Corporate wellness is evolving.

Early efforts to develop healthy workplaces focused on safety at the workplace and injury avoidance for employees.

More recently, health promotion programs are designed to assist workforce to select healthier behaviours like being more physically active or quitting tobacco use.

Campaigns to raise awareness, educational sessions to raise knowledge, opportunities to learn new skills, and changes to policies to make it easier for employees to make healthful choices are often included.

This approach is taken because the workplace is a good way to reach people , since most adult American Citizens spend a large part of their day at work.

While safety and lifestyle programs are two aspects that contribute to the health of personnel, company health promotion is more effective when a third factor is brought into the equation

Ideally, you’ll develop an overall plan for a wellness program before starting to plan specific wellness programs. for  instance, you can start by getting the following elements in place -

o  support from upper 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 evaluation plan

Even if you’ve few financial and/or HR, you can still take a “micro” approach. for example, you may 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 wellness programs. Even the smallest steps can have an impact.

Whether you select to start with a single health promotion program or develop something larger, planning is essential. First think about the big 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 workers and organization?

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

In a average workplace, personnel get information from e-mail, newsletters, bulletins, pamphlets, meeting announcements and fellow personnel.

o  Deliver. Who is the best individuals or group to put the wellness program into action? Ask other organizations 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  building and communicating clear wellness program objectives

o  Targeting your audience

o  determining on the kind of health promotion program or campaign

The Elements of Wellness Programming

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

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

Taking a broader 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 staff members to keep snacks and meals fresh and/or healthful snacks in vending machines and cafeterias.

o  Ergonomic assessments.

o  Subsidies to help staff members join local recreation centers.

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

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

o  Analyzing 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, in addition to ways of doing business, can affect an employee’s mental and physical health. Companies 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  staff member 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 employee 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

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

o  ”Lunch and learn sessions” on healthy habits like sleeping better, consuming on the run, healthy 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 personnel quit.

o  Health risk assessments, including fitness assessments.

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

o  Healthy snacks served at meetings and conferences.

Personal Corporate Wellness Tips

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

Here are several ideas to think about -

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

o  Eat well at work. Pack a healthful 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 coworkers’ snacks. Order healthful snacks for meetings.

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

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

There’s no limit to the number or variety of health promotion 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 determine what works well for them. Listen to your colleagues to determine their needs and interests.  And do not forget to promote, promote, promote.

Many corporations recognize the need for a robust strategy to help their staff be the best they can 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 broad range of key elements, including -

o  A clear agenda or statement of goals.

o  A plan characterized by passion.

o  An effective leader who is creative and organized.

o  A focus on short-term outcomes combined with an overall vision.

o  A measurable strategy (what’s important gets measured!).

o  A policy of celebrating and communicating success.

Planning Your Health Promotion Program

Plan carefully to ensure that your wellness program is seen as part of a broad commitment to maintaining the safety and health of all personnel. Yes, building a good plan takes a lot of effort and time (and sometimes resources).

But planning is essential and well worth the investment required.  As the saying goes, “failing to plan is planning to fail.”

You might begin by conducting a recent survey of staff member needs and interests. When you take this route, pay attention to the results and plan hence. When you don’t, the workforce will not support the wellness program.

Accumulating information about what you’re already offering is also a good idea. for example, you might be surprised by your business or corporation’s current wellness and health policies.

Another important step is to establish an agenda and/or measurable goals to help you determine priorities, timelines and the resources required to launch the health promotion program. be bold and creative in your planning, but also realistic.

Leadership

The leader of your wellness program ought to be able to wear many hats.  The leader’s duties include -

o  Creating a vision of the health promotion program after receiving input from all interested staff members.

o  Communicating ideas and a rationale throughout the company (to senior managers and fellow staff members alike).

o  Keeping others enthusiastic about and committed to a wellness program.

o  Serving as a role model and wellness coach.

o  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 at the beginning so that you get immediate and visible results.

These first steps are the basis for a successful health promotion program.

Good leaders involve as many individuals  as possible in the wellness program. for  instance, you’ll want to form a committee made up of a diverse group of workforce to provide advice during the planning phase. This approach will -

o  Be certain to help you to obtain valuable information from all parts of the business.

o  Create ambassadors who will help you implement the health promotion program.

