Company WellnessCompany wellness programs and company wellness consulting

Locating an individual to lead your organization in creating a Company Wellness Program

Without a qualified Company Wellness Program coordinator to lead and manage your organization’s creation of a culture of health, efforts can be scattered and momentum can stall. While it’s vital that the creation of a culture of health be someone’s priority, not all organizations need a full-time coordinator.  There are a number of ways to obtain the time of a qualified coordinator.

Be careful not to confuse Company Wellness Program skills with fitness skills. You are not looking for a personal trainer or a nutritionist to run your Corporate Health Promotion Program. The following are good indications that an individual may be qualified to be a Company Wellness Program coordinator:

• knowledge of population health, community health and worksite Corporate Health Promotion Programs
• experience working with and understanding aggregate data, preferably Company Wellness Program data
• experience managing projects, including developing timelines and facilitating meetings
• experience in strategic planning, including defining goals and related objectives
• ability to understand, and use the findings of, journal articles on effective Company Wellness Program Strategies.

What will a Company Wellness Program coordinator do?

The Company Wellness Program coordinator is accountable for guiding a process that creates worksite facilities, policies and practices that promote health. The individual may do some of all of the following for your Corporate Health Promotion Program:

• act as a liaison between upper management and the Company Wellness Program employee advisory workgroup
• interpret health-related data on your Company Wellness Program
• create and manage work plans and budgets for implementation of selected Company Wellness Program Strategies
• facilitate Wellness Committee meetings
• lead your organization in establishing measurable goals for the Company Wellness Program
• recommend effective Company Wellness Program Strategies, using the evidence in the health behavior literature and national and/or recommended best practices
• document and report short-term and long-term progress on Company Wellness Program Strategies and goals.

Where can we find a qualified Company Wellness Program coordinator?

Consider the following when looking for a Company Wellness Program coordinator:

• Existing staff members: Are there individuals on staff members who have the background, or are interested in gaining the skills, to serve as a Company Wellness Program coordinator? Is it possible to dedicate a portion of someone’s time (e.g., .5 FTE) to the position of coordinating your organization’s Company Wellness Program Strategies? If possible, budget enough to cover not only salary but also continued learning, journal subscriptions and membership fees for this Company Wellness Program position.
• New staff members – Can you hire an individual to be your organization’s Company Wellness Program coordinator? Would it need to be a full-time position, or would part-time be sufficient?
• Company Wellness Program Consultation – Various organizations (e.g., health plans, benefit consultants and public health departments) provide Company Wellness Program consultation on building a culture of health within a worksite.

An outside Company Wellness Program consultant can advise an internal Company Wellness Program coordinator and your Wellness Committee on establishing priorities and selecting Strategies. Or, you can contract with a Company Wellness Program consultant to be your coordinator. If you select the latter approach, you’ll want to contract with the individual for sufficient hours to carry out all of the responsibilities associated with coordinating an effective strategy.

Strong and visible upper management support for the Company Wellness Program encourages health and is vital to securing needed Company Wellness Program resources (staff, time, and money) and implementing recommended changes.

1. Identify a Company Wellness Program champion

In a small organization, there may be a single leader who is the clear choice to champion the Corporate Health Promotion Program. In a larger organization, look for an executive with the authority to sway others in the uppermost levels of the organization regarding the Corporate Health Promotion Program. The Company Wellness Program champion need not be the fittest member of upper management. Rather, look for a Company Wellness Program leader with the disposition to be a visible and vocal supporter of worksite policies that encourage healthy behaviors. Organizations with multiple sites can consider whether it would be useful to have an executive Company Wellness Program champion at each site.

2. Find existing Company Wellness Program allies

There may already be a number of individuals within your organization who recognize the value of a Corporate Health Promotion Program. Think about who those individuals are in your organization; consider areas such as occupational safety, union representatives, risk management, health officers, and human resources when looking for a Company Wellness Program ally. Obtain their stated support for the Corporate Health Promotion Program. Company Wellness Program support could include contributions of staff time or expertise, financial resources, agreement to endorse/support policy and environmental changes, or agreement to participate in, and voice their support for, changes in the worksite that will help to build a culture of health.

