Employee Wellness Newsletter : Developing a Workplace Wellness Program Strategy for Fitness and Health

As businesses today continue to compete in the worldwide economy, expenditure containment strategies will be increasingly valuable. Controlling the rising expenditure of employee sickness is becoming a priority for corporate leaders. The emerging corporate culture in this country is one which has an employee population centered in health, safety and wellness.

Establishing a corporate plan for Worksite Health Promotion Programs and disability management makes great organization sense. The following eight-step process ensures a strategic, integrated, needs-driven and results-oriented approach.

The following process works best in organizations with strong leadership and a long-term commitment to employee health.

1. Identify Your Company Health Promotion Program Champion

This person ought to be a leader in your organization and a strong advocate of health. Most frequently this is an individual who actively pursues his or her own personal quest for good health.

The program champion must have the resources and authority to propel the program forward. The program champion’s key role is to make sure the strategic plan for health is aligned with the corporation’s objectives, strategic focus and corporation values. By way of example if the organization promotes that “our strength is our people” the wellness program must corroborate how drives will nurture and protect that important resource.

2. Form Your Employee Health Promotion Program Strategy Team

The Workplace Health Promotion Program Strategy Team ought to include decision makers and stakeholders from sections of the corporation that are able to impact health and the company’s bottom line. These areas may include; finance, human resources, training and development, health services, compensation and benefits, employee assistance services (EAP), marketing, facilities, health and safety, rehabilitation, cafeteria or food services and the union. A team of six to eight representatives is recommended.

The role of the Strategy Team is to cultivate and enable the strategic plan, look for opportunities to reward health, ensure the program is integrated into key areas of the organization, streamline efforts, maximize employer resources and program evaluation.

3. Complete an Organization Health Audit

The purpose of an Corporation Health Audit is to evaluate your existing programs and services, physical environment and policies & procedures that support health. It is also important to look at your employer culture or “how things are done” around the employer.

Members of the Strategy Team complete the Audit independently and then meet to discuss their assessment. During the assessment process, health issues and opportunities are discussed in preparation for the development of the strategic plan.

4. Analyze Your Organization’s Cost Pressures

Cost pressures are identified by analyzing a number of areas including; benefit expenditures, Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) claims, drug usage, type of paramedic claims, absenteeism data and EAP utilization. This process helps to target areas that can be positively impacted by a Workplace Wellness Program and to provide a baseline for evaluating change.

5. Conduct a Health Risk Appraisal or Employee Needs & Interest Survey

The next step is to determine your employee’s health risks, interests and readiness to change. A confidential health risk appraisal can accomplish countless objectives and goals. It provides a baseline from which to measure personal lifestyle changes, provides employees with relevant health information, motivates employees to take charge of their health and assists in program planning. Most health risk appraisals offer individual reports and a corporate report identifying high-risk areas in the company.

Many organizations opt to administer customized needs and interest survey to evaluate employee needs. The benefit of this approach is that the organization is able to gather information on the employees’ perceived wellness needs and program interests. This information can be incorporated into the strategic plan. Administering a survey also has the added benefit of fostering a sense of employee ownership to the program.

6. Develop Your Strategic Plan for Wellness

The strategic plan ought to incorporate information gathered from the Organization Health Audit, your organization’s expenditure pressures, and health risk appraisal data or employee survey results. The strategic plan ought to include your program mission, three or four objectives and several drives under each goal. The strategic plan provides a framework to encourage, support and evaluate “best health practices.”

It is also valuable that the plan align itself with the vision, goals of the organization.

The sample strategic plan that follows was developed for blue jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co. (Canada) Inc. Levi Strauss & Co.’s mission statement and aspirations (how employees interact with each other in a business environment) guided the development of the plan.

Levi Strauss & Co.’s aspirations include the following statement: Most importantly, we want satisfaction from accomplishments and friendships, balanced personal and professional lives, and to enjoy our endeavors. The wellness program plan included a number of components to make sure that it embraced this statement including the following:

1. A vision statement, which tied in with the company’s aspirations.
2. An incentive system to encourage and reward the accomplishment of healthy milestones.
3. A recognition system to applaud success.
4. Friendly competitions between Levi Strauss & Co. locations to ensure a fun environment.
5. Opportunities to participate in small group educational programs to develop group backing.
6. Initiation of support groups for employees completing wellness programs (i.e. smoking control support group).
7. Programs concerning work and family balance.

