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Finding the right ways to engage employees in a well-run workplace wellness program can have an important impact on the program's overall effectiveness.

To help identify smart strategies, business leaders in Wisconsin recently met at the 2017 BizTimes Wellness Summit, according to Milwaukee Business News. Among the topics: “Why employee wellbeing boosts the bottomline.”

In the piece, Paul Nobile, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield President describes how, by working directly with employer groups, he has “seen time and time again that an emphasis on wellness and wellbeing really is what separates the leaders from the followers and the innovators from the imitators.”

Nobile continues: “Engagement can be measured in many different ways, ranging from employee satisfaction to sheer productivity numbers, but a common theme across the small group discussions I led was that businesses need to take a comprehensive approach to employee engagement and workplace culture to see the best results.”

Among the cited benefits to companies that focus on employee engagement:

• Higher retention rate
• Increased productivity
• Better company reputation
• Cost savings

Also very interesting: Nobile writes that “a few common themes” came out of a group discussion among business leaders. They include:

• “The importance to creating a culture that fosters strong employee engagement. This starts with communicating, developing and rewarding employees.”
• “If you want to improve something, measure it.”
• “Workers must be the ones to develop a successful employee engagement strategy.”