Winston Salem WellnessWinston Salem Wellness – Winston Salem Health Promotion

The Company Wellness Program Committee must set out a plan for the entire year that outlines accomplishing goals and objectives, as well as supplies details for marketing and evaluating the program. The plan is the detailed map of what types of programs will be available, when and where they will be scheduled, how they will be marketed and evaluated, and what the budget is.  It is valuable to plan your wellness activities based on your goals and objectives, as well as the budget since different strategies will provide different outcomes.  By way of example, if your intention is to broaden awareness on a topic, then distributing handouts or scheduling a one-time class may be appropriate.  Still, if your objective is to change behavior, then different strategies may be necessary, such as ongoing weekly meetings and support groups.  Click here to link to Program Design Options for additional ideas.

Company Health Promotion Program Marketing

This is the time to plan your marketing strategies!  How can you market the wellness program and ongoing activities?  No matter how you decide to, market often, keep it fresh, and remind workers over and over!  Consider having an overall kickoff exercise to inform everyone of the wellness program.  Senior Management should offer the introduction or invitation so that all workers are knowledgeable about their backing and leadership in the program.

Possible marketing methods:

• Distributing email messages, including reminders
• Develop bulletins,
• Displaying bulletin board postings,
• Composing articles,
• Mailing letters or
• Sending special invitations.  

Other Corporate Health Promotion Program Considerations:

• Is the Corporate Health Promotion Program promoted to all staff members or to a specific group?
• Do you have a Workplace Health Promotion Program champion (someone who is associated with different groups in the organization, and well respected) who can help in your promotion efforts?
• If your marketing efforts don’t seem to be working, do you have a way to revisit and change your plan?
• How will you determine success and evaluate your program?  And how will you gather the information necessitated to evaluate your program?  

Topics most frequently included in Company Health Promotion Programs:

• Nutrition
• Physical Activity/Exercise
• Tobacco Use Cessation
• Bone Health
• Heart Health
• Healthy Back
• Stress Reduction
• Chronic Disease Awareness & Prevention
• Self-care; Wise Healthcare Consumer
• Screening Services (BMI, Blood Pressure, bone density, cholesterol, glucose, posture, vision, and other…)
• Ergonomic Assessments
• Health Fairs
• Kids/family Events
• Others subject matters that workers have interest in  

The issues and type of Employee Health Promotion Program planned depend on the needs and interest, overall intention and resources available.  Program Design Options   include awareness programs such as brochures and/or education sessions, behavior change programs such as tobacco cessation and weight loss classes, and environmental or business support such as no smoking policies or healthy selections in snack machines.  

The programs planned also depend on the demographics of your workforce.  If you have a young, healthy workforce, you may want to focus the wellness attention on keeping employees healthy and not need to screen for disease.  Instead you might want to focus on healthy lifestyle behavior such as exercise and great diet to prevent the on-set of disease.  Click here for more information on strategies for keeping employees well, identifying disease early, or returning employees to work who already have a chronic conditions.

It is also valuable to consider, and plan how you will evaluate the performance of your wellness program.  The system needs to be determined for tracking certain data and recording events depending on the program objectives.  Step 7 discusses program assessment in more detail.   And Step 6 will launch your program!

A Workplace Health Promotion Program without objectives and goals is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you won’t know where you’re going, how to get there, what you want to do once you have arrived, or even whether or not you have arrived!  The trip may end up ok, or it may end up disastrously.  Yet, with a bit of thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a efficacious experience.  Clear objectives and goals are required to plan your wellness program in order to ensure success!

Wellness program objectives and goals are different from one business to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources.  Still, well thought out objectives based on your company’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a efficacious wellness program!

Company Wellness Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Company Wellness Program. The mission statement is the overall expression of what the Company Wellness Program Committee wants to accomplish by launching a wellness program.  It is significant to consider how your Company Wellness Program fits in with the organization mission statement, contributes to the overall mission and supports the organization bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the organization operations.  

