Employee Wellness Newsletter : Worksite Wellness Program: Establish Goals and Objectives  

A Company Wellness Program without goals/objectives is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you won’t know where you’re going, how to get there, what you want to do once you have arrived, or even whether or not you have arrived!  The trip may end up ok, or it may end up disastrously.  Yet, with a modest amount of thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a efficacious experience.  Clear goals/objectives are needed to plan your wellness program in order to ensure success!

Wellness program goals and objectives are different from one corporation to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources.  Nevertheless, well thought out objectives based on your company’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a efficacious wellness program!

Workplace Health Promotion Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Company Health Promotion Program. The mission statement is the central expression of what the Company Health Promotion Program Committee wants to accomplish by launching a wellness program.  It is important to consider how your Company Health Promotion Program fits in with the business mission statement, contributes to the central mission and supports the business bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the business operations.  

Below are some examples of Company Wellness Program mission statements:

“At XYZ Corporation, maintaining an environment that supports employee health and safety is our underlying value.  It is the mission of the Corporate Health Promotion Program to help  in beginning Corporate Health Promotion Program services that fosters and upholds that value.”

“It is the mission of the XYZ Employee Health Promotion Program Committee to advance healthier lifestyle choices to lower health risk factors, better overall wellbeing, and maintain a beneficial, active work force.”

Employee Wellness Program Goals

The goals and objectives further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment.  Depending on the needs assessment, upper management expectations and employee interests, examples of goals and objectives can include:

The intention(s) of XYZ Worksite Wellness Program in year XXXX is to:  (one or more of the following examples)

• Decrease absenteeism by one day per employee
• Lower musculoskeletal injuries by ten percent
• Cut down on unnecessary emergency room visits
• Lower or contain health care expenditures
• Improve dietary habits of staff members
• Lower health risk factors  

Workplace Wellness Program Objectives

Specific Workplace Health Promotion Program objectives help meet your long-term goals and objectives.  Both short term and long term objectives must be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and objectives.  In addition to objectives for the expected attendant outcomes, process objectives must also be developed for the program process itself.  By way of example, process objectives may include how many employees you want to participate in the programs, how many sessions on a topic will be available, the type of wellness sessions that will be implemented, etc.

Objectives must be easily measurable within a set time frame.  Try using the SMART formula to establish both your long and short-term goals/objectives:

• Specific (one behavior or outcome)
• Measurable (one result that can be observed or evaluated),
• Attainable (but also challenging),
• Realistic (do you have the resources to achieve?), and
• Time specific (within 3 months – up to 5 years)  

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  By way of example, a goal for a weight loss program that has an central goal of improving healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that:

Members (who) will lose an average of .5 – 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) at the end of the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per colleague (attainable and realistic).

Or:

Members (who) will attend 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier eating change at the end of the program (specific what, when, where)

An example of a goal for coaching staff members with elevated blood lipids might be:

To decrease the total cholesterol (specific what) of elevated risk workers with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions provided at the workplace (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic & time specific when) to decrease the risk factor for heart disease (why).  

And one last example of a process intention for a smoking cessation program with an central objective to help  participants in committing to quit for life:

By the end of the 4-week tobacco cessation program, ten% of the participants will have quit smoking.  Each attendant will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process intention) and ten% of those who quit will still be tobacco-free after one year.

You have now completed Steps 1 through 4, including establishing your Employee Health Promotion Program Committee.  It is now time to plan your wellness activities!