Over half of all workers work in corporate settings (Barrows, 2021). Corporate jobs are known for being high-stressed, sedentary, long hours and low-nutrition food (hello breakroom donuts).
Companies seek out wellness coaches to help them implement workplace wellness programs. These programs aim to improve employee well-being and health, while improving productivity and attendance and reducing healthcare costs.
Read on if you are a Certified Wellness coach or would like to become one to learn why corporate wellness could be an excellent niche for you to explore.
What is a health coach or wellness coach?
The journey of an individual towards mental, physical and social well-being is what defines wellness. It takes skill to guide a person to define their own definition of wellness and to determine how to achieve it. Here’s where wellness coaching can help.
The process of wellness coaching is an active one that involves applying strategies learned and developed to improve mental, physical, emotional, and social well-being.
A health or wellness coach is usually a person who has completed a certification program, such as NASM’s Certified Wellness Coach Course. This allows them to assist clients in creating individualized plans to improve their wellness. These certifications cover topics such as movement, stress, emotional and mental health, nutrition, and sleep.
A wellness coach helps clients to stay accountable and offers a tool belt of strategies to choose from as they progress in their wellness journey. A wellness coach can be a great source of accountability and also provides a variety of tools that clients can use to progress on their wellness journey.
Watch our Quick Video to Learn What a Certified Wellbeing Coach Does
What is a Corporate Wellness Coach?
A corporate wellness or health coach works within a corporation or company to improve the wellness of a certain population (the staff). A corporate wellness coach, unlike a wellness professional who works with clients one-on-one or in small groups, may be tasked with implementing programs and interventions that help the entire population develop healthy habits both at work and away from it.
A corporate wellness trainer may also meet one-on-one with employees to create a plan that is tailored to their needs. As a corporate coach, you can help a large group of people and solve the problem of finding clients because they will come to you.
Typically, employers are looking for measurable changes in health among their employees in order to lower their insurance costs and justify hiring wellness professionals. Companies will often hold an event like an annual health fair to assess the health and wellbeing of their employees.
These data are analyzed annually to determine any improvements and changes. A corporate wellness coach will help meet the company’s needs, while tailoring programs to the employees’ needs. This is a win-win situation.
What is a Corporate Wellness Coach’s Day-to-Day?
A wellness coach’s day will be different depending on the company they work for. Here are some of the tasks they might be given:
Create site-wide health interventions (steps, activity challenges, etc.) for employees. ).
Organising wellness or health fairs.
Working with each employee to create a wellness program.
Create annual reports to be given to the employer about employee health and their participation in programs.
Create and conduct lunch and learn webinars.
Organising fitness classes or other activities for employees.
Manage or work in the fitness center on-site.
Budget management for wellness programs.
Meet with your supervisors and managers to brainstorm ideas on how to promote better nutrition and physical activity at work.
Some jobs will require a long day to accommodate the schedules of employees, while other roles may be similar in length. A wellness coach’s job may include a combination of office work, time spent in the gym with clients and other duties depending on their training and background. If there is no gym on site, a wellness coach will have to work more from a desk.
WHERE DO WELLNESS SCIENTISTS WORK?
Corporate wellness specialists may also be known by other titles such as corporate wellness manager or consultant, corporate wellbeing coach, corporate health and wellness director. Each title has slightly different responsibilities, which opens up new opportunities for corporate wellness specialists or coaches.
Working in the fitness center of an office could be a great fit for wellness coaches with a background in personal training. You can use your fitness knowledge in a gym environment while bringing your wellness coach expertise to help your clients achieve health and wellness.
As an independent contractor, a health coach or wellness trainer can offer a certain job to employees, such as offering lunch and learns or fitness classes. This is a great way to grow your wellness coaching business without having to take on a full-time position. You may even gain new clients.
FULL-TIME OR PART-TIME, YOU DECIDE
Companies hire wellness coaches full-time to work with their employees. Corporate wellness companies hire wellness coaches to work with employees of contracted companies.
This setting has the benefit of having the backing of a company in terms the processes you use to assist clients to achieve their goals. You will be given a protocol to follow and specific programs to use, but you can still have some flexibility in your strategies.
SUMMARY
As companies strive to improve the health and wellbeing of their employees, corporate wellness coaching or health coaches are becoming more popular.
As a corporate wellbeing specialist, the wellness coach can help employees to improve their mental health, physical health, social and emotional well-being so they can thrive in and out of the office.