Keeping Score and Celebrating

Always rememberhow you’ll monitor progress and evaluate the success of your wellness program. Investigation allows you to -

o  Identify areas of excellence.

o  Identify factors that affect participation in your wellness programs.

o  Gain management’s support for your efforts (and maintain that support).

o  Better understand issues that need attention.

o  Learn from mistakes and change the wellness program to keep it on the right track.

When you evaluate your health promotion program, you can measure such things as -

o  Employee absences.

o  Staff Member turnover rates.

o  The price of your worker assistance program.

o  The cost of benefits, including short-term and long-term disability payments.

o  The price of your drug plan.

o  Accident rates and safety records.

o  Employees’ participation in wellness programs (and whether they’re staying in the wellness programs).

o  Changes in employees’ health habits.

o  Level of employees’ awareness of healthy lifestyle issues.

o  Results of your environmental wellness audit.

o  Other noticeable changes in areas like morale and job satisfaction.

A good communications plan provides ongoing information to workers (including upper managers) and fosters excitement about the health promotion program.

Positive reinforcement is part of an effective communications plan. for example, you might recognize people who’ve helped set up the health promotion program or offer tangible rewards for achieving goals.

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

When you pay attention to the key elements of your health promotion program and communicate openly and continuously while planning and delivering it, you’ll lay a solid foundation and leave a legacy that lasts.

Exactly how does physical activity fit into a full-time worker’s busy schedule? All too often, it doesn’t.

One possible solution to this challenge is to make exercise a part of the work day. Obviously, being active at work is advantageous for staff members.

But businesss also benefit from having fit, energetic and healthful staff members who are more productive.

The challenges

Your job takes up a lot of your time. In addition to the hours you spend actually working, there’s the time required to get to and from work and take lunch and rest breaks during the work day.

In the end, there are a not many hours left over for the rest of your life. This work life imbalance is namely true for Alberta, where statistics show that we work exceptionally hard.

A lot of jobs today are sedentary, and many American Citizens drive to work.  The pressures of work might 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.

Health Promotion Programs –  Get started on a worksite fitness program

Management 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 healthful active living.

Start by talking to your boss about the benefits of a healthful active worksite.  The best way to ensure the success of a worksite fitness program is to have the upper-level management on side and cheering you on.

Ask your boss to consider taking these actions -

o  Send a memo or message about the importance of health and healthy living that encourages staff to take an active break each day.

o  Give for flexible work hours that help staff to be more physically active. for example, they might need to take a longer lunch break to attend an exercise class, making up the time by coming to work early or staying late.

o  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.

When your boss agrees to support a worksite fitness program, don’t forget to say thanks.

You do not need an onsite fitness center

Only very big companies can afford onsite fitness facilities such as exercise equipment or squash courts. Still, most employers can take other affordable steps to support employees who wish to become more active.

For  instance -

o  Arrange for discounted fees for workers at a health club, recreation centeror YMCA facility.

o  Install showers and a place to hang a towel. (Make certain the showers are cleaned regularly and that women who use them will feel secure.)

o  Install bike racks or a locked enclosure that is safe, conveniently located and well lighted.

o  Hold walking meetings and set up lunch-hour walking groups

o  Make staff cognizant of safe and pleasant walking routes near the workplace, in addition to nearby facilities that offer exercise plans (like walking, swimming, running, yoga, stretching).

o  Hire a certified instructor to teach staff about health, fitness and how to become more active.

Any size and kind of worksite can support workers who wish to be physically active. It is highly desirable to get senior management on side.

Even if your boss isn’t supportive, you can still find ways to get moving more. Make sure to set up activities for groups and individuals, and encourage your coworkers to join in.

We all know that physical activity is an important part of health and well-being. But sometimes it’s hard to find time for physical activity.

Lack of time is the number one barrier that people  say avoids them from participating in exercise on a regular basis.

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

Also, there are numerous ways busy individuals  can use to be more active. These strategies include -

o  multi-tasking

o  being active at work

o  being active with loved ones

o  scheduling activity into daily life

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

Read on to take a look at strategies you can try. With enough commitment, some of them are sure to work for you.

Strategy #1 –  Multi-tasking

The first strategy you can attempt 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 exercise at the same time.

For example, you’re already travelling to work and other places. Instead of taking the automobile or the bus every time, attempt using active methods of transportation like biking, skating, walking and skateboarding.

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

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

You can also get exercise while doing housework and chores.

