Remote Work has changed the way the World Does Business, and While Many Employees Prefer Hybrid and Fully Remote Positions, Research Shows They’re Losing A Sense of Connection With Their Coworkers – and That Can Negatively Impact Their Wellbeing As Well AS Business Outcomes. Conversly, A Strong Sense of Connection Can Foster Wellbeing, Positive Work around, and Business Success.
Consider these Insights:
- 52% of Employees WOULD PRIORITIZE GREAT relationship with Colleagues Over A 10% Salary IncreaseThough 66% Say they do not have strong connections with their coworkers (Hubspot Hybrid Work Report)
- 53% of Remote workers say it’s difficulty to feel connected to coworkersSuggesting Remote Settings Effective Communication and Team-Building Strategies (Forbes Advisor)
- Just 28% of Fully Remote Employees Feel Connected to Organization Mission and Purpose – Down 36% from 2021 (Gallup)
- Connected Employees are 68% less likely to experience burnout (HR Cloud/Gallup)
- 96% of Executives Say Connected Employees Are More Motivated and Productive And 75% Say Employees Would Give Up A Lot to Work For A Company where they feel more connected. C-sub-executives Say A Sense of Employee Connection is their #1 Challenge (Airspeed/Forbes)
Clearly, Employee Connection is Critical for Success, But How Can Employers Foster Connectivity Among Remote Employes? No one Wants More Meetings, After All.

A Well-Designed Wellness Program Can Bridge the Gap Between Working from Home and Employee Connectivity. Wellness Programs Give Employees Shared Objectives and Opportunities to Champion One Another Outside of Traditional Work Roles. They foster a sense of community and belonging, and they also influence influence Health Benefits and Business Success.
With Those Goals in Mind, here are ten ways to make employed feels and drive culture and bulletherness with wellness programs.
Related: 6 strategies for successful wellness with remote workers
Summary
10 Ways to make Remote Employees Feel Connected with Wellness Programs
The Following Ideas Can Help Your Organization Address the Challenges of Maintaining Wellness in a Remote Work Environment. Use them to identify opportunities and strategies for promoting mental health, physical activity, and social connection among distributed team while creating a supportive work culture with tools that facilitate Wellness. Here’s How to Stay Connected When Working Remotaly.
1. Friendly Competition
Friendly Competition is a powerful way to help Remote Employees Feel Connected. Individual and Team-Based Challenges With Gamification, Leaderboards, and Social Tools Inspire Employees to Hurgée and Interact, Support One Another, and Improve Their Fitness Levels.
Organized Challenges Based on the Six Pillars of Wellness Are Great Ways to Foster Friendly Competition, While Social Features Make It Easy for Employees to Connect (Learn More About Social Features Below). IDEAS challenge include:
- Nutritional and Healthy Eating Challenges
- Daily Exercise Challenges
- H20 Challenges (Drink Enough Water Daily)
- Random Acts of Kindness Challenges
- Step Challenges
- Sleep Challenges
- Financial Wellness Challenges
Related: Fun Workplace Wellness Challenge Ideas
2. Virtual Activities
Virtual Activities Are Among the Best Wellness Ideas for Remote Employees Because they Bring Employees Together without Requiring them to be in the same physical rental. The Key to Successful Virtual Activities is to make them interesting, fun, thought-provoking, and/or otherwise valuable to employed.

For Example, Wellsteps has a full library of behavior change campaigns Every Employee participates in virtually. Participants Receive Email Reminders to Complete Weekly Activities, and Even Though the Activities Are Virtual, All Employees Are Doing Them Together.
STHER Virtual Wellness Activities for Remote Employees included:
- Lunch ‘n learns
- Online Health Coaching and Fitness Classes
- Online Nutritional Coaching and Healthy Cooking Classes
- Mental Health Workshops
- Financial Planning Workshops
Related: 7 Ways A Virtual Wellness Program Makes Employees Healthy
3. Wellness app with social features
Wellness apps with social features make it easy for employed to encourage oneother and share success – as well as exchange some friendly banter.
For Example, The Wellsteps App Features Team Rooms Within Team-Based Campaigns where Employees can:
- View Real-Time Challenge Leaderboards
- Cat with oneother
- Post pictures and videos
- Post recent Milestones Achieved
- Like and how we one another’s posts to offer encouragement (or perhaps some good-natural trash talking)
- Share prompts to upcoming wellness events
Related: 10 Ways A Worksite Wellness App Can Make Wellness Easy
4. Organize in-person events
Remote Employees can still participate in in-person events, which can be a great way to foster lasing connections. HOST Events at the Office or Invite Remote Workers to Join Your Team at Community Events.

