Health Tips A to Z

Workplace wellness is in the process of evolving.

Early efforts to create healthy workplaces focused on safety at the worksite and injury prevention for employees.

More recently, programs are designed to assist  staff members to choose healthier behaviors like increasing physical activity levels or stopping smoking. Campaigns to spread awareness, educational sessions to broaden knowledge, opportunities to acquire new skills, and changes to policies to make it easier for staff members to make healthy choices are frequently included. This approach is taken because the workplace is a good way to reach individuals, since most adult Canadians invest a sizable part of their day at work.

While safety and lifestyle programs are 2 aspects that contribute to the health of employees, workplace wellness is more effective when a third factor is brought into the equation-the environment at work.

How the workplace affects health.

Increasingly, it is recognized that the workplace itself has a powerful affect on people’s health. When individuals are satisfied with their job, they are more advantageous and tend to be healthier. When employees feel that the environment at work is harmful, they feel stressed. Stress has a sizable influence on employee mental and physical health, and in turn, on productiveness.

Consultant Graham Lowe has identified five components of workplace culture that directly affect employees’ health and the health of the employer overall-credibility, respect, fairness, pride, and camaraderie. The underlying idea is that employers must truly are concerned about the wellbeing of their workers.

Organizations today who want to attract and retain good employees have leaders who be aware of the importance between employee satisfaction and employee health and believe that workplace wellness is a organization plan.  Their management practices include making reasonable demands on time and energy, involving employees in decision making, rewarding work well done, openly communicating, and offering support to balance life at home and work.

Employers know that workers are looking for jobs that pay well, have good benefits, are interesting, and include excellent health and safety programs. So in today’s competitive hiring market, it’s become more significant than ever for companies to enhance job satisfaction and ensure that workers enjoy being on the job. Workplace wellness benefits both employers and workers.

How does workplace wellness profit the company?

A workplace wellness program can help a business to:

• attract and keep staff members;
• reduce the costs of disability, drugs, and absenteeism;
• lower the effects of a stressful workplace;
• cut health expenditures or keep them contained; and
• better morale by planning a happy, supportive environment.

How Do Company Wellness Programs Profit workers?

employees of organizations that have a Employee Health Promotion Program are likely to have:

• increased awareness and knowledge of ways to improve their health;
• a better (less stressful) workplace;
• increased protection from injury;
• improved health and wellness;
• higher morale and greater job satisfaction;
• increased productiveness and performance at work;
• reduced personal medical care costs; and
• a more relaxed/flexible approach to health issues.

Both employers and workers have a responsibility for organizing a healthy workplace. Workers are expected to arrive at work in good health, and the business is expected to offer an environment that allows workers to maintain good health, enjoy their work, and contribute to the company’s success.

Workplace wellness is much more than a “lunch and learn” program. It’s about creating a “people first” approach to doing business. It’s about taking care of employees, establishing a beneficial work environment, and paying attention to the factors that keep employees healthy and happy at work. A good Company Wellness Program has an effect on employees’ mental, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual wellbeing.

Ideally, you will cultivate an central plan for a Company Wellness Program before beginning to plan specific wellness programs. For example, you are able to start by getting the following elements in place:

• support from upper management
• a Employee Wellness Program Committee or group
• information about the wellness needs and interests of workers
• a budget
• program objectives
• an evaluation plan

Even if you have few financial and/or human resources, you can still take a “micro” approach. By way of example, you might focus on only one specific problem. Creativity, enthusiasm and planning can help you overcome limitations.

This article will give you some with some ideas for establishing Employee Health Promotion Programs. Even the smallest steps are able to have an impact.

Whether you choose to begin with a single program or develop something larger, planning is essential. First think about the big picture and then look after the details.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Determine an action. What health-related program will fit the bill and best suit the staff members and employer?
• Encourage. How can you most effectively spread the word to staff members? What are the opportunities for promotion? Consider everything, because staff members have access to and pay attention to different types of messages. In a typical workplace, staff members receive information from e-mail, newsletters, bulletins, brochures, meeting announcements and fellow staff members.
• Deliver. Who is the best individual or group to put the program into action? Ask other employers about approaches they have used. Solidify your budget prior to making a decision.
• Review. What should you evaluate to determine success? Do you need hard data and/or testimonials from individual participants?