When you’re working around home, attempt to be creative and look for the active option. for  instance, when you’re cleaning the crack between the fridge and the counter, why not move the fridge so you can 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 are generally more active. for example, use a snow shovel rather than a snow blower.

Strategy #2 –  be Active at Work

A lot of Americans spend eight hours a day or more working at a sedentary job. Here are several simple ways to keep your body moving during the workday.

The physical activity will revitalize you and help you be more productive.

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

Take active breaks at least once a 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 in lieu of the elevator whenever you can.  The stairs in your building are an opportunity to get your heart pumping.

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

Strategy #3 –  be Active With Your Loved Ones

Do exercise 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 exercise that you all need to be healthful.

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

Many community facilities offer courses that keep you and your kids active at the same time. Research these courses and take one or two.

You can even be active when you are watching your kids do activities without you. for example, when your child plays hockey, take the opportunity to walk up and down the stairs in the stands several times.

When you feel self-conscious about doing it alone, why not gather a group of parents to do it together?

Strategy #4 –  Schedule Exercise into Your Day

Schedule your exercise directly into your daytimer. Be certain to set a specific time and place for exercising. Make your exercise appointments a priority, just as important as any other appointment you put in your daytimer.

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

If you are not sure how many appointments to make or what you must be doing during your appointments, attempt consulting with a fitness trainer. A fitness trainer can help you develop a physical activity plan and schedule.

The bottom line –  figure out what works best for you. Experiment with the strategies. Find inspiration by talking to other people  about how they keep active and what strategies they use.

Be creative and patient while you find out what strategies work best for you.  And be aware that your “best strategy” may change from time to time.

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

o  Commit to workplace exercise in policy statements and commit funding to exercise initiatives.

o  Clearly communicating the advantages of being physically active during the workday reinforces the organization’s commitment to helping all workers be active.

Use meetings, bulletin boards, newsletters and e-mail to reach as many staff as possible at least once a year.

o  Offer flex time for physical activity. Invite employees who actively commute to work or exercise at lunch to make up any missed time later in the day.

o  Allow staff to work part time, so that they can participate in exercise.

o  Include a exercise account in your benefit plan to pay for or subsidize fitness memberships, assessments, classes, counselling or instruction.

o  Give interest-free loans for personnel to buy bikes or good walking shoes/runners.

o  Conduct periodic surveys of staff physical activity preferences, and offer a variety of options to suit those interests and needs.

o  Hire licensed people  to lead stretch breaks or physical activity programs or classes. for help in locating accredited fitness leaders, visit Alberta’s Provincial Fitness Unit.

o  Recognize employees who participate in physical activity. Survey employees first to determine how they prefer to be recognized, e.g., through organization newsletters, appreciation lunches, rewards and/or thank you notes.

o  Provide child care and other family-friendly amenities during physical activities that occur after work.

o  Avoid scheduling meetings over lunch.

o  Be sure to encourage active breaks instead of coffee breaks.

o  Have active fundraisers rather than bingos. for example, staff members might climb the Calgary Tower stairs or take turns riding a stationary bike for 24 hours.

o  Make birthday celebrations active times. Instead of a lunch, invite the birthday individuals to select an activity. Options could include a session with a yoga teacher or an evening ski trip.

o  Promote a casual dress day. One study found that workforce who dress casually were more physically active.

o  Make certain that your building’s stairwells are clean, attractive and safe, and post signs encouraging workforce to use the stairs.

o  Establish a wellness newsletter or intranet.

o  Promote the Activity Tracker and encourage staff to track their physical activity every week.

o  be creative, and make the most of the workspace you have. for  instance, 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.

o  Make available physical activity opportunities at different times to accommodate night-, shift-, and part-time staff members.

o  For staff in remote or satellite offices, offer equal access to key health promotion programs via the intranet. Adapt challenges to suit their environment and take benefit of local facilities and resources.

o  Make physical activity available to employees with special needs. Adapt information and activities for any staff who are visually impaired or physically disabled as well as for individuals  who speak English as a second language.

o  Educate staff about exercise using information from reputable sources like the Alberta Center for Active Living.

o  Give facilities that invite onsite exercise. Possibilities include bicycle racks, an exercise room, change rooms with lockers and showers, and safe and attractive grounds for walking.

o  Hold walking meetings.

o  Make sure to encourage staff to walk to coworkers’ offices instead of e-mailing or phoning.

