What more can employers do to promote the wellness of their workers? Most of the good ones offer a lot already: health insurance, an allotment of sick days, maybe an annual charity fun run. Even so, employees need (and expect) more today, and companies are considering a more comprehensive, holistic definition of wellness. This evolving definition was the subject of a virtual panel at From Day One’s September virtual conference. Benefits leaders today are assessing the places where employers can be most effective at supporting their team’s wellbeing—and finding ways to align those needs with new solutions. Among the expert panel’s recommendations:

Increase Engagement With the Benefits You Already Offer

Many well-rounded companies offer a suite of stellar (and, frankly, pricey) wellness benefits but struggle to get employees to actually use them, said Kimberly Young, VP of global benefits and HR tech at Amentum, a government technology contractor. One effective strategy Young and her team have implemented is targeted, themed communication. “Just sending out multiple communications on a variety of topics doesn’t really drive engagement. What we’ve found successful is tying our communications to themes, like mammograms around Mother’s Day, or other topics tied to various things happening on the calendar,” Young said. “Not every wellness message is for every person at any time.”

It’s a strategy also used by Kathleen O’Driscoll, VP of HR for global benefits, well-being and HR policy at Cognizant, the engineering and technology company. “For example, World Financial Planning Day is coming up,” O’Driscoll said. “You can take that day that might be getting some attention and then curate and talk about the different resources you offer that relate to that topic.”

Enlisting employees to spread the word about benefits they’ve tried can make a difference as well, said Natalie Baumgartner, PhD, chief workforce scientist at Achievers, an employee recognition and engagement platform. “When employees inside organizations are modeling their use of resources and programming, that has a tremendous impact on the uptake of other employees making use of all the wellness services available to them.”

Consider Expanding the Concept of Wellness

Financial pressures are a major source of stress and an unsung contributor to health problems, said Will Peng, CEO and co-founder of Northstar, a provider of financial-wellness benefits. That’s why including financial benefits as part of wellness offerings is a helpful way to meet employees where they are, no matter their income level. “Finances have become one of the most foundational parts of wellness; they touch every part of our lives. It’s the foundation for emotional and mental well-being that allows employees to flourish,” Peng said. “But financial struggles can be overwhelming, and the financial services industry is quite complex. So the same way that you would want an employee to be able to see a doctor to treat an illness, people should be able to work with a financial professional to get guidance on financial wellness.”

Help Managers Put on Their Oxygen Masks First

During the early days of the pandemic, Troy Heflin, SVP of people and culture at Volvo Financial Services, and his team created a program called Leading with Care, a series of workshops designed to help HR leaders and other managers cope with stress and change. “In HR, we hear so much from our employees and the concerns they have–we’re carrying so much that we can sometimes forget about ourselves,” Heflin said. “I wanted to create a safe space where they could be vulnerable as leaders, since vulnerability builds trust, and really be in a community that supports each other in that effort.” During the Volvo workshops, participants work on activities such as author and educator Stephen Covey’s Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence, which helps them focus their efforts on areas where they can make effective change, among other opportunities to explore and share about what’s causing them stress. The result, Heflin says, is that leaders feel less alone in the ways they’re experiencing fear and stress, and they’re better able to model vulnerable, transparent leadership to their teams.

Recognize the Role of Recognition.

Don’t underestimate the impact company culture has on employee wellness. In her team’s research, Baumgartner found that employees who felt supported by their organization—and particularly by their managers—were more than twice as likely to feel physically and mentally healthy. The four factors that defined “support” were coaching and feedback, a clear line of development, contact, and meaningful recognition. Of those four, recognition was the most important. “Meaningful recognition, delivered at least once a month, has an outsized impact on the extent to which employees feel a sense of well-being and a lowered sense of burnout,” Baumgartner said.

What makes recognition meaningful? “The research shows that simply saying, ‘Hey, thanks for closing that deal’ actually does not have much impact,” Baumgartner said. “It needs to be personal, it needs to be specific, and you need to talk about the impact the person’s work has had. For example, I could say to you, ‘Thank you for facilitating this session today. The way that you created connection points between the panelists and pulled out meaning for our participants was really powerful. I felt the way you led this session helped me fulfill my mission to have a meaningful impact on the lives of people at work.’” 

It’s hard to anticipate every possible employee need—and to help your team take full advantage of the supports available—but using what Peng called “a more empathetic, nuanced, and data-driven approach to understanding what our people actually need” will go a long way toward helping employees feel like their best selves, both at home and at work.

Anna Maltby is an editor, content strategist, and exercise specialist. She has served as executive editor of Elemental, the health and well-being publication on Medium, as well as deputy editor of Real Simple and Refinery29.