We recommend the following when organizing your plan:

• planning and communicating clear objectives
• targeting your audience
• deciding on the sort of program or campaign

The Elements of a Employee Wellness Program

Programs to encourage wellness in the workplace do not need to be restricted to a single area. You might think workplace wellness only involves promoting beneficial personal health, e.g., Blood Pressure (BP) clinics, pamphlets on heart disease, “lunch and learn” courses on eating habits and short-term physical activity programs.

These activities are valuable, but workplace wellness must also be part of employer’s business strategy and go beyond traditional programming.

Taking a broader approach, the National Quality Institute recently identified 3 key components of a healthy workplace:

• physical environment
• social environment and personal resources
• 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:

• Safe bike storage and shower and/or change facilities for cyclists and other commuters.
• Fridges for employees to keep snacks and meals fresh and/or healthy snacks in vending machines and cafeterias.
• Ergonomic assessments.
• Subsidies to assist employees join local recreation centres.
• Classrooms/conference rooms available for booking activities such as yoga, pilates, tai chi, meditation and aerobics.
• Safe and pleasant stairwells that invite workers to use them.
• Assessing the potential for violence at work with plans to deal with such risks.
• Good lighting and sound and air quality.

Social Environment

Human relationships and communication, as well as ways of doing business, are able to affect an employee’s mental and physical health. Employers should consider the following:

• respectful workplace policies that support safe worksites
• policies on flex time
• policies on working from home
• employee satisfaction surveys
• leadership coaching
• resiliency training
• Employee Assistance Programs

To develop a beneficial social culture or climate, consider employees’ needs, which include:

• being respected
• a sense of belonging, purpose and mission
• freedom of expression
• protection from harassment and discrimination

What you’ve “always done” may not address current employee needs. Seeing to it that people enjoy being at work is not an simple task, but making the right changes is able to have a huge impact.

Health Practices

Provide programs and set policies that help employees remain healthy or improve their health while at work. Consider offering the following:

• “Lunch and learn sessions” on healthy habits such as sleeping better, eating on the run, healthy snacks, using a pedometer, pole walking, work-life balance, time management, stress management, resiliency, parenting and reading nutrition labels.
• Stop smoking clinics or subsidies to help staff members quit.
• Health risk appraisals, including fitness assessments.
• Programs to address the issues raised in the health risk appraisals.
• Healthier snacks served at gatherings and conferences.

Personal Company Wellness Program Tips

If there is no wellness program at your worksite, don’t let that stop you from keeping healthy. Perhaps your example will spark a movement toward a healthier workplace.

Here are a few ideas to consider:

• Be active at work. There are a myriad of ways to bring exercise into your workday. Walk to work, even if it’s just one way. Hold walking meetings. Bike to work. Use the stairs. Walk to a workmate’s office instead of sending an e-mail.
• Eat smart at work. Pack a healthy snack. Have 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 co-workers’ snacks. Order healthy snacks for meetings.
• Maintain work-life balance. Work efficiently so you are able to leave on time. Conduct short, effective meetings. Leave your work at work and be sure not to take it home. Minimize social chit-chat. Arrange your office to enhance your work. Avoid clutter. Create and prioritize to ensure that the most important things get done first.

There is no limit to the number or variety of Worksite Health Promotion Programs. A key to success is planning well and ensuring that you can evaluate the outcome so that you can sustain momentum.

Speak with other wellness practitioners to learn what works well for them. Listen to your co-employees to determine their needs and interests. And do not forget to promote, promote, promote.

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

Your wellness program must include a wide range of key elements, including:

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

Planning Your Corporate Wellness Program

Develop carefully to ensure that your wellness program is viewed as part of a sweeping commitment to maintaining the health and safety of all employees. Yes, creating a good plan takes an abundance of effort and time (and occasionally resources). But planning is critical and well worth the cost required. 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 do not, the workers will not support the program.

Gathering information about what you already offer is also a great idea. For example, you may be surprised by your organization or organization’s current wellness and health policies.

Another significant step is to set an agenda and/or measurable goals to help you outline priorities, timelines and the resources needed to kick off 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 employees.
• Communicating ideas and a rationale throughout the company (to senior managers and fellow employees alike).
• Keeping others enthusiastic about and committed to a wellness program.
• Serving as a role model and wellness coach.
• Implementing 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 objectives and goals at the beginning so that you get immediate and visible results. These first steps are the basis for a efficacious wellness program.

