Company Health and Wellness : Setting Up and Running Your Corporate Wellness Program

Many organizations recognize the need for a comprehensive plan to help their workers be the best they are able to be. They also know that successful and sustainable wellness programs are much more than a few “lunch and learn” programs.

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

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

Planning Your Workplace Wellness Program

Establish carefully to see that your wellness program is seen as part of a broad commitment to maintaining the health and safety of all staff members. Yes, creating a strong plan takes an abundance of effort and time (and sometimes resources). But planning is critical and well worth the investment necessitated. As the saying goes, “failing to plan is planning to fail.”

You might start by conducting a survey of employee needs and interests. If you take this route, pay attention to the outcome and plan accordingly. If you don’t, the staff members will not support the program.

Collecting information about what you already offer is also a good idea. For example, you might be surprised by your business or organization’s current wellness and health policies.

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

Senior Management

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

• Developing a vision of the wellness program after receiving input from all interested workers.
• Communicating ideas and a rationale throughout the company (to senior managers and fellow workers alike).
• Keeping others enthusiastic about and committed to a wellness program.
• Serving as a role model and wellness coach.
• Developing 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 thriving wellness program.

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

• Assist you to obtain important information from all parts of the organization.
• Organize ambassadors who will help you start the wellness program.

Keeping Score and Celebrating

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

• Ascertain areas of excellence.
• Ascertain factors that affect participation in your programs.
• Gain management’s support for your efforts (and maintain that support).
• Better know issues 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 expenditure of your Employee Assistance Program.
• The cost of benefits, including short-term and long-term disability payments.
• The expense of your prescription 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 perceivable changes in areas such as morale and job satisfaction.

A good communications plan supports ongoing information to employees (including senior managers) and fosters excitement about the wellness program. Positive reinforcement is critical in an effective communications plan. For example, you might recognize people who have helped established the program or offer tangible rewards for meeting goals and objectives.

Everyone needs to know whether employees are getting involved, enjoying the activities and getting some advance from them. Showing that a wellness program has financial benefits is frequently an important factor in maintaining strong reinforcement from the top.

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