Health Wellness Newsletters

What Do You Want to Achieve?

Think about why you’re reviewing  and what your evaluation is going to measure.

When you’re attempting to find out whether an initiative has been successful, see when you followed your mission statement and met your objectives and objectives.

If you don’t have a mission statement or objectives or objectives, decide with senior level management and your employee committee how your organization will measure success.

For example, you are able to measure success by changes in -

o  Physical measures (e.g., strength, flexibility, waist circumference of employees).

o  Psychological measures (e.g., employee morale, satisfaction levels, stress levels).

o  Productivity measures (e.g., decrease in absenteeism rates, increased worker productivity).

Thinking About Employees

If you’re considering making improvements to the program, think about whether the program is still relevant and appropriate for workers. Find out if there are any barriers to participation in the wellness program or to participation in exercise during the workday.

As workers are the ones participating in the wellness program, it is crucial that you give them a chance to provide feedback on the exercise initiative.

Selecting an Investigation Method

Decide on your investigation method. Both measurable results (e.g., absenteeism rates or questionnaire responses) and descriptive results (e.g., one-on-one interviews or focus groups) could be used to evaluate.

The method you select will depend on the time and funding available and what you want to measure.

Deciding Just how to Do the Investigation

Plan when and where you will do your analysis (and who will be evaluated). for more information, peruse the “Types of Investigations” section on this website.

You might want to pilot test your investigation (e.g., with members of the employee committee) before sending it out to staff.  The employee committee might also want to evaluate the program’s planning process.

Doing the Investigation

o  Compare your results to baseline information (i.e., examination results from before the launch of your program). If you don’t have this information, save your examination results to compare with later results.

You can also look at other information you may have, like employee satisfaction survey results.

o  Analyse and share meaningful and easy-to-understand results with upper management and workers.

o  Evaluation results can be used to improve the current exercise program and/or to develop new health promotion programs in future.

To succeed in encouraging exercise during the workday, you must determine what workforce need and want. They’re the people  whose behaviour you are attempting to influence, so it’s crucial to understand their needs and gain their support.

The Worker Interest Survey

Ask workforce questions that allow you to assess such key characteristics as age, gender, social relationships, family responsibilities and current exercise participation.

It is important to know this information so that your exercise initiative meets employees’ needs. Employees aren’t going to take part in something they are not interested in.

Ask staff members what they want, and then implement changes that fit with their needs and working conditions. for  instance, staff members may not want to do activities that make them sweat, because they do not want to shower at work.

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

For example, suppose a big group shows interest in bicycling to work. They could want to shower and change after their commute. You could give priority to installing workplace showers and changing facilities. Secure bike storage could  be important as well.

When you’re launching a health promotion program that requires going outside, begin in the spring. By the time winter comes around, participation is already a habit.

Involving workforce is key to increasing physical activity participation rates. Individuals  are more willing to take part in and support physical activity programs when they are involved in decision making.

The following tips will help you produce your own worker interest survey -

o  Keep it short (no longer than 10 minutes to complete).

o  Let workforce know why you’re doing the survey.

o  Rather than using all open-ended questions, which could be long and difficult to analyze, ask individuals  to choose from a drop-down list of possible responses.

o  Ask for comments and suggestions in one open-ended question at the end.

o  Make it confidential and anonymous. Don’t request information that may identify a individuals.

o  When you are including a list of potential wellness programs or environmental changes, be certain your workplace has the facilities and resources to offer them.

Gaining senior level management support is crucial to the success of a exercise initiative.

Whether or not the changes you would like to make involve the work environment, overall policies or specific programs, successfully beginning your ideas depends on upper-level management support.

Support from upper-level management is vital for three reasons -

o  You must have their agreement to involve personnel in a workplace initiative.

o  When senior management compensates attention to and supports an program, workforce also see the program as worthwhile.

o  Management has the power to give work time and money to support the wellness program.

It’s important to keep senior management involved throughout a physical activity program, but at three points you will need support for -

o  An overall concept, including a go-ahead to assess what personnel want to do within the limitations of your workplace environment.

o  A detailed plan (based on the assessment above) coupled with resources to carry out the plan.

o  Evaluating the initiative to improve it along the way or to advocate for continuing or expanding the initiative.

Approaching Management

Before approaching upper-level management to gain initial support for promoting exercise during the workday, do your homework.

o  Pull together a corporation case clearly outlining how the corporation will benefit by promoting exercise during the workday.

o  List the individual, social and corporate advantages of physical activity and the advantages of being active during the workday.

o  Present some general ideas about what the health promotion program might include.