Good leaders involve as many individuals as possible in the program. For example, you’ll want to form a Employee Health Promotion Program Committee made up of a diverse group of employees to provide advice during the planning phase. This approach will:

• Help you to obtain significant information from all parts of the corporation.
• Develop 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. Assessment allows you to:

• Determine areas of excellence.
• Determine factors that affect participation in your programs.
• Gain management’s backing for your efforts (and maintain that backing).
• Better know problems that need attention.
• Learn from mistakes and change the program to keep it on the right track.

When you evaluate your program, you are able to measure such things as:

• Employee absences.
• Employee turnover rates.
• The expense of your EAP.
• The expenditure of benefits, including short-term and long-term disability payments.
• The expense of your prescription 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 problems.
• Results of your environmental wellness audit.
• Other perceivable changes in areas such as morale and job satisfaction.

A great communications plan supplies ongoing information to staff members (including senior managers) and creates excitement about the wellness program. Positive reinforcement is part of an effective communications plan. For example, you may recognize people who have helped established the program or offer tangible rewards for achieving goals and objectives.

Everyone needs to know whether or not workers are getting involved, enjoying the activities and getting some benefit from them. Showing that a wellness program has economic benefits is frequently an important factor in maintaining strong support from the top.

If you pay attention to 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.

How does physical activity fit into a full-time employee’s full schedule? Often times, it doesn’t.

One possible solution to this challenge is to make physical exercise a part of the work day. Clearly, being active at work is productive for workers. But employers also profit from having fit, energetic and healthy workers who are more productive.

The challenges

Your job takes up a lot of your time. In addition to the hours you invest actually working, there is the time needed to get to and from work and take lunch and rest breaks during the work day. In the end, there are a limited number of hours left over for the rest of your life. This work life imbalance is especially true for Alberta, where statistics show that we work exceptionally difficult.

Many jobs today are sedentary, and numerous American citizens drive to work. The pressures of work may also cause us to eat lunch at our desks and skip breaks. Then, after work or on the weekends we juggle household chores, family responsibilities and social engagements.

Workplace Wellness Programs: Get started on a workplace physical activity program

Senior Leadership plays a key role in creating a culture that promotes health. The leaders at your workplace influence the various policies and the informal or formal practices, and these policies and practices affect your attitude towards healthy active living.

Start by talking to your boss about the benefits of a healthy active workplace. The best way to guarantee the success of a employer fitness program is to have the management on side and cheering you on.

Ask your boss to consider taking these actions:

• Send a memo or message about the importance of health and healthy living that encourages employee to take an active break each day.
• Provide for flexible work hours that assist employee to be more physically active. For example, they might need to take a longer lunch break to catch physical activity class, making up the time by arriving at work early or remaining late.
• Make available a meeting room or other suitable office space for noon-hour yoga or exercise classes, and hire a teacher to lead them, or use videos.

If your boss agrees to support a workplace fitness program, don’t forget to show appreciation.

You do not need an on-Site health club

Only very large employers are able to afford on-Site fitness facilities such as exercise equipment or squash courts. Still, most employers are able to take other affordable steps to support employees who wish to become more active.

For example:

• Arrange for discounted fees for staff members at a health club, recreation center or YMCA facility.
• Install showers and a place to hang a towel. (Make sure the showers are cleaned regularly and that women who use them will feel secure.)
• Install bike racks or a locked enclosure that is safe, conveniently located and well-lit.
• Hold walking gatherings and set up lunch-hour walking groups
• Make workers alert to safe and pleasant walking routes near the workplace, as well as nearby locations that offer physical activity programs (such as walking, swimming, running, yoga, stretching).
• Hire a certified instructor to teach employee about health, fitness and how to become more active.

Any size and type of workplace has the potential to support workers who wish to be physically active. It’s highly desirable to get senior staff on side. Even if your boss isn’t supportive, you can still discover ways to get moving more. Set up activities for groups and individuals, and promote your co-workers to join in.

We all know that physical activity is an significant part of health and wellness. But sometimes it’s hard to find time for physical activity. Lack of time is the number one barrier that people say prevents them from participating in physical activity on a regular basis.

The great news is that even short sessions of physical exercise help your health. Research has shown that 10-minute sessions that add up to between 30 and 60 minutes a day are able to produce significant health benefits.

Also, there are numerous ways busy people have the potential to use to be more active. These strategies include:

• multi-tasking
• being active at work
• being active with loved ones
• scheduling exercise into daily life

Different strategies work for different people. Being familiar with the different strategies is key to adopting and maintaining an active lifestyle.

