Employee Wellness Newsletter : Setting Up and Running Your Workplace Health Promotion Program

Many corporations recognize the need for a accross the board plan to help their employees be the best they have the potential to be. They also know that efficacious and sustainable wellness programs are much more than a few “lunch and learn” programs.

Your wellness program should include a wide range of key components, including:

• A clear agenda or statement of objectives and goals.
• A plan characterized by passion.
• An effective leader who is creative and organized.
• A focus on short-term outcomes combined with an overall vision.
• A measurable strategy (what’s valuable gets measured!).
• A policy of celebrating and communicating success.

Developing Your Employee Health Promotion Program

Plan carefully to see that your wellness program is seen as part of a broad commitment to maintaining the health and safety of each employee. Indeed, creating a strong plan takes an abundance of effort and time (and sometimes resources). But planning is important and well worth the expenditure needed. As the saying goes, “failing to plan is planning to fail.”

You might begin by conducting a survey of employee needs and interests. If you take this route, pay attention to the results and plan accordingly. If you do not, the workers won’t support the program.

Gathering information about what you’re already offering is also a great idea. For example, you may be surprised by your employer or organization’s current wellness and health policies.

Another valuable step is to create an agenda and/or measurable goals/objectives to help you determine priorities, timelines and the resources necessitated to launch the program. Be bold and creative in your planning, but also realistic.

Upper Management

The leader of your wellness program must be able to wear many hats. The leader’s duties include:

• Establishing a vision of the wellness program after receiving input from all interested employees.
• Communicating ideas and a rationale throughout the company (to senior managers and fellow employees alike).
• Keeping others enthusiastic about and committed to a wellness program.
• Serving as a role model and wellness coach.
• Establishing and maintaining leadership skills such as giving effective presentations and being well-organized.

Good leaders avoid becoming overwhelmed by overly ambitious and complex plans. You may want to stick to short-term goals/objectives at the beginning so that you get immediate and visible results. These first steps are the basis for a successful wellness program.

Good leaders involve as many people as possible in the program. By way of example, you’ll want to form a Workplace Wellness Program Committee made up of a diverse group of employees to provide advice during the planning phase. This approach will:

• Help you to obtain valuable information from all parts of the organization.
• Develop ambassadors who will help you implement the wellness program.

Keeping Score and Celebrating

Always keep in mind how you will monitor progress and evaluate the success of your wellness program. Assessment allows you to:

• Ascertain areas of excellence.
• Ascertain factors that affect participation in your programs.
• Grasp management’s backing for your efforts (and maintain that backing).
• Better know concerns that need attention.
• Learn from mistakes and change the program to keep it on the right track.

When you evaluate your program, you can measure such things as:

• Employee absences.
• Employee turnover rates.
• The cost of your Employee Assistance Program.
• The cost of benefits, including short-term and long-term disability payments.
• The expenditure of your drug plan.
• Accident rates and safety records.
• Employees’ participation in wellness programs (and whether they’re staying in the programs).
• Changes in employees’ health habits.
• Level of employees’ awareness of healthy lifestyle issues.
• Results of your environmental wellness audit.
• Other noticeable changes in areas such as morale and job satisfaction.

A good communications plan supplies ongoing information to staff members (including senior managers) and creates excitement about the wellness program. Positive reinforcement is part of an effective communications plan. For example, you may recognize individuals who have helped set up the program or provide tangible rewards for achieving objectives.

Everyone needs to know whether or not staff members are getting involved, enjoying the activities and getting some benefit from them. Showing that a wellness program has economic benefits is often an significant factor in maintaining strong backing from the top.

If you focus on the key elements of your wellness program and communicate openly and continuously while creating and delivering it, you will create a solid foundation and leave a legacy that lasts.