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According to a recent survey, more employers are investing in wellness programs that go beyond physical health promotion to address emotional and financial needs. The seventh annual survey on health and well-being from Fidelity Investments and the National Business Group on Health found that, in 2016, 87% of employers offer emotional or mental well-being programs, and 76% provide financial health programs. Among respondents, 67% plan to expand their efforts even further.

Employers are beginning to realize that non-health factors can reduce employee productivity and contribute to chronic diseases. For instance, trying to balance multiples work and family commitments can cause emotional stress, which is linked to heart disease. In fact, the most widespread emotional well-being program is stress management, with 54% of employers currently offering stress management, and an additional 12% planning to offer one in 2017. Employers are increasingly offering resiliency training as well, to help employees manage setbacks within and outside of the workplace: 27% of employers offer this type of training, and another 20% plan to provide it next year. Nearly three-quarters of the employers surveyed provide financial seminars, and 59% offer a financial coach to help employees manage their financial stress and challenges.

Instead of focusing on the disease itself or an employee’s unhealthy behavior, a holistic wellness program aims to enrich an employee’s lifestyle and interests. According to a Care@Work blog post, “having a happier, healthier workforce translates into more productive, engaged employees and better, more effective teams.” The Care@Work post outlines a few holistic wellness initiatives that companies might offer, including:

1. Sleep: Sleep affects immunity, metabolism, memory and other functions. To help employees “refresh and recharge,” companies like the Huffington Post and HubSpot provide sleep pods, nap rooms, and hammocks, while others adopt policies on logging off email during vacation or specific hours.
2. Sabbaticals: As another way to reenergize and reduce stress, some companies are offering long-term employees paid sabbatical to travel and spend time with their family.
3. Homing at work: Instead of “working from home,” employees are increasingly spending time “homing from work,” doing things like shopping or paying bills. Recognizing this trend, some employers offer convenience benefits, such as onsite massages and farmers markets, to make these tasks faster and more efficient, and thereby boost productivity.
4. Embracing volunteerism: To help their employees give back and feel connected to their communities, AOL gives five days a year to do community service, and NetApp gives 40 hours of paid time off to work at a nonprofit or school.

As discussed in our previous blog post, there’s more to wellness than exercising and eating health. Employers are realizing this too, resulting increasingly more wellness programs that consider the whole individual and offer benefits that support emotional, financial, and spiritual well-being.