re coworkers who share how wellness is working for them in casual, authentic ways.
Why it works: Behavioural science shows we’re more likely to follow the lead of people we relate to. Peer modelling builds trust, a critical ingredient in behaviour change and engagement.
Wellness programs succeed not just when they’re well-designed, but when they reflect the people they’re meant to serve. The more personalized, team-based, and inclusive you make your wellness initiatives, the more they’ll drive not just participation, but genuine engagement and enjoyment.
This isn’t about checking a box. It’s about creating a culture where people want to show up and feel good doing it.
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