3. Build a business case for the Company Wellness Program

There is a reason that more and more companies are finding a way to promote the health of the employees via a Company Wellness Program and policies: A Company Wellness Program makes good business sense. staff members with healthy behaviors, on average, are more productive when at work (higher presenteeism)1 and incur lower medical care costs than employees with less healthy behaviors.2,3  As a result it would be foolish not to have a Corporate Health Promotion Program.

4. When developing a Company Wellness Program use what you know about leadership styles and the decision-making process within your organization

Every organization is different. Build upper management support for the Company Wellness Program in the way that makes the most sense for your organization. Think about the following as you plan how to approach upper management for Company Wellness Program support:

• What are the current priorities and pressures facing executives? How could a Company Wellness Program and a healthier workforce support those priorities?
• How do the leaders prefer to receive data: written documents? verbal presentations?
• What kinds of Company Wellness Program information are likely to sway decisions? Do they want data and Company Wellness Program statistics specific to your organization, or are state or national data sufficient? Are the leaders more influenced by internal factors or by what competitors are doing?
• Who would the leaders see as a reliable messenger for this Company Wellness Program information? Does someone from the risk management area carry more clout than someone from the human resources area?
• How do decisions get made in your organization? Informal committee meetings? Formal or informal meetings between executives? Plan accordingly and you improve the odds that the Company Wellness Program will become a reality.

5. Maintain Company Wellness Program support once you have it

Once you have appropriate Company Wellness Program support, ensure that you keep it by regularly updating the leaders on the health of the employees and progress toward creating a culture that encourages health. Ask upper management how often they want to receive Company Wellness Program progress reports.

Source Information:
1 Bunn, JOEM, 2006, 48:10.
2 Foldes, Bland, An et al. Modifiable Health Risks and Short-Term Health Care Costs. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota internal research, submitted for publication.
3 Anderson, 2000, American Journal of Health Promotion, 15:1.

The worksite setting is a effective, but often overlooked, element in managing employee health.  Here we will identify some of the best-practices in creating a Company Wellness Program that supports your organization’s employee health strategy and allows employees to take charge of their own health.  For example, a Company Wellness Program that includes a smoke-free worksite policy improves the likelihood that employees will try to quit smoking and will quit smoking successfully. Similarly, a Company Wellness Program that includes discounting healthy foods in your cafeteria and vending machines helps increase employees’ consumption of healthy foods which supports your investment in disease management programs for employees with diabetes, heart disease or hypertension. The following will guide you through the ten key steps in creating a Company Wellness Program and worksite setting that encourages employee health.

In an era of ever-increasing medical care costs and fervent competition, companies have a vested interest in the health of their employees.  Studies have found that, on average, employees with healthy behaviors (such as not smoking or being active for 30 minutes a day) incur lower medical care expenses, are absent from work less often, and are more productive when at work (higher presenteeism) than employees with unhealthy behaviors.

Corporate Health Promotion Program: Capturing Leadership Support

Company Wellness Program support from the uppermost level of upper management is vital to your success in creating a culture of health within your worksite. Look for Company Wellness Program support from a leader who is respected by and can sway other leaders. (It’s not important that he or she be the fittest executive within your organization just that they directly support the Corporate Health Promotion Program.) You will be relying on this culture-of-health champion to advocate for changes that you recommend and to ensure the organization allocates adequate Company Wellness Program resources (staff, time, and money) to maintain and enhance the worksite policies, physical setting, and social norms.

Obtain Company Wellness Program Staff and Budget

The creation and maintenance of a Company Wellness Program within your organization needs to be someone’s priority. However, unless your organization is quite large, you likely don’t need to hire a full-time staff person for the Corporate Health Promotion Program.  There are a number of ways to find an individual with the needed skills to guide and support your organization’s Corporate Health Promotion Program.

Establishing facilities and Company Wellness Program policies, such as those allowing employees to be physically active during the workday, does not need to be expensive, but it does require adequate and sustained financing.  If possible, include the creation of a worksite setting that supports the Company Wellness Program as a permanent component of the operating budget; that helps to ensure it’s an ongoing priority for your organization.

