Dive Brief:
- Virgin Pulse and Fitbit Group Health partnered to introduce preferred pricing on Fitbit trackers and provide Virgin Pulse’s global customers unique experiences when using them, according to a statement. Virgin Pulse is a worldwide technology corporation and Fitbit specializes in health and fitness.
- David Osborne, Virgin Pulse president and COO, says the collaboration promotes the importance of fitness and good health in the workplace. He attributes lower absenteeism, decreased turnover, fewer workplace accidents and employee engagement in Virgin Pulse’s fitness program to the partnering companies’ focus on wellness.
- The companies also will team up to address the problems organizations have with offering and operating wellness programs have.
Dive Insight:
Beside keeping employees healthy and fit, wellness programs have been known to lower absenteeism and turnover, and raise productivity. Companies count wellness programs as an employee benefit that can be an effective recruiting and hiring tool.
Moreover, companies that have adopted wearables like Fitbit and Apple Watch as part of their wellness programing note strong ROI and engagement. That hasn't completely driven away employee concerns about their health data privacy, however.
Employers that can’t offer onsite fitness programs might provide employees with discounted memberships at health clubs or onsite lunch-and-learn sessions on leading healthy lifestyles.
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