Last month’s article discussed the idea that creating workplaces that promote physical activity, good nutrition and a balanced lifestyle required a cultural shift. The effort required is far outweighed by the fact that employers gain the benefits of potentially lower WorkCover claims, reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, reduced risk of injuries or illnesses to staff, and greater employee morale and loyalty which all contributes to the employers bottom line. On the other hand, employees stand to benefit from improved work-life integration, better health, and cost savings on services that would otherwise be at their expense.
If you decide to take the plunge and implement a Corporate Wellness Program that will help you attract and retain high performing employees, what is the next step? The key to success in wellness is to take a strategic approach. Here are nine steps that will take the stress out of setting up a Corporate Wellness program in your company.
1. Start with senior management. Without senior management support, a proactive health management strategy can fall flat. Start with the health of your executive team and discover your wellness champions at the top of the organisation. Management support from the top down and across departments will foster a culture of wellness and provide the necessary budget to implement programs.
2. Analyse the problem. Look at which conditions are driving your workers’ compensation claims and which are modifiable? What is happening with absenteeism? What do exit interviews tell you? A good question to ask yourself is what are the companies issues and what are you looking to achieve. When it comes to wellness, it is easy to drift away from your original objective. No point having yoga workshops for a bunch of truckers. You also don’t want to be driven by your suppliers, who may jump to solutions even before you have defined the problem. Being prepared is vital. Most importantly, analyse the long-term impact of doing nothing?
3. Hold an initial wellness meeting. Invite your key stakeholders (eg HR, Marketing, Finance) and if your workplace has multiple locations, involve representatives from each location so you can ensure that the program can be delivered across multiple locations. Who will administer the programs? Which department will be responsible? Is it a team-by-team deal or a company wide forum? Will you provide it once a week or once a year? A program coordinator to oversee the program and to help ensure its success should be appointed at this stage.
4. Consider both healthy and unhealthy employees. It is essential to reach those with conditions now (eg smokers, diabetics, overweight employees) while also reaching people who are at risk for developing preventable diseases in the future. Everyone is at different levels along the health continuum (eg from ill-health/premature death through to optimal health) and you need to cater for all levels. Voluntary wellness programs such as lunchtime seminars miss many of the people who need them most. Consider programs that are population-wide or target intact workgroups. Incentives help but do not motivate everyone.
5. Set a budget. Do you want to build in employee cost sharing for specific activities as an option? Individual program costs may include external suppliers, program materials (handouts, pedometers); promotional materials (posters, flyers); or incentives (gifts or prizes). An established budget will allow you to plan activities and compare costs and outcomes to evaluate the program’s performance in terms of cost benefit as well as health benefit. The budget should include key components such as employee education, health promotion, and health assessments.
6. Ask what employees want. Conduct a survey of employee interests and needs. Hold some focus groups to determine where people are with wellness. What’s working? What isn’t? How much interest do people have in wellness? What obstacles and barriers are employees experiencing when they try to change behaviour? Talking to your employees is a great way to show them that you do care about their welfare, you will be amazed at the positive spin offs from just engaging them in your planning. Remember, a wellness program addresses behavioural change. People are more willing to change if they are involved in the process.
7. An evaluation plan should be developed. A good program evaluation looks at participation and outcomes, information to learn how well the program is working and whether it’s achieving expected results. Wellness programs that address nutrition, weight management, fitness, stress management, and smoking cessation are great places to start. These areas address risk factors for many chronic conditions including diabetes, heart problems, and many cancers. You must approach this with a long-term view rather than a short quick fix effect. Building a strong and healthy body does not happen over night, it takes time. So make sure you take time to get it right.
8. Set goals for organisational health. Goals and objectives for the program should be developed. Include employee turnover rates, cost of new hires, employee morale, benefit satisfaction data, and employer of choice issues in setting goals. Remember to consider the intangible benefits of a wellness initiative and quantify them whenever possible. Besides the organisational wellness program goals, you may also have individual program goals. For example, if you institute a walking program, your goals may be to increase physical activity among employees and to motivate employees to make positive health behaviour changes.
9. Add specifics to your short and long-term plan. Include a program strategy, a communication strategy, and an incentive strategy that will fit with your corporate culture. Keep communications focused, simple, human, but most important of all, FUN! Remember, a good laugh stretches muscles throughout our face and body, our pulse, and blood pressure go up, and we breathe faster, sending more oxygen to our tissues. And it’s free!
In a tight labour market, attracting employees with the right skills is essential for your business. A company’s ability to offer employees flexibility to achieve a balanced lifestyle can be the key to finding AND keeping good employees.
This article was written by Michael Alonso, who is a Health and Performance Coach specialising in preventative health, movement, and post rehabilitation conditioning for individuals and corporates. He has over 18 year’s experience in the fitness industry and is a Certified Health & Fitness Professional. www.pbworks.com.au
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