How to bring wellness coaching to local employers

Employers want healthier, more engaged teams, and many small and mid-sized companies don't have a wellness program yet. That's an opening for coaches. Here's how to get started.

Find the person who decides

At small companies, it's often the owner or office manager. At larger ones, it's usually someone in HR, benefits or people operations. Start with companies where you already know someone, or where your current clients work.

Offer something small first

A full-year program is a big ask from a company that's never worked with you. A short pilot is easier to approve:

• A lunch-and-learn on sleep, stress or healthy eating
• A 4-week team step or hydration challenge
• A monthly workshop series for one team

Make the proposal easy to approve

Keep it to one page. Say what you'll run, for how many people, over what dates, what it costs and how you'll report results. Offer two options so the decision is which one, not whether.

Make it easy for employees to join

Participation is what employers judge you on. Keep sign-up short, use an app people can join from their phone, and run activities that work for every fitness level and schedule.

Show results they can share

At the end of the pilot, send a short report: how many people joined, how many stayed active each week and what participants said. Share a few anonymous quotes. Never share individual health information with the employer.

Turn the pilot into a program

Meet with your contact after the report and suggest the next step, such as a quarterly challenge plus monthly workshops. Ask whether they know other employers who might want the same.

Want to go further with corporate wellness? Woliba is opening a path for coaches to deliver its corporate wellness programs in their own city. Join the waitlist to hear first.