Here are some examples of Company Wellness Program mission statements:

“At XYZ Corporation, maintaining an environment that supports employee health and safety is our underlying value.  It is the mission of the Worksite Wellness Program to support  in planning Worksite Wellness Program services that fosters and upholds that value.”

“It is the mission of the XYZ Workplace Wellness Program Committee to advance healthier lifestyle choices to decrease health risk factors, better central wellbeing, and maintain a productive, active work force.”

Company Wellness Program Goals

The goals further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment.  Depending on the needs assessment, management expectations and employee interests, examples of goals can include:

The goal(s) of XYZ Workplace Wellness Program in year XXXX is to:  (one or more of the following examples)

• Reduce absenteeism by one day per employee
• Cut down on musculoskeletal injuries by 10 percent
• Decrease unnecessary emergency room visits
• Lower or contain medical care costs
• Improve dietary habits of employees
• Cut down on health risk factors  

Employee Health Promotion Program Objectives

Specific Employee Wellness Program objectives help meet your long-term objectives.  Both short term and long term objectives must be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the objectives.  In addition to objectives for the expected participant outcomes, process objectives must also be developed for the program process itself.  For example, process objectives may include how many staff members you want to take part in the programs, how many sessions on a topic will be provided, the type of wellness sessions that will be implemented, etc.

Objectives need to be easily measurable within a set time frame.  Try using the SMART formula to establish both your long and short-term goals:

• Specific (one behavior or outcome)
• Measurable (one result that can be inspected or evaluated),
• Attainable (but also challenging),
• Realistic (do you have the resources to achieve?), and
• Time specific (within 3 months – up to 5 years)  

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  By way of example, the mission for a weight loss program that has an overriding objective of improving healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that:

Participants (who) will lose an average of .5 – 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) at the end of the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per participant (attainable and realistic).

Or:

Members (who) will go to 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier eating change at the end of the program (specific what, when, where)

An example of an intention for coaching workers with high cholesterol might be:

To lower the total cholesterol (specific what) of high risk workers with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions provided at the worksite (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic & time specific when) to lower the risk factor for heart disease (why).  

And one last example of a process objective for a smoking cessation program with an overall intention to assist  participants in committing to quit for life:

By the end of the 4-week smoking cessation program, ten% of the participants will have quit smoking.  Each attendant will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process goal) and ten% of those who quit will still be tobacco-free after one year.

You have now completed Steps 1 through 4, including instituting your Corporate Health Promotion Program Committee.  It is now time to plan your wellness activities!

Before you start drafting your Company Health Promotion Program you need to know where you are now and then decide where you want to go.  Completing a thorough needs assessment is vital to the performance of your wellness program for two reasons:  First it ensures that your Company Health Promotion Program activities will be targeted to meet your company’s specific needs so that outcomes have the potential to be achieved.  Secondly the needs assessment supplies the information you will need to evaluate the effectiveness of your wellness program.

It is often tempting to rush the assessment – especially when time is short or those with experience already have an idea of needs.  Do not give in to this temptation!  It is vital that you know what your business needs are, what upper management expects, and what employees want as well as expect, before you create a Workplace Health Promotion Program.  

Consider and gather data on:

• Employee Demographic Information
• Employee Health Risk Factors
• Medical Claims
• Injury Rates & Causes
• Workers’ Compensation Claims
• Short and Long Term Disability Claims
• Absenteeism
• Corporation Culture Audits
• Employee perceived needs and health risks
• Senior Leadership’s expectations or desired outcomes

There are many ways to evaluate this information.  Although some of data gathering process may be time consuming, remember that it is nonetheless critical to plan programs that target specific problems.  This information will be critical to set objectives and goals and for evaluating program effectiveness.  How else can you know if outcomes have been achieved?

