Dive Brief:

• Wellness programs today are getting a makeover, according to the Washington Post, which reports that some employers are—in addition to taking blood pressure readings and body mass index scores—trying programs and perks that help manage an employee’s emotional welfare, stress level, and fulfillment on the job.

• These new strategies reportedly try to tackle the intangible, immeasurable aspects of an employee’s life that, for better or worse (usually the latter), emerge at work.

• Wellness is morphing into “well-being.” In addition to fitness memberships and health screenings, some employers offer financial planning workshops, meditation classes, and free massages to try and help employees cope with life's stresses.

Dive Insight:

“There’s been a move away from just thinking about wellness as something that can lower health-care costs,” Jeff Levin-Scherz, a Harvard Medical School professor and adviser at the health benefits consultancy Towers Watson, told the Post. “People are thinking about wellness programs more as a way to create an environment and culture that is more health conscious.”

A new term, “resilience,” is creeping into the HR glossary as part of the makeover. In this case, resilience is a meant to describe how employees respond to stress and setbacks.

Will this move also lower the healthcare tab? It’s too soon to know. But many employers will keep moving in this direction as long as "their efforts liven up the workplace and give employees something to be excited about," according to the Post.