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Picture of Ann Wyatt

Ann Wyatt

Ann Wyatt is Vice President of Program Management and Engagement at HealthFitness, where she oversees a national account management team. Her role includes strategy development and driving engagement for new and existing health management and corporate fitness programs, employee recruiting and training, program quality assurance and operations management.
Picture of Ann Wyatt

Ann Wyatt

Ann Wyatt is Vice President of Program Management and Engagement at HealthFitness, where she oversees a national account management team. Her role includes strategy development and driving engagement for new and existing health management and corporate fitness programs, employee recruiting and training, program quality assurance and operations management.
Can the corporate fitness center make a strong comeback? Check these insights from a corporate fitness expert

Can the Corporate Fitness Center Make a Strong Comeback?

These days, many facets of work life are changing. But here’s one trend you may not have been expecting to see: The return of the corporate fitness center. Why is this happening? Many employers are requiring staff to return to the office for at least several days a week. In fact, 77% of Fortune 100 companies have already adopted hybrid work schedules. As a result of this shift, employees are expressing interest in reconnecting with colleagues they saw only on Zoom calls during the pandemic. With the days of forced remote work behind us, people naturally want to strengthen work relationships.

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How can employers help virtual teams connect through new "watercooler" activities? Get ideas on our blog

How Can Virtual Teams Build “Watercooler” Connections?

There’s no doubt about it anymore—the workplace has shifted fundamentally. Now, according to Pew Research, almost 60% of employees are working from home at least most of the time. That compares with only 23% before the Covid pandemic struck. And although this shift to virtual teams has translated into mostly happier, more productive employees, it has taken a toll on healthy, connected work cultures. The same Pew survey says 60% of employees feel less connected with their coworkers while working at home. That’s not great news for a number of reasons, notably, for workplace culture and its impact on team collaboration,

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Virtual wellbeing program

Wellbeing Programs Create Better Connection for Employees

While there’s still no clear sense for when the COVID-19 pandemic will end, one thing has come into sharp focus—the implementation of wellbeing programs. The future of work will include both in-person and remote arrangements to accomplish this.   This new reality has various benefits for employees, including more flexibility, better work-life balance, less time spent commuting, and the freedom to work from anywhere. And a study by Stanford found that working from home increases productivity by 13%. So, there are benefits for employers as well.   But employees who don’t see their colleagues every day face a challenge: creating a sense of

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4 Reasons On-Site Fitness Centers Have Become Key Recruiting Tools in the Struggle for Talent

4 Reasons On-Site Fitness Centers Have Become Key Recruiting Tools in the Struggle for Talent

It’s no secret: Today’s employers are struggling to recruit top talent. Current government statistics tell us the U.S. employment rate was 4.1 percent in November. That’s down by more than half from its peak of 10.2 percent in October 2009. Meanwhile, a large portion of the workforce will be retiring in the next 15 years. By 2030, every Baby Boomer will be 65 or older, which means a full 18 percent of the U.S. population will be at retirement age (according to Pew Research Center population projections). That’s quite a bit of people exiting the workforce — and many jobs left

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8 Creative Ways Leadership Can Jumpstart Workplace Well-being

8 Creative Ways Leadership Can Jumpstart Workplace Well-being

Actions speak louder than words. It’s something we all can agree on. And yet, when it comes to workplace well-being initiatives, few organizations fully realize the culture of health and experience the participation and engagement rates they anticipate. From my experience working with organizations of wide-ranging industries and sizes, there often is a disconnect between the program’s strategy and plan, and the follow-through. Employees recognize the same—in a recent HealthFitness study , we found that 60 percent of employees who do not participate in well-being initiatives at their organization are willing to, but choose not to for a variety of reasons, including

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Determining If an On-site Fitness Center is Right For You

Determining If an On-site Fitness Center is Right For You

Think the days of the company gym have gone by the wayside? Think again. Amid the boom in individualized fitness apps and technology, many organizations are also doubling down and expanding their use of on-site fitness centers. Here’s why. On-site fitness centers establish connections. Our research recently found that 75 percent of employees seek personalization and personal touch in their employer’s well-being offering. These are the driving factors for participation for many employees, and in many cases an on-site fitness center can better facilitate personal connections among colleagues and center staff that both enhance company culture and help employees work together

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How Virtual Fitness Can Help Employees Overcome Barriers to Success

How Virtual Fitness Can Help Employees Overcome Barriers to Success

An estimated 100 million Americans make New Year’s resolutions each year. For a whole host of reasons, over 90 percent of these resolutions fail. As someone who is in the business of helping clients and their employees achieve their health and wellness goals day in and day out, I have a sense of what does and does not work when it comes to changing behaviors over the long-term. And whether it’s a personal fitness goal or a corporate wellness program, one of the most frequent mistakes I see among both employers and employees is taking too rigid of an approach. Let’s

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4 Ways Leaders Inspire Employee Wellness

While today’s employers continue their steadfast commitment to improving employee health and productivity, top-level leadership support remains a key ingredient for successful employee participation. According to results from the 2015/2016 Willis Towers Watson Staying@Work Survey, 84 percent of employers say improving employee health is a core component of their organization’s health strategy, and nearly four in five plan to sharpen their focus on building workforce health and well-being in the coming years. However, research also shows a number of factors are keeping employers’ health and well-being programs from being as successful as they could be. Near the top of this list:

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The Road to Well-Being Begins With “Getting” Your Employees

New research from the National Business Group on Health reinforces what we’ve been observing for quite some time—that a growing number of employers are broadening their definition of wellness to include dimensions of well-being beyond physical health. Employers are increasingly looking at employee health from a whole-person view, recognizing its physical, social, emotional, financial and environmental dimensions. Recognizing that the definition of employee health has expanded, we must look at all dimensions when we consider the health of an employee. For example, people might be facing a challenge in a part of their life that is preventing them from regularly exercising

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Six Leadership Tips for Thriving Wellness Programs

When corporate wellness works well, it starts from the top-down. Leadership buy-in of corporate wellness programming can make a big difference in the success of the program. In fact, research shows that sincere interest in the well-being of employees is considered a top driver of sustainable engagement. At HealthFitness, we’ve learned that visible support from a company’s executives sets the tone for employees—communicating that it’s acceptable to fit in a workout during the workday, take part in a weight loss challenge with co-workers or take advantage of healthy food options. Here are six approaches we use at clients’ sites to engage

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