Options to help gather the information:

• Confidential Health Risk Appraisals (HRAs) with a Company Group Summary Report
• Wellness Screenings such as cholesterol, Blood Pressure and blood glucose click here for additional information on health screenings.
• Employee Needs and Interest Surveys
• Suggestion boxes placed around the organization
• Focus Groups or hosting a luncheon meeting as a focus group
• Sending out a confidential email questionnaire
• Review records and databases including OSHA logs, first aid reports, insurance expenditures  

Once your needs assessment is complete, the Employee Wellness Program Committee can review the outcome and begin organizing and prioritizing program options.  Beginning ought to be based on goals and objectives and identified outcomes, Step 4 of the seven step process!

Organizing an active Workplace Wellness Program Committee provides opportunities for both senior staff and employee participation in the program.  The Committee ought to be a team of workers and managers who formally meet to plan activities to encourage healthier employee lifestyles.

Typical Functions of a Worksite Wellness Program Committee:

• Evaluating needs & interests
• Brainstorming program ideas
• Beginning activities
• Implementing communication plans
• Promoting programs to co-workers
• Serving as champions of the Corporate Health Promotion Programs
• Assisting with evaluation  

Your Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee should be representative of all echelons of the business.  Consider all sections of the workforce – multiple sites, shift staff members, diversity (race, gender, ethnicity), and departments.   It’s also valuable to consider who will chair or co-chair the Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee and whether or not there are the finances to support a Workplace Health Promotion Program manager or occupational health professional, even on a part-time or contractual basis.  Click here for more information on the benefits of a health professional.  

Depending on your employer size and resources, if you already have a employer Safety Committee you may want to think about making it the Safety & Employee Wellness Program Committee.  You have the potential to request volunteers or invite employees to take part.  

The number of Worksite Wellness Program Committee members depends on the size of your employer; however, you need a sufficient number of members to get the work done and yet not too many to keep it manageable, usually at least 4 members and maximum of 12 to 15 members.  It’s valuable to include skeptics of wellness as well and not just those employees already practicing healthy lifestyles.  

Depending on your workplace, consider representatives from the following areas:

• Employee representatives from a cross section of different departments,
• Senior Management
• Health and safety professional(s),
• Human Resources (HR) professional(s),
• Employee benefits representative or someone from finance,
• Your Employee Assistance Program(EAP) provider (if applicable), Click here for more information on EAPs
• Occupational health employee (if applicable).

Establish a strong Workplace Wellness Program Committee!  The Workplace Wellness Program Committee should meet regularly with a planned agenda and action items.  Effective Wellness Committees have a shared mission, vision and objectives and goals.  Members need to believe that their participation is worthwhile and appreciated, that their work is significant, benefits the organization and co-workers, and they are appreciated for their contributions. Refer to the NC Workplace Programs section for examples of what other companies have implemented.

As with any program, the two critical elements for the success of your wellness program are management backing & employee participation.  Senior Leadership sets the vision and provides the resources from which action plans flow.  Genuine backing from senior personnel also lends credibility to the wellness program.  It is key that management be visible supporters and role models for your Employee Wellness Program.

employees need to be involved on several echelons so that they feel ownership of the wellness program.  Staff Members are the program stakeholders!  All employees must have an opportunity to offer input and feedback through needs & interest surveys and program assessment tools.  The information gathered must be used to plan programs that target those needs and interests to ensure participation, buy-in, and backing.

There are several methods to identify employee needs and interests such as:

• Having Employee Focus Groups
• Discovering Wellness Interests During Department gatherings
• Distributing and Evaluating a Needs & Interest Survey
• (Including|Allowing for|Making sure to include} a Time to Give Recommendations on Each Assessment Tool  

Any one or combination of several techniques will make sure that the wellness program meets what workers want.

Step 3 provides additional information on determining wellness program needs.  But first, adopting a Company Health Promotion Program Committee can help you involve management & workers, determine need, and plan your wellness program.

A key to a successful Corporate Wellness Program requires management responsibility and employee involvement.

Employee Wellness Program Step 2: Create a Employee Wellness Program Committee

An active Worksite Health Promotion Program Committee ensures employee participation, supplies buy-in, management support, and maintains a crew that is ready to take action to integrate wellness programs.

Employee Health Promotion Program Step 3: Gather Data to Identify Key Needs and Expectations

The next critical step is to base the Corporate Wellness Program on the needs and interests of your company and its staff members.