Read on to check out strategies you have the potential to try. With proper responsibility, some of them are sure to work for you.

Strategy #1: Multi-tasking

The first strategy you can try is multi-tasking. This means doing things you already do, but in a more physically active way. This way you get done what you need to get done and you get physical activity at the same time.

By way of example, you’re already travelling to work and other places. Instead of taking the car or the bus every time, try using active methods of transportation like biking, rollerblading, walking and skateboarding.

If you can’t use active transportation for an entire trip, try to be active for at least part of the trip. If you’re riding the bus, for example, get off a few blocks early and walk the rest of the way.

Active transportation benefits your body by increasing your exercise level, and it also benefits your neighborhood and the environment by decreasing the number of cars on the road.

You have the potential to also get physical exercise while doing chores.

When you’re working around the house, try to be creative and look for the active choice. By way of example, if you’re cleaning the crack between the fridge and the counter, why not move the fridge so you are able to clean the area better and build your strength at the same time?

For outdoor work, opt for the old-fashioned way of doing things, as they’re usually more active. By way of example, use a snow shovel instead of a snow blower.

Strategy #2: Be Active at Work

Many Americans spend eight hours a day or more working at a motionless job. Here are a few simple ways to keep your body moving during work. The physical exercise will revitalize you and help you be more beneficial.

When you’re working at your desk, try sitting on a stability ball or disk for part of your day (30 minutes to an hour). This gives your back and core a workout.

Take active breaks at least once every day. During your coffee break, try doing some yoga, stretching or taking a quick walk. You might find that walking up and down the stairs a few times does a better job of rejuvenating you than the java jolt.

Speaking of the stairs, take them rather than the elevator whenever you can. The stairs in your building are an opportunity to get your heart pumping.

Create walking gatherings at work. Getting outside and having gatherings in a less formal setting is a great way to be active, makes work more fun and encourages creative ideas for work projects.

Strategy #3: Be Active With Your Loved Ones

Do physical activity with your family, friends, neighbours and pets. With this strategy, you and your loved ones are doing some great multi-tasking together: enjoying quality time with each other and getting some of the physical activity that you all need to be healthy.

Go for walks, swims or bike rides together. Play Frisbee, soccer and other games and sports together. When you take your children to the park, play with them instead of just watching them play.

Many neighborhood facilities offer classes that keep you and your little ones active at the same time. Research these classes and take one or two.

You are able to even be active when you’re watching your kids do activities without you. For example, if your child plays hockey, take the opportunity to walk up and down the stairs in the stands a few times. If you feel self-conscious about doing it alone, why not gather a group of parents to do it together?

Strategy #4: Schedule Physical Activity into Your Day

Schedule your physical exercise directly into your daytimer. Set a specific time and place for working out. Make your physical exercise appointments a priority, just as important as any other appointment you put in your daytimer.

To help you stay committed to your physical activity appointments, you might want to make appointments that involve other individuals: such as by meeting with a personal trainer, taking exercise class or jogging with a friend.

If you’re not sure how many appointments to make or what you must be doing during your appointments, try consulting with a personal trainer. A personal trainer can help you foster a physical activity plan and schedule.

The bottom line: see what works best for you. Experiment with the strategies. Find inspiration by talking to others about how they keep active and what strategies they use. Be creative and patient while you learn what strategies work best for you. And be aware that your “best strategy” may change from time to time.

With proper effort, you will discover what works for you. Then, run with it!

• Commit to workplace physical exercise in policy statements and commit funding to physical exercise initiatives.
• Clearly communicating the advantages of being physically active during work reinforces the company’s commitment to assisting all workers be active. Use meetings, bulletin boards, newsletters and e-mail to reach as many workers as possible at least once a year.
• Offer flex time for physical activity. Invite employees who actively commute to work or exercise during lunch to make up any missed time later in the day.
• Consider allowing employees to work part time, so that they can take part in physical exercise.
• Include a physical exercise account in your benefit plan to pay for or subsidize fitness memberships, assessments, classes, counselling or instruction.
• Provide interest-free loans for employees to buy bicycles or good walking shoes/runners.
• Conduct periodic employee interest surveys of employee physical activity preferences, and offer a variety of options to suit those interests and needs.
• Hire qualified people to lead stretch breaks or physical exercise programs or classes. For help in finding accredited fitness leaders, visit Alberta’s Provincial Fitness Unit.
• Recognize staff members who take part in physical activity. Survey staff members first to determine how they prefer to be recognized, e.g., through company newsletters, appreciation lunches, rewards and/or thank you notes.
• Give child care and other family-friendly amenities during physical activities that occur after work.
• Avoid scheduling gatherings over lunch.
• Encourage active breaks instead of coffee breaks.
• Have active fundraisers instead of bingos. For example, staff members might climb the Calgary Tower stairs or take turns riding a stationary bike for 24 hours.
• Make birthday celebrations active times. Instead of a lunch, invite the birthday person to choose an activity. Options might include a session with a yoga instructor or an evening ski trip.
• Encourage a casual dress day. One study observed that workers who dress casually were more physically active.

