Building a Wellness Program.

There’s no single right way to approach wellness programs but winning programs share common success factors. These include commitment from management, worker involvement, adequate resources, and a policy on health that goes hand in hand with the corporation’s mission, vision and values.

Wellness Program –  A Range of Approaches

Although the goal is to eventually have a long-term, extensive wellness program, some companies prefer to begin with a single program at a basic level.

For  instance, the first steps can be as simple as offering lunch-hour sessions on first aid or healthful eating; or they could launch a pilot project to find out how interested staff members are to ensure staff members needs are being met before taking on anything more ambitious.

This approach provides a chance to show the impact on staff members and the workplace so management will be more willing to consider a bigger and more far-reaching strategy.

Other companies plan a variety of programs to meet the needs of the different types of people  that make up their workforce. and some decide to develop a sound business case, complete with a health strategy, before trying any kind of program.

Businesses want to ensure that a new program is fully integrated with their overall company vision and mission.

Wellness Program –  Success Factors

Whether your company chooses to think large from the outset or to begin with something smaller, always keep in mindthe following key success factors –

• support and participation from management;

• staff member involvement in planning;

• programs that meet employee needs;

• a realistic budget; and

• continuous review.

In sports, a game plan is a series of steps that a team must follow to accomplish its goal of winning. Most winning teams plan to win. Organizations also need game plans, even when they don’t call them by that name.

Good planning will help to ensure that your wellness program happens the way you want it to, and that costs may be identified in advance and kept within budget. Good planning avoids small problems from becoming bigger.

Steps in Planning a Wellness Program

Obtain management support. You could need to create a company case to convince managers that the wellness program is a company strategy-that employee health and job satisfaction affects their productivity. Employees need to see evidence that  upper management believes in and is committed to employee health.

Establish a planning committee. Members can include representatives from worker groups as well as from human resources (HR), health and safety, and communications.

Collect information. to prove that your program is beneficial, establish a benchmark before the program begins. You could wish to look at staff member satisfaction, absenteeism rates, stress levels, drug costs or WCB expenses.

Assess what workplace facilities are available to support workers to make healthful choices like showers and change areas or a secure place to store a bike. Assess worker needs through a recent survey or questionnaire, suggestion box or focus group. Communicate the results.

Create the plan to reflect the information collected. Include program objectives, activities and how you are going to measure whether your objectives were met.

Keep the plan flexible. You might have to change direction in response to worker feedback or changes in the corporation’s structure.

Get management approval. Support for staff time and a budget are needed.

Put activities in place. Offer a variety of activities that create awareness, increase knowledge, create skills, and provide social interaction.

Activities could include walking clubs, participation in national campaigns like Corporate Wellness Week, SummerActive, WinterActive, corporate challenge, golf days, and newsletters that provide information about community resources.

Workplaces can also make it easier for workers to make healthful options by providing flextime to allow workers to fit activity in when it’s convenient or by subsidizing programs in cooperation with community or private fitness facilities. A policy on catering for meetings can ensure that healthful foods are offered.

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

A wellness program does not have to be complicated or a huge investment. Just do it. Get support from management, bring a few committed individuals  together to generate some ideas and get started.