Workplace Health Promotion Program Step 4: Create Goals and Objectives

Goals and objectives constitute the road maps to guide you where your program needs to go.   These are the foundation for planning and evaluating activities to see to it that your wellness program will meet your unique needs.

Company Health Promotion Program Step 5: Establish a Detailed Action Plan

There is no such thing as too much planning!  The best of intentions can get lost, overstepped, or forgotten withoutadequate planning, and then it would be all for naught.

Employee Wellness Program Step 6: Select and Launch a Plan

Armed with the needs assessment information, a Worksite Wellness Program Committee, objectives and goals it’s now time to start your plan!

Corporate Wellness Program Step 7: Oversee and Assess Your Corporate Wellness Program

Assessment is a necessary step to keep a program focused, as well as to see that the program is reaching its objectives and goals or achieving favorable outcome.

In Summary

These Seven Steps outline considerations for a comprehensive approach to designing and launching an effective wellness program.  Would you be able to start components of wellness activities without following these steps?  Certainly, but you may not have the sustainability or ability to see desired outcomes.  Following the Seven Steps need not be difficult or burdensome.  A very simple approach can achieve a efficacious wellness program!

Therefore, to ensure a successful wellness program consider the key components as you plan your program or improve your current program:

• Senior Management Support & Employee Participation
• Active Employee Health Promotion Program Committee
• Workplace Wellness Program is Based on Employee Needs & Interests
• Worksite Health Promotion Program Goals and Objectives are Established
• Detailed Corporate Wellness Program Action Plan Based on Resources & Budget
• Corporate Health Promotion Program Implementation & Internal Marketing
• Assessment of Company Wellness Program Outcomes

The program design options hinge upon the goals/objectives and desired outcomes of your program.  If your intention is to help employees make a change behavior, lower risk factors, or save healthcare dollars then your wellness program would be designed to accomplish those outcomes and a budget would be significant to support that design.  

Wellness program design options vary, depending on desired outcomes and budgets.  Each level has pros and cons.  The intentions or results are quite different, are not interchangeable in terms of obtaining similar results, and therefore ought not be confused.  For example, planning activities such as an employee wellness fair or lunchtime education sessions, or having brochures available do not usually result in behavior modification, but may expand awareness on a topic.  If the intention is behavior modification then a different design is required, such as Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs and Organization Support.  The outline below describes the wellness design levels with a brief explanation.

Awareness Programs:  At this level a employer makes health information available and accessible to employees.  This type of program frequently includes handouts on a variety of issues, wellness articles in newsletters, bulletin board displays, e-mail health messages, etc.   Also, most health & wellness fairs are designed as awareness programs with vendors offering information and offering health screenings to employees.  

Awareness programs are cheap and do not require extensive employee or business time commitments.  Still, these programs do not usually result in behavior change.  Improving awareness isn’t usually sufficient to generate lifestyle changes for most Americans, unless used to innervate staff members to register for a program being available at the business or neighborhood on the topic.  An example of this would be offering information on the deleterious effects of smoking and inviting staff members who smoke to register for a tobacco cessation class.

Education Programs:  Educational programs often offer more information on a topic and are able to also provide time for Q & A, but are similar to awareness programs.  An example is lunch-n-learn sessions on a health related topic.  These cost the company a little more than awareness programs; however, they remain inexpensive and do not require much time for planning or attending a session.  Again, increasing awareness and providing information may not yield the desired behavior modification unless ongoing support or rewards and incentives are also planned.

Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs:  These programs are designed as 4 to 12 weekly sessions or workshops to offer health and wellbeing education, address barriers and offer opportunities to practice the desired skills.  Behavior change programs therefore require additional employer resources, cost more, and also require additional employee commitment, time and effort.  The results are often the desired beneficial lifestyle change, which if sustained may lead to potential cost savings.  

Examples are smoking cessation classes, weight loss and weight management meetings, or an ongoing exercise program.

