How to improve your employee wellbeing program and get more employees using their benefits

How to improve your employee wellbeing program and get more employees using their benefits

Employees need help. Benefits go unused. HR must show results from the wellbeing investment.

In this Masterclass breakdown episode of Navigate’s People First podcast, Brooke Ossenkop, EVP Strategy and Marketing, sits down with Jenn Lowry, VP of Product Strategy, and Matt Percia, Strategic Advisor, to walk you through what to change when your health and wellbeing program isn’t getting the results you need.

Grab the guide and action plan template to find where employees get stuck, ask your vendor for a plan, and put owners and deadlines against the next steps →

In this episode, we break down how to:

• Find out what employees actually need from health and wellbeing benefits

• Get more use from the benefits you already have

• Choose what to change first and get leadership behind it

• How to get employees involved and see what’s working

Plus, hear how Prisma Health spotted a need for financial support, added help midyear, and saw more employees taking preventive care steps, completing learning programs, and using their benefits.

🎧 Watch or listen to the full episode above, or find it on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.

Here’s where to start

We’ve pulled out four takeaways from the discussion, with questions you can bring to your team or broker and wellbeing partner. Download the worksheet to capture answers in a PDF, word doc, or google doc.

1. Find out what employees need before choosing another activity

Picture a team member worried about bills. They may not join a fitness challenge. Or think of someone juggling caregiving and work. They might keep postponing doctor visits, even if they know it matters.

Both employees need support, but what helps one person get started may not work for another.

Jenn says a productive wellbeing program looks at three things: what employees need, what interests them, and what they might change. A health risk signals that something needs attention. But to truly help, we need to understand the person behind the risk.

Start here: Ask three questions. Use your wellbeing assessment, employee feedback, or a short pulse survey to ask:

1. Where are employees struggling?

2. What would they like help with?

3. What do they feel ready to work on?

Look beyond physical health. Money worries, stress, feeling alone, or job concerns all affect how someone cares for themselves and acts at work. Matt also recommends listening throughout the year. What employees needed during your last annual survey may have changed.

Ask your wellbeing partner: “What are you learning about our employees, and what would you recommend we do differently?”

2. Review the benefits you already have

Before introducing something new, take a close look at what you already offer. 

List your current benefits. See how employees use them. Look for gaps. Sometimes, good support is there but employees don’t find it. Other times, your resources miss a need.

Start with one employee situation, such as financial stress. What help is available? How would someone hear about it? What would they have to do to use it?

Start here: Follow the path to one benefit. Choose one underused resource and check:

• Relevance: Does it address a need employees have identified?

• Awareness: Would employees understand how it could help them?

• Access: Can they find it and get started easily?

• Use: What do utilization data and employee feedback tell you?

This kind of review does more than tell you to promote a benefit. It helps you see what needs clearer explanation, where access could be easier, or whether you need to offer something different.

What Prisma Health changed

Prisma Health identified financial wellbeing as an area where employees needed help, were interested, and were ready to address. Working with its Navigate account manager, the organization introduced a financial wellbeing month and added Your Money Line as a midyear benefit.

In the episode, Jenn describes improvements in financial wellbeing, along with increased learning completions, webinar and video participation, and preventive care activity. The takeaway: Listening to employees helps you choose the right next step and see progress across different areas of wellbeing.

Ask your wellbeing partner: “Which needs can we address with the benefits we already have, and where are employees missing out?”

3. Choose two or three priorities leadership can get behind

A program review often reveals many opportunities. The next step is deciding which ones matter most right now. Matt recommends choosing two or three areas where focused work could make a meaningful difference, including opportunities to show progress in 30, 60, or 90 days. Tie each priority to a real employee need and a goal for your organization. This gives leaders a clear reason to get behind the work.

For example, if employees feel financial stress but aren’t using the financial resources you offer, focus on helping more people understand what’s available and how to use it.

Start here: Write down four things. For each priority, capture:

• What you know: The employee need or gap you’ve identified.

• What you’ll change: The specific response you’re proposing.

• What you’ll measure: The evidence that would show progress.

• When you’ll review it: A timeframe that fits the goal.

At first, you might measure awareness, resource use, or what employees say. Shifts in health risks or healthcare costs take longer and need more time to evaluate.

Share what you learn with both leaders and employees. When people see progress, it’s easier to build support for what comes next.

Ask your wellbeing partner: “What would you prioritize first, why, and what could we reasonably learn in the next 90 days?”

4. Make support easier to find and give employees more ways to get involved

When you offer multiple benefits, employees often face a maze of websites, messages, and instructions. It can overwhelm them and HR. Matt suggests using one digital entry point to make access simple. He also says to involve employee groups, champion networks, and leaders who can share their stories. Brooke points to existing routines, including health and safety conversations, as opportunities to make wellbeing part of the workday.

Start here: Give one priority a clear path. Choose the employee group you want to reach, then decide:

• Where they’ll find the resource.

• How you’ll explain what it helps with.

• Which leader or employee champion could introduce it.

• Which existing meeting or communication channel could reinforce it.

• How you’ll collect feedback and review results.

Keep asking if your approach still fits. What worked well last year might not meet employees’ needs today if things have changed.

Ask your wellbeing partner: “How will you help us reach these employees, and what will we review together to decide what to adjust?”

Bring these questions to your next wellbeing vendor meeting.

Your wellbeing partner should help you make sense of what’s happening and suggest where to focus next. You don’t need to have all the answers before you start the conversation - we have you covered!

Our benefits leader's guide to turning benefits into action helps you examine where support stops between identify a health need and completing recommended care. 

And the Employee Health Action Plan template gives you a place to document the gap, compare your options, and agree on responsibilities, deadlines, and reporting. It’s available as a PDF, Word document, and Google Doc.

Get the free guide + action plan template →

Want to work through the questions with Navigate?

Our industry-aligned Client Success team works alongside HR and benefits leaders to understand employee needs, set priorities, and put plans into action. Bring us the questions your current program hasn’t answered. We’re here to help you find a starting point and show how Navigate can support your team. Connect with us to get started.