Corporate Wellness Blog

There is no single correct way to approach wellness programs but successful programs share common success factors. These include commitment from management, employee involvement, adequate resources, and a health policy that goes hand in hand with the organization’s mission, vision and values.

Worksite Wellness Program: A Range of Approaches

Although the objective is to eventually have a long-term, comprehensive wellness program, some businesses prefer to begin with a single program at a basic level. By way of example, the first steps could be as simple as offering lunch-hour sessions on first aid or healthy eating; or they could launch a pilot project to learn how interested staff members are to ensure staff members needs are being met before taking on anything more ambitious. This approach supports a chance to show the effect on staff members and the workplace so upper management will be more willing to consider a larger and more far-reaching plan.

Other businesses plan a variety of initiatives to meet the needs of the different types of people that make up their workforce. And some decide to foster a sound company case, complete with a health strategy, before beginning any sort of program. Employers want to make sure that a new program is fully integrated with their overall company vision and mission.

Workplace Wellness Program: Success Factors

Whether your corporation chooses to think big from the outset or to begin with something smaller, always keep in mind the following key success factors:

• reinforcement and participation from management;
• employee participation in organizing;
• programs that meet employee needs;
• a realistic budget; and
• continuous review.

In sports, a game plan is a series of steps that a group must follow to accomplish its goal of winning. Most winning teams plan to win. Businesses also need game plans, even if they do not call them by that name.

Good planning will help to ensure that your wellness program happens the way you want it to, and that expenditures are able to be identified in advance and kept within budget. Good planning prevents small issues from becoming bigger.

Steps in Creating a Workplace Health Promotion Program

Get senior staff reinforcement. You may need to cultivate a business case to convince managers that the wellness program is a business strategy-that employee health and job satisfaction affects their productivity. workers need to see evidence that senior staff believes in and is committed to employee health.

Establish a planning committee. Members can include representatives from employee groups as well as from human resources(HR), health and safety, and communications.

Gather information. To prove that your Employee Wellness Program is constructive, establish a benchmark before the program begins. You may wish to look at employee satisfaction, absenteeism rates, stress levels, drug expenditures or WCB expenses. Evaluate what workplace facilities are available to support workers to make healthy choices such as showers and change areas or a secure place to store a bicycle. Evaluate employee needs through a survey or questionnaire, suggestion box or focus group. Communicate the outcome.

Organize the plan to reflect the information gathered. Include program objectives, activities and how you are going to measure whether your objectives were met. Keep the plan flexible. You may have to change direction in response to employee feedback or changes in the company’s structure.

Get management approval. Support for employee time and a budget are necessitated.

Put activities in place. Provide a variety of activities that establish awareness, expand knowledge, foster skills, and support social interaction. (Activities might include walking clubs, participation in national campaigns such as Worksite Health Promotion Programs Week, SummerActive, WinterActive, corporate challenge, golf days, and newsletters that support information about community resources.) Workplaces are able to also make it easier for staff members to make healthy choices by providing flextime to allow staff members to fit activity in when it is convenient or by subsidizing programs in cooperation with community or private fitness facilities. A policy on catering for meetings can make sure that healthy foods are available.

Evaluate the plan. Share your successes with others, learn from your mistakes and modify activities.

A wellness program doesn’t have to be complicated or a huge expenditure. Just do it. Get support from management, bring a few committed people together to generate some ideas and get started.