Expect questions like the following from executive management -

o  Just how this help our business?

o  Exactly how can we motivate employees to participate?

o  Exactly how much will it cost to run this health promotion program or make this change?

o  Precisely how are we going to know a year from now when this was a good use of time and resources?

Ask managers about the range of activities they would support. Often managers have ideas of their own they would like to see acted on to increase the worksite.

Remember to include middle managers when gaining support for your health promotion program. They may be very helpful when you need volunteers to lead teams in corporate exercise challenges.

Can a small corporation support employee health promotion? Absolutely! In fact, in some ways it is easier to develop a healthful workplace in a small corporation than in a large company.

Limited resources, especially in small businesses, can prevent an employer from establishing up a wellness program. Reasons can include -

o  lack of budget resources;

o  lack of staff;

o  lack of senior-level support;

o  little knowledge of the wellness theory and;

o  concern about making wellness available to all staff.

As reported by the Health Promotion Councils of America, some small business owners might have the wrong idea of what’s involved in having a health promotion program.

Some corporations are not sure a health promotion program would really work and others feel that attempting to change personal lifestyle behaviours is intruding and “none of their business”.

Perhaps they do not understand that it does not need to be costly and that they do not need special staff. They may not realize that some staff would like to see some healthful changes and would help make things happen in their worksite.

It can be Done

Many small organizations have found ways to have a health promotion program that works for them. They keep the cost and effort to a minimum and still have results that are positive for everyone.

In 2006, Graham Lowe wrote a report on the best places to work in Calgary. He said that healthy workplaces often have a “positive workplace culture”.  In a workplace with a positive culture, people  feel appreciated, valued, and trusted.

Dr. Lowe says it is easier for a small workplace to have a positive workplace culture than for a big workplace. A lot of employees prefer to work for a small organization, he says, because it provides more opportunities to work closely with others and develop a sense of community.

In his report, Dr. Lowe says the most successful businesses with fewer than 100 workforce have -

o  great employee benefits;

o  policies that promote a balance between work and personal life;

o  flexible schedules;

o  competitive salaries;

o  great leadership with an emphasis on teamwork;

o  environmentally responsible organization policies;

o  procedures for seeking employee input; and

o  A focus on placing employees’ personal well-being ahead of the personal gain of corporation leaders.

All or most of these elements are also components of a good wellness program.

Tips and Ideas

There are many ways to include wellness in a small corporation. You do not necessarily need a wellness expert or a fancy gym.

What you do need is support from senior management and a committee of a few committed individuals . Here are some ideas that your workplace can consider.

Communications and Promotion

o  Send out a regular “wellness” newsletter in hard copy or online. Or send out a simple message like the weekly Healthful U Hot Tip.

o  Use promotions that are already designed such as Healthy Workplace Week.

Active Living and Healthy Eating

o  Be certain to encourage staff to sign up for the Stairway to Health stair climbing competition.

o  Get pedometers for workforce and track their steps.

o  Rent a nearby school or community health club and offer exercise classes.

o  Hire a local fitness instructor to give classes or lead stretch breaks. Costs may be shared with personnel.

o  Install secure bicycle parking.

o  Serve healthful alternatives at corporation meetings and lunches.

Policy and Organizational Programs

o  Hire an ergonomics specialist to assess workstations.

o  Develop policies to support work-life balance (for example, mandatory vacations, flextime, limits to work and e-mail on personal time).

o  Provide a wellness subsidy for a variety of health and leadership activities and courses.

o  Offer financial incentives to be healthful.

o  Give wellness incentives as rewards and recognition for a job well done.

o  Conduct an organizational health audit (NQI Healthy Worksite Week).

o  Become a partner with the community (for example, daycare, fitness clubs, festivals, parks, restaurants).

o  Spread the workload. Be sure to set up a wellness committee.

Small businesses might not have a lot of time, money, or human resources available for a wellness program. But they often have a gigantic advantage over large companiesâ.”a positive workplace culture.

That is a great foundation for a wellness program. When workers are satisfied, enjoy their work environment, they’re more productive, and tend to be healthier.  With a little creativity and passion, small companies can develop successful wellness programs.

Get support from management, form a committee of two or more and discover the possibilities!

Ideally, you will develop an overall plan for a health promotion program before beginning to plan specific health promotion programs. for example, you can begin by getting the following elements in place -

o  support from senior level management

o  A wellness committee or team

o  information about the wellness needs and interests of employees

o  A budget

o  wellness program objectives

o  An investigation plan

Even when you’ve few financial and/or HR, you can still take a “micro” approach. for example, you might focus on only one specific issue or problem. Creativity, enthusiasm and planning can help you overcome limitations.