Environmental and Company Support:  Environmental reinforcement is frequently considered the highest and most valuable level to include when beginning your wellness program in order to support and maintain healthy behaviors.  These types of design options include policy changes such as:

• Creating a smoke-free workplace
• Designating a walking path,
• Organizing workplace fitness centers,
• Ensuring healthy snack machines choices,
• Offering healthy food choices in the cafeteria, and/or
• Creating flex-time policies.  

Other examples include subsidizing healthy snack machines or cafeteria choices; reimbursing gym or weight loss and weight management program memberships; or offering insurance rewards and incentives for healthy behaviors.

Ideally, the wellness program design would include some of all of these options.  The more comprehensive the approach, the more successful the outcome will be.  For example, a company can have tobacco cessation information available; can schedule a one hour awareness session on the harmful effects of smoking and how to quit; can implement an onsite tobacco cessation program, supply self quit smoking kits, or support employees to go to a neighborhood program; and/or on an environmental reinforcement level can establish a smoke-free workplace and grounds, offer lower health insurance for non-smokers, or support pharmacological quit smoking aids for free.

Employee Health Promotion Program: Components for Success

There are several critical components that must be considered to see to the success of your Employee Health Promotion Program or Employee Health Promotion Program.  These include:  

• Senior Management Reinforcement & Employee Participation
• Active Corporate Health Promotion Program Committee
• Program is Based on Employee Needs & Interests
• Goals and Objectives are Determined
• Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources & Budget
• Program Implementation & Internal Marketing
• Assessment of Outcomes and Program

Major benefits of healthy workers include:

• Decreased Health Care expenditures
• Reduced Injuries
• Diminished Rates of Absenteeism
• Increased Morale and Loyalty
• Increased Productivity
• Reduced Use of Health Care Benefits
• Diminished Workers’ Comp/Disability
• Positive Image in Community
• Lowered Turnover
• Better recruitment for skilled employee

What is NOT Having a Company Wellness Program Costing Your Employer?  

Let us look at the health risk factors that are increasing chronic diseases for adults:

• 59% of American adults are overweight or obese
• Greater than 60 percent of American adults do not exercise regularly
• Greater than 75 percent of adults do not consume the minimum recommendations for fruits and vegetables
• Heart disease is the most common cause of death and the leading cause of death in smokers
• 26% of workers stated they were frequently or very frequently burned out or stressed by their job  

Medical Care expenditures are Rising:  Medical Care expenditures are at a record figure of $1.7 trillion with no signs of leveling out, let alone decreasing.  The average expense of yearly healthcare spending is over $5,000 per person and with dependents almost $10,000.  Recent data shows that healthcare related expenditures now cost North Carolina companies thousands of dollars per employee, each year.

Most Illnesses Can Be Prevented:  Although it sounds unbelievable, experts estimate that preventable illness makes up 60 percent – 70 percent of the entire burden of illness in the U.S..   In North Carolina, it is estimated that more than 53 percent of all deaths are preventable, and that 2/3 of all preventable deaths are due to tobacco use, a sedentary lifestyle, and poor diet.

Stress Levels are Rising:  As employer resources dwindle and corporations adopt less-costly work practices, the effects of absenteeism and lost productivity have an increased effect.  In a current national poll, 78% of the population described their jobs as stressful, and the majority believe that stress levels have increased over The previous ten years.  To make matters worse, high levels of employer stress have the potential to negatively affect a employer by increasing injuries, absenteeism, and medical costs while decreasing work rate.  Simple solutions such as stress management education, flexible work schedules, quality social interaction, and increased participation in employer decision-making have the potential to improve stress levels in the workplace.

What is the Upfront Cost and Time Investment for a Corporate Health Promotion Program?

The expenditure is dependent upon the type of Worksite Wellness Program implemented.  There are several options to reward employee health with advantages and disadvantages of each.  The program design is dependent upon the objectives and goals of the wellness program, the business resources, and the area resources available.  

