Employee Wellness Newsletter : Workplace Physical Activity Programs: Employee Interest Survey

To succeed in encouraging physical activity during the workday, you must discover what employees need and want. They are the people whose behavior you are trying to impact, so it’s critical to know their needs and gain their reinforcement.

The Employee Interest Survey

Ask employees questions that allow you to evaluate such key characteristics as age, sex, social relationships, family responsibilities and current physical exercise participation.

It’s significant to know this information so that your physical exercise program meets employees’ needs. Workers aren’t going to participate in something they’re not interested in.

Ask employees what they want, and then implement changes that fit with their needs and working conditions. By way of example, employees may not wish to do activities that make them sweat, because they do not want to shower at work.

Ask workers what the business could do to make it easier for them to be more physically active during work. If there’s a common trend throughout your organization, a single change could affect an abundance of people.

By way of example, suppose a sizable group shows interest in biking to work. They may want to shower and change after their commute. You might give priority to installing workplace showers and changing facilities. Secure bike storage might be important as well.

If you’re starting a program that requires going outside, begin in the spring. By the time winter arrives, participation is already a habit.

Involving staff members is key to building physical exercise participation rates. People are more willing to take part in and support physical exercise pushes when they are involved in decision making.

The following tips will help you produce your own employee interest survey:

• Keep it short (no longer than ten minutes to complete).
• See that staff members know why you are doing the survey.
• Rather than using all open-ended questions, which can be long and tough to analyze, ask people to choose from a drop-down list of possible responses.
• Ask for comments and recommendations in one open-ended question at the end.
• Make it confidential and anonymous. Do not request information that may identify a person.
• If you’re including a list of possible programs or environmental changes, see that your workplace has the facilities and resources to offer them.