Happy National Employee Wellness Month! Did you even know that June is National Employee Wellness Month? More importantly, do you have a reason to care? The truth is that we all have a reason to care! Employee health and wellness has a direct impact on healthcare costs. And, it’s no secret that healthcare costs in America are soaring right now and cause a lot of controversy across company board rooms and government negotiations every day. According to nationalemployeewellnessmonth.com, “75% of these costs are driven by preventable and highly manageable chronic diseases like, heart disease, type II diabetes and some forms of cancer.”

Many companies and organizations have joined forces throughout the month of June to raise awareness for employee wellness. But, it can’t stop here. On June 30^th, we can’t all forget about employee wellness until June 2014 rolls around. We’ve got to keep the momentum going!

How you ask? That’s exactly what we want to answer today. Here are a few tips for encouraging employee wellness in your organization beyond National Employee Wellness Month.

• Participate: If your company has a wellness program in place, participate in the programs they offer. Join the wellness walks, participate in the webinars, compete in the challenges… Whatever they offer, take advantage!
• Campaign: If your company doesn’t currently offer a wellness program, or you see a need for improvements in the wellness program, become an advocate for a stronger wellness program. NCES has many products designed to make workplace wellness easy in any workplace.
• Get Started: Can’t find all the support that you’re looking for within your company? Odds are that you’re not alone. Get together with some co-workers and start a walking club, create a weight loss challenge or even host a wellness class. If your employer sees that you are interested, they’ll be more likely to get the program started for the entire company.

So, even though June is the official month for employee wellness, let’s keep the

momentum going! National Employee Wellness Month officially began in 2009. Since then, it’s gained great momentum year after year and has grown to have over 150 organizations with more than 65,000 employees supporting the cause. Get started promoting employee wellness in your workplace today. And, remember to become a 2014 supporter of National Employee Wellness Month. Visit www.NationalEmployeeWellnessMonth.com for more information and to become a supporter next year. For everything corporate wellness, take a second to browse the NCES Corporate Wellness section today!