• Make sure that your building’s stairways are clean, attractive and safe, and post signs encouraging workers to use the stairs.
• Organize a wellness newsletter or intranet.
• Encourage the Activity Tracker and bolster workers to track their physical exercise every week.
• Be creative, and make the most of the workspace you have. By way of example, mark off a safe walking path inside or around the building. You might also set up a training circuit, highlighting features of the workplace such as stairs.
• Offer physical exercise opportunities at different times to accommodate night-, shift-, and part-time staff members.
• For staff members in remote or satellite offices, offer equal access to key initiatives via the intranet. Adapt challenges to suit their environment and take advantage of local facilities and resources.
• Make physical exercise available to workers with special needs. Adapt information and activities for any employee who are visually impaired or physically disabled as well as for people who speak English as a second language.
• Educate workers about physical activity using information from reputable sources such as the Alberta Centre for Active Living.
• Offer facilities that invite worksite physical exercise. Possibilities include bike racks, physical activity room, change rooms with lockers and showers, and safe and attractive grounds for walking.
• Hold walking gatherings.
• Encourage employees to walk to co-workers’ offices rather than e-mailing or phoning.
• Set up a stretching room. This low-cost initiative requires only a room, stretching mats, stability balls and medicine balls. Put up posters that show stretches and exercises.
• Offer incentives and rewards such as shoe bags, ball caps, T-shirts or water bottles to reward employee participation.
• Loan out pedometers for three months, so that employees have the potential to find out how many steps they usually take and how much activity they need to add to get basic health benefits.
• Set aside space for workers to plant and maintain a flowerbed or garden at the workplace. Use any resulting produce for gatherings and potluck lunches or donate it to charity.
• Create a workplace health & wellness fair.
• Hire a qualified fitness specialist to create and manage an worksite fitness facility.
• Supply employees with active wear that displays the employer logo.

• Create a launch event to establish excitement about upcoming activities and to set up a social climate that establishes being active as the norm.
• Design and promote monthly or bi-monthly business programs that are fun and active, e.g., picnics with physical games, employee tournaments and dragon boat racing. Encourage families to join in by including all-ages programs such as relay races, soccer matches, bocce ball and baseball games.
• Implement a swim club at a local pool. Invite groups of staff members to swim the distance of a nearby lake. Convert kilometres to lengths and reward staff members who complete the swim. Set up a challenge between staff members and managers to see who covers the greatest distance.
• Display a sign-up board where employee can join a group or find a buddy to participate in activities of interest.
• Develop a business badminton tournament that lasts several months, with each employee playing once a week. Display the results as the tournament progresses.
• Create an office Olympics, World Cup, Wimbledon or Masters Games. Invite teams to compete in several activities over a month. Reward everyone who participates.
• Develop a point system in which one minute of exercise equals one point. Set a target, and post a chart where all staff members are able to track their points. Reward the first group to reach that target.
• Establish a stair climb challenge. Post a chart at the top of the stairwell, and promote workers to track the number of flights of stairs they climb each workday. Set up teams, and award a prize to the first group to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest.
• Post and reward a sign-up board for lunchtime walking groups.
• Develop a walk “across America” Choose a route, discover how many steps it would take to walk that distance and challenge staff members to do it. Give or loan pedometers to staff members, and ask them to record the number of steps they take. Or, if you can’t afford pedometers, track the minutes walked. Set up a challenge between staff members and managers to see who has the potential to walk across America first.
• Design a walk to work club. Acknowledge staff members who either walk to work or walk to public transit.
• Have a volunteer group leader guide weekly lunchtime power walks.
• Develop a million-step challenge. Form groups, challenge each group to walk a combined total of a million steps and reward the winner. Departments or sites might compete with each other and with upper management.
• Encourage workers to walk 10,000 steps a day. Buy pedometers for all participating workers or, if you can’t afford that, make pedometers available at a reduced rate. Provide tips for increasing daily steps, and reward workers who succeed.

