These days, “wellness” isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a business strategy. For HR leaders, managers, and business owners, it’s clear that supporting your team’s physical and mental health isn’t just good for them, it’s good for your bottom line. But there’s a piece of the puzzle that often gets overlooked: what’s happening at home.
Wellness programs at work are important, but true well-being doesn’t clock in at 9 a.m. and out at 5. It starts at home—in the spaces where your employees live, recharge, and raise their families. That’s why a holistic approach to employee health must go beyond step challenges or lunch-and-learns. It needs to recognize the powerful connection between home life and workplace performance.
Your Employees’ Homes Could Be Hurting Their Health
It might surprise you, but the safety and condition of a person’s home can directly impact their physical health, emotional well-being, and productivity at work.
Take indoor air quality, for example. The EPA reports that Americans, on average, spend about 90% of their time indoors, and indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than outdoor air. Poor ventilation, mold, and aging HVAC systems can lead to fatigue, headaches, or chronic respiratory issues, none of which make it easy to show up focused and engaged.
Or consider clutter. Research from the American Psychological Association shows that physical clutter competes for your attention, reducing performance and increasing stress. And let’s not forget about aging infrastructure: the EPA estimates that around 9 million U.S. homes still have lead pipes or service lines.
These aren’t just home improvement issues—they’re employee health issues.
Turning Awareness Into Action
So, how can you as an employer support better wellness at home and at work? Incentivize healthy behaviors, and make it personal.
Wellness programs often fall flat because they assume everyone is starting from the same place or values the same reward. That’s rarely the case. Giving your team flexibility in how they improve their wellness—whether that’s swapping out an old water heater, investing in an air purifier, or finally clearing out the spare room—makes the initiative more meaningful.
With the Engage2Reward™ Gift Card Ordering Platform, you can give employees real choice. They can redeem wellness incentives for gift cards to retailers that support home improvement, healthy living, grocery shopping, fitness gear, and more. It’s fast, easy, and totally customizable to your program goals.
Pro tip: Bundle educational content (like how to identify mold risks or tips for low-cost decluttering) with rewards. It reinforces the “why” and encourages lasting engagement.
Build the Bridge Between Home and Work
When you connect home health to work health, you send a powerful message: you care about your employees as whole people, not just as workers. Here are a few ways to keep that momentum going:
- Link rewards directly to wellness actions. For example, offer a gift card when someone attends a home safety webinar or shares their wellness goal.
- Avoid one-size-fits-all incentives. Let employees choose rewards that matter to them.
- Keep the content relevant and practical. Tips they can act on at home will resonate more than abstract advice.
- Communicate clearly and often. Adoption takes time. Keep sharing stories, successes, and reminders.
- Celebrate progress. Small wins are still wins. Recognizing participation helps build long-term habits.
The Bottom Line
Supporting employee health starts at home. It’s not about micromanaging someone’s lifestyle; it’s about offering encouragement, tools, and options that fit into their real lives.
Wellness doesn’t happen in a vacuum. So if you want to foster lasting engagement, build a program that recognizes the whole person and reward them in ways that reflect their whole life.
The Engage2Reward Platform makes that easier. From bulk ordering to personalized fulfillment, it’s your go-to platform for creating wellness incentive programs that truly work—at work and at home. Register your business for free or schedule a call with our team today to get started.
