Company Health and Wellness : Corporate Health Promotion Program: Establish Goals and Objectives  

A Worksite Health Promotion Program without goals 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 bit of thoughtful planning, you broaden your chances for a successful experience.  Clear goals are needed to plan your wellness program in order to ensure success!

Wellness program goals/objectives are different from one organization 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 successful wellness program!

Worksite Health Promotion Program Mission Statement

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

Below are some examples of Worksite Health Promotion 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 Worksite Health Promotion Program to support  in creating Worksite Health Promotion Program services that fosters and upholds that value.”

“It is the mission of the XYZ Worksite Wellness Program Committee to develop healthier lifestyle choices to decrease health risk factors, improve overall wellbeing, and maintain a beneficial, active work force.”

Corporate Wellness Program Goals

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

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

• Decrease absenteeism by one day per employee
• Cut down on musculoskeletal injuries by 10%
• Lower unnecessary emergency room visits
• Lower or contain health care expenditures
• Improve dietary habits of employees
• Decrease health risk factors  

Company Wellness Program Objectives

Specific Company Wellness Program objectives help meet your long-term goals and objectives.  Both short term and long term objectives should be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and objectives.  In addition to objectives for the expected colleague outcomes, process objectives should also be developed for the program process itself.  By way of example, process objectives may include the number of staff members you want to participate in the programs, the number of sessions on a topic will be provided, 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 set up both your long and short-term 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.  For example, an objective for a weight loss program that has an overriding objective 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 participant (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 an objective for coaching employees with high cholesterol might be:

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

And one last example of a process objective for a tobacco cessation program with an overall 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 participant 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 adopting your Corporate Health Promotion Program Committee.  It is now time to plan your wellness activities!