There is no one correct way to approach wellness programs but winning programs share common success factors. These include responsibility from management, employee participation, adequate resources, and a policy concerning health that goes hand in hand with the organization’s mission, vision and values.

Worksite Health Promotion Program: A Range of Approaches

Although the objective is to eventually have a long-term, all-inclusive wellness program, some organizations prefer to start with a single program at a basic level. By way of example, the first steps could be as simple as offering lunch-hour sessions on first aid or healthy eating; or they could launch a pilot project to learn how interested employees are to ensure employees needs are being met before taking on anything more ambitious. This approach supports a chance to show the influence on employees and the workplace so senior staff will be more willing to consider a larger and more far-reaching plan.

Other corporations plan a variety of initiatives to meet the needs of the different sorts of people that make up their workforce. And some decide to cultivate a sound business case, complete with a health strategy, before attempting any type of program. Employers want to be sure that a new program is completely integrated with their overall business vision and mission.

Employee Health Promotion Program: Success Factors

Whether your organization chooses to think big from the outset or to begin with something smaller, always keep in mind the following key success factors:

• support and participation from senior staff;
• employee involvement in organizing;
• programs that meet employee needs;
• a realistic budget; and
• continuous review.

In sports, a game plan is a series of steps that a group must follow to accomplish its goal of winning. Most winning teams plan to win. Corporations also need game plans, even if they do not call them by that name.

Good planning will help to be sure that your wellness program happens the way you want it to, and that costs can be identified in advance and kept within budget. Good planning prevents small concerns from becoming bigger.

Steps in Planning a Worksite Wellness Program

Obtain upper management reinforcement. You may need to foster a employer case to convince managers that the wellness program is a employer strategy-that employee health and job satisfaction impacts their productiveness. employees need to see evidence that upper management believes in and is committed to employee health.

Establish a planning committee. Participants have the potential to include representatives from employee groups as well as from human resources, health and safety, and communications.

Gather information. To prove that your Worksite Health Promotion Program is advantageous, establish a benchmark before the program begins. You may wish to look at employee satisfaction, absenteeism rates, stress levels, drug costs or WCB expenses. Review what workplace facilities are available to support employees to make healthy choices such as showers and change areas or a secure place to store a bicycle. Review employee needs through a survey or questionnaire, suggestion box or focus group. Communicate the outcome.

Organize the plan to reflect the information gathered. Include program objectives, activities and how you are intend to measure whether your objectives were met. Keep the plan flexible. You may have to change direction in response to employee feedback or changes in the company’s structure.

Obtain senior staff approval. Support for employee time and a budget are needed.

Put activities in place. Offer a variety of activities that create awareness, increase knowledge, cultivate skills, and offer social interaction. (Activities could include walking clubs, participation in national campaigns such as Company Wellness Programs Week, SummerActive, WinterActive, corporate challenge, golf days, and newsletters that offer information about neighborhood resources.) Workplaces can also make it easier for staff members to make healthy choices by providing flextime to allow staff members to fit exercise in when it is convenient or by subsidizing programs in cooperation with neighborhood or private fitness facilities. A policy on catering for meetings has the potential to ensure that healthy foods are offered.

Evaluate the plan. Share your successes with others, learn from your mistakes and modify activities.

A wellness program doesn’t have to be complicated or a huge expenditure. Just do it. Obtain backing from management, bring a few committed people together to generate some ideas and get started.

How does it feel to walk into your worksite? Do people look happy? Is the place illuminated and cheerful? Do you feel welcome, wanted and energized? Or do you feel a dark cloud come over you, and count the hours until you are able to leave?
The power of the workplace environment on the wellbeing and health of employees is profound. First there is the physical look, feel, smell, and sounds of the place. Then you’re affected by the policies, like whether others are allowed to light up around you. As time passes, more subtle factors start to affect you. Do your attempts to adopt a healthier lifestyle get recognized at work, or are they sabotaged? Are your managers inspiring you by being healthy role models? Do you get regular opportunities to learn healthier behaviors?
In a supportive environment, workers feel that the employer they work for supports them with encouragement, opportunity, and rewards for healthy lifestyles. And the spirit that results is highly contagious. Workers who feel cared are naturally more loyal and constructive.
The following ideas will help you change your workplace environment into one that truly supports the wellness of your employees and business.