Other information that was analyzed and used to cultivate the plan included:

1. Employer demographics
2. Focus groups
3. Cultural audit
4. Top prescription report
5. EAP utilization
6. Employee benefit services report
7. Health and dental claims
8. Operational performance summaries
9. Health risk appraisals
7. Prepare a Corporation Case to Support Your Plan

Your company case for wellness provides the necessary details for approval at the senior staff level. The company case includes:

1. The Strategic Plan for Health
2. A proposed program budget
3. Marketing strategies
4. Program leadership options
5. An implementation plan
6. Evaluation methodology.

In presenting the strategic plan it is significant to highlight how the plan aligns itself with the strategic direction of the organization.

The program budget ought to include educational resources, marketing costs, rewards and incentives, leadership costs and supplies.

Marketing strategies must address how the program will be promoted and rolled out to various groups within the organization i.e. decentralized locations, elevated risk workers, older workers.

Program leadership must address how volunteers will be used, internal resources  and whether consultants have been proposed. All play an equally important role in the implementation of your wellness program.

The program implementation plan must incorporate the following types of programs that help foster awareness of beneficial health practices, support  employees in making lifestyle changes and drives, which support long-term change.

Awareness programs establish an awareness of the importance of healthy lifestyle practices and arouse workers to take the next step. Examples of awareness programs include posting educational posters, newsletter articles and lunch and learn courses.

Lifestyle change programs are more inclusive and longer in duration. They are designed to assist  workers in changing behavior. Examples of lifestyle change programs are nutrition education programs, stress management programs, back care classes and smoking control programs.

A supportive corporate environment encompasses everything from corporate policies & procedures, the physical environment and creating a corporate culture that supports great health practices. Follow-up sessions and support groups for staff members who have completed 6-10 week wellness programs also support a supportive environment for long-term change.

Reviewing the effectiveness of a Company Wellness Program is ongoing. A formal assessment ought to be conducted annually and may include; re-administering steps three to five, program participation statistics and a year end survey to revisit “soft” problems such as morale, program satisfaction and future program direction.

8. Solicit Input and Communicate Your Plan

Employee input is critical to the long-term effectiveness of your program. An Employee Advisory Committee should be formed to roll out the plan. Another key responsibility of this group is to solicit feedback from all echelons of the organization to ensure buy-in. Front line Manager’s Information Sessions and focus groups are also significant. This group needs to buy-in to the notion that they play a key role in supporting positive health practices. Regular meetings are advised with front line managers to receive ongoing input, address concerns and orient new managers.

Conclusions

The World Health Organization’s definition of health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellness and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” In order for us to set up healthy workplaces, wellness drives must have a program champion, have employee ownership, be upper management supported, outcome driven and strategically aligned with the central employer objectives of the organization.

Wellness plan that embrace these qualities will have a positive effect on an organization’s bottom line. Canadian research points to a myriad of case studies where workplace programs have resulted in decreased absenteeism, reduce claims and increased productiveness.

Employers who have embraced wellness as part of “how they do business” have one thing in common. They verify a commitment to their most important resource – their people. They be aware of the increased pressures associated with downsized organizations, a rapidly changing workplace, an aging work force and the challenge of balancing work and family obligations. And they share a common belief that healthy workers are happier, absent less and more beneficial.

References:
Design of Workplace Wellness Programs by Michael P. O’Donnell. 1995. Published by the American Journal of Health Promotion.
Pro Fit-ability by Veronica Marsden. Group Healthcare Management. May 1997.
Meeting Expectations by Laura Mensch. Employee Health and Productivity. August 1999
7 Steps to Health Promotion by Daphne Woolf and Veronica Marsden. Group Healthcare Management. February 1996.
Published in The Journal of Health Promotion for Northern Ireland, Issue 9, March 2000