o  Be sure to 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.

o  Provide incentives such as shoe bags, ball caps, T-shirts or water bottles to reward staff participation.

o  Loan out pedometers for three months, so that staff can determine how many steps they typically take and how much activity they need to add to get basic health benefits.

o  Make space for employees to plant and maintain a flowerbed or garden at the worksite. Use any resulting produce for meetings and potluck lunches or donate it to charity.

o  Plan a worksite health fair.

o  Hire a licensed fitness expert to design and manage an onsite workout facility.

o  Supply workers with active wear that shows off the company logo.

o  Organize a launch event to develop excitement about upcoming activities and to develop a social climate that establishes being active as the norm.

o  Organize and promote monthly or bi-monthly organization events that are fun and active, e.g., picnics with physical games, staff tournaments and dragon boat racing.

Be certain to encourage families to join in by including all-ages events such as relay races, soccer matches, bocce ball and baseball games.

o  Begin a swim club at a local pool. Invite groups of employees to swim the distance of a nearby lake. Convert kilometres to lengths and reward employees who complete the swim.

Be sure to set up a challenge between workforce and managers to see who covers the greatest distance.

o  Post a sign-up board where staff can enroll in a group or find a buddy to take part in activities of interest.

o  Arrange a organization badminton tournament that lasts several months, with each staff member playing once a week. Post the results as the tournament progresses.

o  Organize an office Olympics, World Cup, Wimbledon or Masters Games. Invite teams to compete in a few activities over a month. Reward everyone who participates.

o  Create a point system in which one minute of activity equals one point. Make sure to set a target, and post a chart where all workers can track their points. Reward the first group to reach that target.

o  Co-ordinate a stair climb challenge. Post a chart at the top of the stairwell, and encourage staff members to track the number of flights of stairs they climb each workday.

Be sure to set up teams, and award a prize to the first team to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest.

o  Post and promote a sign-up board for lunchtime walking groups.

o  Organize a walk “across the U.S. ” Select a route, figure out how many steps it’d take to walk that distance and challenge workers 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. Be certain to set up a challenge between staff members and managers to see who can walk across the United States  first.

o  Co-ordinate a walk to work club. Acknowledge personnel who either walk to work or walk to public transit.

o  Have a volunteer group leader guide weekly lunchtime power walks.

o  Coordinate 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 could compete with each other and with management.

o  Challenge workforce to walk 10,000 steps a day. Purchase pedometers for all participating workforce or, when you can’t afford that, make pedometers available at a reduced rate.

Give tips for increasing daily steps, and reward staff members who succeed.

There is no single right way to approach health promotion programs but winning health promotion programs share common success factors. These include commitment from management, employee 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

Despite the fact that the goal is to eventually have a long-term, robust health promotion program, some businesses 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 might launch a pilot project to find out how interested staff are to ensure staff needs are being met before taking on anything more ambitious.

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

Other companies plan a selection of health promotion programs to meet the needs of the different types of individuals  that make up their workforce.  And some decide to create a sound company case, complete with a health strategy, before trying any kind of health promotion program.

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

Health Promotion Program –  Success Factors

Whether your company chooses to think big from the outset or to start with something smaller, always rememberthe following key success factors -

o  support and participation from management;

o  staff member involvement in planning;

o  health promotion programs that meet employee needs;

o  A realistic budget; and

o  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 health promotion program happens the way you want it to, and that costs can be identified in advance and kept within budget. Good planning avoids small problems from becoming bigger.

Steps in Creating a Wellness Program

Obtain executive management support. You might need to create a corporation case to convince managers that the health promotion program is a corporation strategy

Precisely how does it feel to walk into your workplace? Do people  look happy? is the place well lit and cheerful? Do you feel welcome, wanted and energized? Or do you feel a gloom come over you, and count the hours until you can leave?

The influence of the workplace environment on the wellness of personnel 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 permitted to smoke around you.

After awhile, more subtle factors begin 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 behavior?

In a supportive environment, staff members feel that the organization they work for provides them with encouragement, opportunity, and rewards for healthy life choices.

And the spirit that results is highly contagious. Employees who feel cared are naturally more loyal and productive.

The following ideas will help you transform your worksite environment into one that truly supports the wellness of your workers and organization.