Employee Health Promotion Program Ideas for Creating Supportive Environments

Wellness Friendly Facilities

When you arrive at a workplace, do you feel comfortable? Could you be happy working there? Is there sufficient light and clean air? Are there pleasant work areas, places to eat decent meals, take a walk before lunch? Close your eyes. How does it smell? Sound? Do the staff members have sufficient space?
• Vending machines with healthy meal choices like low-fat milk, fruits, sugar-free and caffeine-free beverages and low-calorie snacks
• Workout area, walking paths, playing fields, basketball hoop, or other exercise opportunities worksite or nearby
• Cafeteria offers healthy foods that may include a salad bar with low-fat dressing
• Natural light is used whenever possible; all lighting is appropriate and adequate
• Heating and ventilation is adjustable, comfortable and healthful
• No cigarette machines, ashtrays, or smoking areas onsite
• Noise levels are safe and conducive to concentration
• Work station furniture conforms to ergometric standards
• Safety risks have been eliminated
• Lockers and showers are available for employees who work out before work or during breaks
• Stairs are clean and well lit, convenient and pleasant to use
Familiarity can make it difficult to evaluate a worksite. People get used to stressful conditions and forget that conditions ever bothered them. It may be useful to ask people who are unfamiliar with your workplace to walk through with you. Professional consultants can also assist.

Proactive Wellness Policies

One clear way to influence behavior is through policies and procedures. If nurses aren’t allowed to work more than twelve hours consecutively, there will be less medication errors. If parents are given flextime to address their children’s needs, they’ll be less stressed. If workers are able to apply unused sick days to planned vacation time, they’ll save them up instead of calling in sick to use them all.

Supportive corporate policies may include:

• Seat Belt use demanded in employer vehicles
• Drug and alcohol policies are relevant to the industry
• Emergency procedures are developed, known, and practiced
• Flexible work schedules allow staff members to exercise, attend children’s school conferences, etc.
• Nonsmoking policy is enforced
• Excessive overtime is discouraged
• Membership at fitness facility is partially reimbursed
• Shift staff members are scheduled to allow adequate rest
• Healthcare Costs coverage rewards great health
• Absenteeism policy rewards workers who don’t use sick days
• EAP available to help workers with chemical dependencies, depression, family issues
• Meaningful consequences are given for unsafe, unhealthy, prohibited behavior.  Your organization may have a policy concerning alcohol use during work hours, but if everyone looks the other way when someone comes back from lunch smelling like beer, the culture is one that permits drinking at lunch-and one in which written policies are able to be safely ignored. Prohibited behaviors must be confronted promptly. Otherwise your policies remain mere lip service instead of springboards to health.

Consistent Recognition And Rewards For Success

Attention, praise, and rewards are given for wellness achievements.
You are able to show you value the Workplace Wellness Programs by celebrating your programs and those who have made lifestyle improvements in corporation newsletters, on bulletin boards, and at yearly banquets, gatherings, and celebrations. Incentives are a direct way to show appreciation, too.
Wellness mentors are sought and applauded, too. Staff Members who support others’ efforts to better their health are noticed and appreciated. Peer modeling and mentoring classes are able to bolster those who enjoy assisting others to step forward into a new role.

Managers Model And Support Healthy Behavior

Nothing could say “We promote you to exercise frequently” better than a manager going on a bike ride during the lunch hour–or your supervisor sitting next to you in a weight management class. Wellness activities promote relaxed interaction between people from different departments and at different echelons in the chain of command. That promotes relaxed communication and a feeling of solidarity that is pure gold.
Managers are able to also provide support for employees who are working on improving their health. It doesn’t take anything fancy-just a “good job” or “nice to see you at the health club” is able to put a glow on the cheeks of most of us.
Managers are able to also help by allowing staff members the flexibility to catch wellness events.

Ongoing Employee Health Promotion Programs

It’s valuable to give workers the sense that the wellness program is a permanent and valuable part of the employer, not a employer fad. That can start as soon as a new employee is hired.
New workers are oriented to the wellness program as one of the employee benefits. Information about the program must be presented by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable person who invites the new employee to participate.
The employees are familiar with the ongoing wellness programs.
The wellness programs and wellness coordinator are well known in the organization. Opportunities to participate are abundant and it’s simple to sign up.
A wide variety of awareness classes are provided. There are subject matters of interest for everyone.