Employee Involvement in the Company Wellness Program

Setting up a cross section of staff members to advise your organization’s Company Wellness Program ensures that improvements in worksite facilities, policies and practices address the true needs and obstacles of all groups of staff members.   In addition, these employees can serve as the front-line Company Wellness Program supporters of policies and practices with their peers.

Create a Company Wellness Program “Brand” and Vision

A Company Wellness Program vision and a brand are effective first steps in bringing a Company Wellness Program from an idea to a reality. What would you like your worksite environment to look like five years from now? A succinct Company Wellness Program vision statement summarizes for all (employees and leaders alike) the reasons for creating a Corporate Health Promotion Program. It also reminds everyone of the link between employee health and your organization’s ability to achieve its overall mission.

Branding your organization’s Company Wellness Program sends a message to employees that the organization’s commitment and support of healthy behaviors is important and is here to stay. Select a Company Wellness Program name and logo that resonate with employees. Then use that brand on all Company Wellness Program communications with employees about the policies, facilities and programs your organization offers to promote healthy behaviors.

Determine Your Current Company Wellness Program Situation

Exactly how your organization creates a Company Wellness Program that encourages healthy eating, physical activity, and reduces tobacco use will depend on the unique characteristics of your organization and employee population.

Determine how the current worksite facilities, policies, and unwritten norms support — or discourage — healthy behaviors.

Gather information on the health and health-related behaviors of your employee population.  The most common method is by using a validated health risk assessment. If you don’t have data specific to your employees, you can estimate the prevalence of different health risks and behaviors within your employee population using state or national data.  Note: Information on staff members’ health interests alone is not sufficient; but can be a useful supplement to health risk data and might help you set priorities.

Set Company Wellness Program Priorities and Goals

Use what you’ve discovered about the health of the employees and about your current worksite setting to determine your organization’s Company Wellness Program priorities. From those Company Wellness Program priorities, define clear and measurable Company Wellness Program goals for improving the health of the employees and your organization’s culture. Well written goals will provide the basis for planning and for measuring your progress.

Select Company Wellness Program Strategies

Focus your organization’s Company Wellness Program resources (time, energy and money) on tactics that are most likely to produce results:  an increase in healthy eating, an increase in physical activity, and a reduction in tobacco use. There’s no need to guess at what might work. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reviewed thousands of research studies and has identified the Company Wellness Program approaches most likely to result in significant, lasting, and widespread improvements in health behaviors. Those Company Wellness Program tactics are included in the physical activity, tobacco, and healthy eating sections of this website.

The formula for Company Wellness Program success is to make the healthier choices the easier choices.

Implement Company Wellness Program Strategies

Once you’ve chosen your Company Wellness Program Strategies, it can be useful to arrange the work on a timeline.  The “right” amount of time for implementing each Company Wellness Program strategy depends on the staff time, budget, and business demands of your organization.  Work plans keep your efforts moving and help to ensure that plans to establish a Company Wellness Program stay on track even if there are changes in staffing or other challenges.

Communicate and Educate About the Company Wellness Program

Ensure employees are aware of the Company Wellness Program opportunities you’ve provided.   Planning your Company Wellness Program communications allows you to communicate regularly with employees without overwhelming them at any one time.

Monitor and Report Your Company Wellness Program Results

At the same time that you plan your Company Wellness Program Strategies, think about how you’ll measure success.  It’s much easier to gather information – or to establish systems for collecting information — before you start a Company Wellness Program strategy rather than as an afterthought.   Keep in mind that you’re likely to see improvements in employee morale and/or behaviors before you see decreases in rates of absenteeism or medical care claims.

Report both your Company Wellness Program successes in building a healthy worksite environment (such as complete implementation of a policy that provides employees time for walking during the workday), and Company Wellness Program successes in getting staff members to take charge of their health (an increase in the number of employees who contacted the stop-smoking program, or an increase in the number of fruit-cups purchased from the cafeteria following a promotion and price-cut).

