AmCheck Payroll provides many different HR services to businesses of all shapes and sizes. Whether you are an employer that needs a long term strategic plan or possibly you need assistance with a one-time situation; AmCheck is your one-stop resource. They also know about keeping their employees effecient, productive, happy and healthy with their employee wellness program.

Health Links (HL): Why is the health and wellness of your employees important to you?

AmCheck Payroll (AP): Efficiency, productivity, overall wellbeing. The more that people are healthy the more that they will be focused on the work and engaged in the work that they do and are overall more productive.

(HL): How will you/do you know your program is successful?

(AP): We’ve come a long way, but we still have work to do. It is difficult to get everyone on the same page, but the basic conversation around the office shows that people know certain things aren’t allowed in the office. So the more that we enforce rules and policies, the buzz continues.

(HL): What obstacles did you have to overcome to get your program started?  How did you overcome them?

(AP): Communication is always key - good communication takes care of a lot of things. To help people get engaged in activities, we post on walls all over the office to communicate about certain events. It is important to take the time and make sure everyone understands the objective behind the program. If people don’t understand how it works or the importance behind it, it’s harder for them to engage.

(HL): Do you incorporate safety along with your wellness program? If so, what does this look like?

(AP): For us, safety has always been incorporated separately. Because we are an HR provider, we do this for our clients. Safety and Risk management is a big piece of service offering, so it’s always second nature to us but they are getting integrated more and more.

Every environment is different when it comes to safety, wellness is easier to package but safety looks different in every industry. Our risk around safety is different than other offices. We are a clerical environment with people sitting 8 hours a day, so stretching and ergonomics is important for our employees, and that’s what our safety looks like.  

(HL): What tip/advice would you give to a business that is considering starting a workplace wellness program?

(AP): Don’t wait, do it now! It’s got to start from the top down. If management or ownership is not onboard, it’s going to be very tough to have a successful program. A lot of employers shy away from wellness because it is an added expense and time drain, but they don’t realize the benefit of what they can achieve long –term based on a healthy, happy work environment. We are seeing incredible productivity with our people and people don’t wont to be anywhere else. They love coming to work. It’s not glamorous or exciting work but it has to be done, so how can we make this environment as fun and engaging as possible. Thinking about how to do things outside the norm to set yourself apart as an employer to recruit new people is important. For us, even when we interview people we can start talking about who we are as a company and who we want to be long-term, and that includes wellness and gets people excited. People want to know more about us because of what they get as a benefit to the job. Not traditional benefits, but what else?