Health Promotion Program Ideas for Creating Supportive Environments

Wellness Friendly Facilities

When you enter a workplace, do you feel comfortable? Could you be happy working there? is there enough light and clean air? Are there pleasant work areas, places to eat decent food, take a walk before lunch? Close your eyes. Precisely how does it smell? Sound? Do the workers have enough space?

There’s no doubt that our physical environment affects us, from basic safety matters to subtle factors that could cause  or reduce stress. Healthful environments often have these features -

o  Vending machines with healthful food choices like low-fat milk, fruits, sugar-free and caffeine-free beverages and low-calorie snacks

o  Workout area, walking paths, playing fields, basketball hoop, or other exercise opportunities onsite or nearby

o  Cafeteria offers healthy foods including a salad bar with low-fat dressing

o  Natural light is used whenever possible; all lighting is appropriate and adequate

o  Heating and ventilation is adjustable, comfortable and healthy

o  No cigarette machines, ashtrays, or smoking areas onsite

o  Noise levels are safe and conducive to concentration

o  Be sure to work station furniture conforms to ergometric standards

o  Safety hazards have been eliminated

o  Lockers and showers are available for personnel who workout before work or during breaks

o  Stairs are clean and well lit, convenient and pleasant to use

Familiarity could make it hard to evaluate a worksite. People  get used to stressful conditions and forget that conditions ever bothered them.

It might be useful to ask people  who are unfamiliar with your worksite to walk through with you. Specialist advisors can also help.

Proactive Health Promotion Policies

One clear way to influence behavior is through policies and procedures. If nurses are not allowed to work more than twelve hours in a row, there are going to be fewer medication errors.

If parents are allowed flextime to attend to their children’s needs, they’ll be less stressed. If staff can apply unused sick days to planned vacation time, they’ll save them up in lieu of calling in sick to use them all.

Supportive corporate policies might include -

o  Seatbelt use required in business cars

o  Drug and alcohol policies are appropriate to the industry

o  Emergency procedures are developed, known, and practiced

o  Flexible work schedules allow workers to exercise, attend children’s school conferences, etc.

o  Nonuse of tobacco policy is enforced

o  Excessive overtime is discouraged

o  Membership at exercise facility is partially reimbursed

o  Shift workers are scheduled to allow adequate rest

o  Medical care coverage rewards good health

o  Absenteeism policy rewards staff who don’t use sick days

o  Staff Member assistance program available to help workers with chemical dependencies, depression, family problems

o  Meaningful consequences are given for unsafe, unhealthy, prohibited behavior.  Your business may have a policy against alcohol use during work hours, but when everybody 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 can be safely ignored.

Prohibited behaviors must be confronted promptly. Otherwise your policies become mere lip service in lieu of springboards to health.

Consistent Recognition and Rewards for Success

Attention, praise, and rewards are given for wellness achievements.

You can show you value wellness by celebrating your health promotion programs and those who’ve made lifestyle improvements in corporation newsletters, on bulletin boards, and at annual banquets, meetings, and celebrations. Incentives are a direct way to show appreciation, too.

Health Promotion mentors are sought and applauded, too. Employees who support others’ efforts to improve their health are noticed and appreciated. Colleague modeling and mentoring courses can encourage those who enjoy helping others to step forward into a new role.

Managers Model and Support Healthful Behavior

Nothing could say “We encourage you to exercise often” better than a manager going on a bicycle ride during the lunch hour–or your supervisor sitting next to you in a weight control class.

Wellness activities promote relaxed interaction between individuals  from different departments and at different levels in the chain of command. That promotes relaxed communication and a feeling of solidarity that is pure gold.

Managers can also provide support for workers who are working on bettering their health. It doesn’t take anything fancy-just a “good job” or “nice to see you at the health and fitness center” can put a glow on the cheeks of most of us.

Managers can also help by authorizing personnel the flexibility to attend wellness events.

Ongoing Wellness Programs

It is vital that you give employees the sense that the wellness program is a permanent and important part of the company, not a company fad. That can begin as soon as a new staff member is hired.

New personnel are oriented to the health promotion program as one of the worker benefits. Information about the health promotion program ought to be presented by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable individuals who invites the new worker to participate.

The workers are familiar with the ongoing wellness programs.

The health promotion programs and wellness staff are well known in the corporation. Opportunities to participate are abundant and it’s easy to sign up.

A broad variety of awareness classes are offered. There are topics of interest for everyone.