Improving dietary practices, expanding physical movement levels, managing stress or approaching work life balance issues, and lowering/eliminating tobacco use, are primary strategies for preventing many of the most common preventable chronic diseases. The possibilities of how your organization deals with these issues are endless and can range from expanding employee awareness, which may include purchasing a few pamphlets on a variety of topics, and measuring walking distances around your facility, to starting organization support such as funding a full-time occupational health professional or building an workplace fitness center.  

When well-planned and based on your goals, any of these programs have the potential to help you succeed.  Refer below to Workplace Health Promotion Program Design Options for additional ideas.

A Corporate Wellness Program is an organized program to help and support employees in instituting healthier lifestyles.  This may include increasing employee awareness on health subject matters, scheduling behavior modification programs, and/or instituting employer policies that support health-related objectives.  Programs and policies that encourage increased physical activity, tobacco use prevention and cessation, and healthy meal selections are a few examples.  

Dimensions of Wellness

Wellness is much more than fitness alone.  In addition to physical fitness, the dimensions of good health include:

   • Spiritual Wellness,
   • Emotional Wellness,
   • Social Wellness,
   • Intellectual Wellness

These dimensions are frequently depicted as a “life wheel” with examples of health components that include fitness, diet, purpose in life, monetary planning, social connections & backing systems, stress management, mind-body health, career planning and continued learning.   The key to personal health is keeping the “life wheel” in balance.  A comprehensive workplace wellness program addresses most, if not all, of these dimensions.

Why Corporate Health Promotion Programs?

staff members invest a great deal of time working, and the bottom line is that our traditional work-week is growing.  In fact, the everyday American now is at work about 47 hours per week.  In addition, items such as modems, laptop computers, cellular phones, voice and email have confused the work-life boundary.  These realities cut down on the amount of time that the average person is able to devote to wellness and health pursuits, and yet staff members are expected to be extremely efficient when at work.

A current study from the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses saw that workplace wellness or Company Wellness Programs are efficacious in supporting staff members to make beneficial health changes due to several factors such as convenience, environmental backing, and co-worker or social acceptance.  

What’s the Link between Wellness and the Workplace?

Programs and policies that reward healthy lifestyles can make a tremendous difference on employee wellness AND have an impact on the employer’s bottom line.  Studies show that for every dollar invested by employers in Workplace Wellness Programs/wellness programs, there were savings from $1.49 to $4.91 with a average savings of $3.14*.  In employer terms, that’s more than a 3:1 minimum ROI – a number that is hard to disregard, and a best practice that ought to warrant serious consideration from employers.  In fact, a Workplace Wellness Program literature review published in Health Promotion Practitioner Journal found:

   • 19 research studies observed a 28.3 percent reduction in sick leave
   • 16 studies shown a 5.6:1 return on investment
   • 23 showed a 26.1 percent decrease in health care expenditures
   • 4 observed a 30% decline in direct medical and workers’ compensation claims

There is little doubt that a comprehensive wellness program designed to meet a organization’s specific needs can save money by lowering absenteeism, lowering medical care costs, lowering employee turnover, and expanding productivity.

• The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2003

After cost, poor employee program engagement and inadequate communications and substructure are listed as the greatest challenges for businesses administering any health benefi t program.22

By law, businesses are required to explain any benefits or explicit conditions of employment to all employees – this is called “due process,” and it usually takes the form of a packet of information that new employees are asked to review and sign during orientation or, in the case of existing employees, a brief communication during open enrollment periods.

Employers that only engage in the minimally necessitated due process communication of a Workplace Wellness Program, however, do a disservice to the program and the corporation.

Opinions about Medical Care in employers represent one of the largest disjoins between management and staff members. In discussing the need for savings, most employers (70 percent) believe their company effectively communicates about increasing Medical Care costs, while only 34 percent of staff members feel increasing Medical Care costs effect their business’ ability to succeed.23 When it comes to behaviors, 74 percent of employers believe their staff members must be held largely accountable for improving, managing and maintaining health, yet only 4 percent of employers think that staff members participate in these activities.