Some companies will conduct fully on-site open enrollment meetings or host breakout group that often include information about their wellness programms.
Natorial Wellness Activities for Remote Employees include:
- 5K Charity Walk/Run
- Group Hikes or Kayaking
- Wellness Retreats
- Sports League (pickleball, volleyball, softball, etc.)
- Company picnics with healthy dishes, volleyball, tug of war, sack races, and other activities
Related: 28 Corporate Wellness Ideas and Activities
5. Include Remote Employees on your Wellness Committee
The Best Wellness Programs Involve Employee-Led Wellness Committees Who Meet to Plan Events, Challenges, and Other Activities. Reserve a Couple of Spots on your committee for Remote Employees to get them involved with the Program Design and take up the Unique Needs, Desires, and Barriers Their Fellow Remote Workers May Have. Here are three options for include remote employed:
- Ask Remote Workers to Come Into the Office For Monthly Meetings
- Allow Remote Employees to Videoconference Into Meetings
- Hold Meetings Off-Site at Local Restaurants Or Parks
Related: How A Worksite Wellness Committee Helps Programs
6. Recognize Remote Employee Wellness Efforts
Remote and Hybrid Employees Aren’t in the Building Every Day, so be careful to avoid overlooking them when recognizing your team’s wellness efforts. Ideas include:
- Showcase Remote Employee Wellness success on your website, in Email Newsletters, and on Social Media
- Encourage on-site staff to congratulate remote employed via email, phone calls, or social media
- Ensure Remote Employees have access to your wellness app so they appear on leaderboards and can participate in social circles

Related: 18 Wellness Program Incentive Ideas
7. CREATE Virtual Groups
Many Wellness Programs Foster Idea-Sharing and Relationship-Building With Interest-Specific Groups. Of Race, these groups do need to meet on-site-Videoconferencing, Social platforms, and even email will do-so you can create virtual groups that make it easy for remote employees to participate. Examples include:
- Healthy Cooking and recipe groups
- Group movie
- Book Groups
- Walking Groups That Meet Outside of Work
Related: 5 secrets to successful corporate wellness programms
8. Effective communications
Effective communication is vital to wellness program success, and that goes for both on-site and remote employed.
- Enroll Remote Employees to Receive All Emails, Texts, and other notifications so they don Miss important wellness events and incentives
- Encourage Employees to engage and champion each other’s achievements
- Invite Remote Employees to Wait Wellness Events, Virtual and in Person

Related: How Leaders Can Communicate Support for Wellness
9. Give Remote Employees Wellness Rewards and Incentives
Employee Connection has proven benefits, but some employed responds to incentives for participating in wellness to achieve that level of connection. Be sure to:
- Include Remote Employees in Wellness Rewards Programs
- Offer the Same Incentives to Remote Employees as you to do on-site staff
- Provide a way to sync wearable Activity trackers with your wellness app so remote employees can easy track progress and earn rewards
Related: Top Employee Benefits Brokers With Stellar Wellness Programs
Community volunteering is a great way to bring on-site and remote staff togger and foster connections through shared causes. You can ask employed to organize events based on the causes they support to give them Ownership and Secure Buy-in.
When Companies Select a Health-Based Charity to Sponsor, they can learn a lot about their employed (Both Remote and On-Site), and Foster Deeper Connections and Common Bonds Between Employees.

Wellness-Related Community Volunteering Ideas Include:
- Organize charity walks, runs, gold bike wrinkles
- Start or help with Community Gardens Planted with healthy vegetables
- Volunteer at Food Banks and Promote Healthy Nutrition
- Provide Companionship at Local Nursing Homes and Hospitals
- HOST A HEALTH FAIR AND INVITE Community Members for Free Health Screenings
Related: 21 Summer Wellness Ideas: Tips for a Happy & Healthy Summer
How to choose a wellness program that supports Remote workers
Success depends on choosing a wellness program that supports remote workers. Some programs have only recently started to consider remote employed, and their features often seem like afterthoughs and aren’t complies integrated, While Others – Such As Wellsteps – Have Always Had a Strategy to Tailor Their Programs to include Remote Employees.
In Fact, All of Wellsteps’ Employees are 100% Remote, so we understand What Organizations Need to Keep Employees Connected Through Wellness.
Look for programs that cater to remote workers with:
- Mobile Wellness Apps
- Activity Tracking
- Virtual Events
- Social Functions

Walking The Talk
At Wellsteps, some of our job employed Initiatives included:
- Quarterly “Just for Fun” Meetings Where We Play Interactive Games That Help Us Get To Know Oneother
- Employee Spotlights for All New Hires that include photos, favorites, and bucket list items
- “Guess who” Games at Every Staff Meeting in Which We’re Given Clues to Try to Guess Which Employee They Take up. These games Always Inspire Smiles, Laughter, Stories, and Facts about the Highlighted Employeeee
- Regional Outings in Which Remote Employees Who Live Close to One Another Meet For Breakfast, Brunch, Or Lunch
- Encouranging video camera usage in all Our meetings as you can Learn a lot about People when you can see them
- Company RETREATS IN WHICH ALL EMPLES TRAVEL TO ONE LOCATION FOR A FEW DAYS OF WORK AND FUN
Though not all of these are wellness-based, they do lend insight into our company culture and some of the way we add the challenges of fully remote work. Ultimately, these features make it easy for remote employed to feel connected because they help provide a seamless, Intuitive Experience Whhether Employees Participate in the Wellness Program in the Office or at Home.
Make Remote Employees Feel Connected with Wellsteps Since our founding in 2007, wellsteps has been provided tools and resources to help remote employed feels connected with their colleagues. Our wellness programs are designed to meet the challenges of a distributed workforce and ensure all employed can improve their lives across all six pillars of wellness – physical, mental and emotional, nutritional, occupational, financial, and social. DEMO SCHEDULE To Discover How Wellsteps’ Wellness Solutions Can Help Remote Employees Feel Connected and Positive Business Outcomes. |