This article will give you some ideas for establishing up health promotion programs. Even the smallest steps can have an impact.

Whether you choose to start with a single wellness program or create something larger, planning is essential. First think about the large picture and then look after the details.

Ask yourself these questions -

o  Identify an action. What health-related wellness program will fit the bill and best suit the employees and organization?

o  Promote. Precisely how can you most effectively get the word out to employees? What are the opportunities for promotion? Consider everything, because staff have access to and pay attention to different types of messages.

In a typical worksite, staff members get information from e-mail, newsletters, bulletins, brochures, meeting announcements and fellow staff members.

o  Deliver. Who’s the best person or group to put the wellness program into action? Ask other corporations about approaches they have used. Decide on your budget before making a decision.

o  Evaluate. What should you evaluate to determine success? Do you need hard data and/or testimonials from individual participants?

We recommend the following when planning your health promotion program -

o  creating and communicating clear wellness program objectives

o  Targeting your audience

o  determining on the kind of health promotion program or campaign

The Elements of Health Promotion Programming

Programs to promote wellness in the worksite do not need to be restricted to a single area. You may think employee health promotion only involves promoting positive personal health, e.g., blood pressure (BP) clinics, brochures on heart illness, “lunch and learn” workshops on consuming habits and short-term physical activity programs.

These activities are important, but company wellness should also be part of a organization’s business strategy and go beyond traditional wellness programming.

Taking a expanded approach, the National Quality Institute recently identified three key elements of a healthy workplace -

o  physical environment

o  social environment and personal resources

o  health practices

Specific Program Ideas

Physical Environment

Look after workers’ health and safety and establish regulations to support their health and safety. Consider providing the following -

o  Safe bike storage and shower and/or change facilities for cyclists and other commuters.

o  Fridges for personnel to keep snacks and meals fresh and/or healthful snacks in vending machines and cafeterias.

o  Ergonomic assessments.

o  Subsidies to help personnel join local recreation centers.

o  Classrooms/conference rooms available for booking activities like yoga, pilates, tai chi, meditation and aerobics.

o  Safe and pleasant stairwells that invite staff to use them.

o  Reviewing the potential for violence at work with plans to deal with such risks.

o  Good lighting and sound and air quality.

Social Environment

Human relationships and communication, as well as ways of doing organization, can affect an staff member’s mental and physical health. Organizations ought to consider the following -

o  respectful workplace policies that provide safe workplaces

o  policies on flex time

o  policies on working from home

o  worker satisfaction surveys

o  leadership coaching

o  resiliency training

o  employee assistance programs

To foster a positive social culture or climate, consider employees’ needs, which include -

o  being respected

o  A sense of belonging, purpose and mission

o  freedom of expression

o  protection from harassment and discrimination

What you’ve “always done” might not address current staff member needs. Ensuring that people  enjoy being at work is not an easy task, but making the right changes can have a enormous impact.

Health Practices

Offer wellness programs and set policies that help personnel remain healthful or improve their health while at work. Consider offering the following -

o  ”Lunch and learn sessions” on healthful habits like sleeping better, eating on the run, healthful snacks, using a pedometer, pole walking, work-life balance, time management, stress management, resiliency, parenting and reading nutrition labels.

o  Stop use of tobacco clinics or subsidies to help staff quit.

o  Health risk appraisals, including fitness assessments.

o  Programs to address the issues raised in the health risk assessments.

o  Healthful snacks served at meetings and conferences.

Personal Company Health Promotion Tips

If there’s no wellness program at your workplace, do not let that stop you from keeping healthy. Perhaps your example will spark a movement toward a healthier workplace.

Here are a few ideas to think about -

o  be active at work. There are lots of ways to bring activity into your workday. Walk to work, even if it is just one way. Hold walking meetings. Bike to work. Use the stairs. Walk to a workmate’s office instead of sending an e-mail.

o  Eat well at work. Pack a healthy snack and meal. Place a bottle of water at your desk or workstation. Eat breakfast and eat regularly during the day. Take turns bringing a basket of fruit for peers’ snacks. Order healthy snacks for meetings.

o  Maintain work-life balance. Be sure to work efficiently so you are able to leave on time. Conduct short, effective meetings. Leave your work at work and do not take it home.

Minimize social chit-chat. Make certain to set up your office to enhance your work. Prevent clutter. Plan and prioritize to ensure that the most vital things get done first.

There is no limit to the number or variety of wellness programs. A key to success is planning well and ensuring that you can evaluate the results so that you can sustain momentum.

Talk to other wellness practitioners to figure out what works well for them. Listen to your peers to determine their needs and interests.  And don’t forget to promote, promote, promote.