Under the proposed rules, the four specifications to be a bona fide Employee Health Promotion Program are:

- The total reward that may be given to an individual is limited. The departments invited comments on the appropriate level of the reward, suggesting that a limit of 10% to 20% of the total cost of employee-only coverage may be appropriate.
- The program must be reasonably designed to promote good health or prevent disease for people in the program.
- The reward must be available to all similarly situated individuals. More specifically, the program must allow any individual for whom it is unreasonably diffi cult due to a medical condition to meet the Corporate Wellness Program standard (or for whom it is medically inadvisable to attempt to meet the Corporate Wellness Program standard) an opportunity to satisfy a reasonable alternative standard.
- All plan materials describing the terms of the program must disclose the availability of a reasonable alternative standard.
Source: American Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration

As Northwestern Memorial’s Kathryn Krivy says, “The most fundamental failure in any Worksite Wellness Program is not communicating. You need to tell people what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. You have to get staff members engaged and teach them of what’s going on.”

A properly implemented Workplace Wellness Program is designed to save a company more money with improved participation. However, a company must match its focus on program design with an equally strategic investment in efforts to engage employees in the initiatives.

Lay out your case – Despite widespread recognition of increasing Health Care costs, workers remain skeptical that the problem affects employer operations. In fact, only 53 percent of workers even believe what their employer communicates about the subject.24 Businesses need to be more candid and forthcoming about the amount they spend on Health Care and how that relates to larger budgetary constraints and potential investments.

Says Motorola’s Saenz: “We share with staff members that we have been able to maintain Motorola’s Health Care spend trend below national average over the past several years due to their participation in our various Employee Wellness Programs. This transparency is necessary to keep reminding people the reasons for our behaviors.”

An effective strategy is to focus on the cost savings and central health benefi ts to the employee and not the corporation. By personalizing the information in this way, it produces a win-win scenario instead of presenting the program as a sacrifi ce on the part of the employee. Information must be presented through multiple channels, constructed in a way that makes sense to all levels of staff members, and provided to staff members, dependents and retirees.

Make it your own – Every Company Health Promotion Program will be different, and ought to reflect the culture of a company. While program areas will be determined by analyzing employee health risks, the actual offerings ought to be shaped by the nature of the company. Younger, more active employee communities may be attracted by different programs than an older or technicaloriented employee. Additionally, a global company with mobile employees will have different needs than a company with one central location.

As noted earlier regarding PepsiCo’s HealthRoads, one strategy is for companies to brand their Employee Health Promotion Programs. Union Pacifi c Railroad (HealthTracks), General Motors (LifeSteps) and Caterpillar (Healthy Balance) all adopted this approach to help create recognition and a larger meaning around their efforts. Having a branded plan helps staff members and other stakeholders see the larger objectives of the Employee Health Promotion Program, instead of focusing on isolated offerings.

Say it loud, say it proud – As a potential cost-saving plan, Corporate Wellness Programs ought to be given the same executive backing and internal responsibility as any comparable employer effort. Employers ought to not approach wellness as simply a preventive, financially-motivated program, but rather as an opportunity for the employer to distinguish itself and become more competitive.

Jeffrey Treem, analyst, Edelman Change and Employee Program Engagement Group, says that effective communication about Workplace Wellness Programs must be integrated into existing organization communication channels and vehicles. “This includes executive communication to external stakeholders,” he notes, “because this sends a powerful message back to staff members about the significance of the programs. Workplace Wellness Programs must not be treated as merely an additional employee perk, but rather an innovative and strategic effort to decrease costs and create a healthier work environment.” Talk among yourselves – The most powerful champions of any Workplace Wellness Program will be the participants.

Organizations ought to discover ways to facilitate discussions about the program among workers. This could take the form of support groups, interactive media and the sharing of success stories.

Nonetheless, since Company Wellness Programs touch on potentially private health topics, it is important communication remains positive and inclusive, while not pressuring workers. Discussion of wellness topics ought to be voluntary, though employers may consider providing rewards and incentives for those willing to contribute. Motivation and information from peers is likely to carry more credibility and significance than messages from management.

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