Health Testing:
• Blood pressure
• Breast cancer Testing
• Skin cancer Testing
• Diabetes Testing
• Cholesterol Testing
• Eye exams
• Body-fat Testing
• Flu shots
• Posture screening, spinal assessment
• Onsite child immunizations
• Prostate cancer screenings
• Fitness Testing
• Depression Testing

Fitness Ideas:
• Onsite excercise room or fitness center
• Walking and/or running club (during lunch hour or breaks)
• Onsite bike rake
• Mind/body classes (yoga, tai chi) initiatives
• Team sports (volleyball, basketball, softball)
• Host an exercise equipment swap

Lifestyle Change or Behavior Change Programs:
• Smoking cessation
• Weight management initiatives
• Substance abuse initiatives
• Fitness activity
• Stress management initiatives

Prevention and Safety Programs:
• Back-injury training and prevention
• Education about Ergonomics
• Hand-tool safety initiatives
• Fire safety initiatives

Health Education, Awareness, and Support Programs:
• Lunch-and-learn or brown-bag wellness seminars (see your EAP for a list)
• Diet and Nutrition information, plus offer healthy food alternatives in your vending machines and cafeteria, and offer food storage and preparation facilities to encourage healthier eating
• Prenatal care initiatives
• Work/Life Balance initiatives
• Senior care initiatives
• Cancer support groups
• Financial Wellness Programs

Stress-Relief Programs:
• Laughter bulletin board where staff members can post jokes and cartoons (in good taste)
• Visiting massage therapist
• Stretch breaks
• Group lunches or celebrations

Disease Management Programs:

• Obesity
• Depression
• Asthma
• Back pain
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Cancer

Employee Health Services
• worksite medical services
• workplace medical examinations
• health risk screening and counselling:
• blood pressure screening,
• blood cholesterol screening,
• blood glucose screening clinics,
• thyroid screening,
• bone density screening,
• prostrate cancer screening
• promote self-exams – breasts, testicles
• medical surveillance Programs
• immunizations and flu vaccinations
• disability case management
• Active rehabilitation
• Return to work Programs
• Self-care Programs
• Disease management information and presentations:
• diabetes,
• stomach disorder,
• arthritis,
• asthma,
• allergy,
• foot and back care Programs,
• chronic tiredness,
• migraines
• Online health and wellness education with continuous learning/reminders/tips
• Daily/weekly/monthly email tips or news bulletins
• Excercise appraisals
• Health and safety fairs
• Hand-washing tips and reminders
• Visiting your doctor guide – tips to efficiency
• links and information on help lines

• clearly communicated vision and mission
• clear and accurate job descriptions
• supportive appraisal system
• worker empowerment through decision-making, pace of work and connection to company goals, (on-line tools that connect to goals such as Baxter Healthcare)
• two-way communication training
• ‘no lunch hour’ meeting rules unless it is a lunch ‘n’ learn
• rates of absence and attendance program
• career tracking, (on-line tools like Pfizer)
• continuing education
• job rotation, special project assignments
• time management
• innovative ideas program
• change and complaint process
• email guidelines
• technology courses and assistance
• vacation useage
• shift work rotations and breaks
• conflict management skills
• handling negative attitudes workshops

Healthy Work Environment Initiatives: Management Training

• scheduling
• incentive and recognition Programs
• workload impact
• communication and feedback skills
• conflict management skills and support skills
• priority setting
• all of which are apart of the four employment relationship factors (trust, commitment, influence, and communication – from Canadian Policy Research Network)

Healthy Work Environment Initiatives: Contributions and Benefits

• massage – try an worksite massage therapist or seated massage breaks
• orthotics
• orthodontics
• gym membership subsidies
• education subsidies
• tobacco cessation and weight control partial reimbursement incentives
• safety shoe reimbursement
• out-of-country coverage
• vision care
• alternative therapy coverage

Healthy Work Environment Initiatives: Building Support
• exercise  breaks and stretches
• team challenges
• company sport teams such as soccer, volleyball, and hockey
• use workers who are in-house experts e.g., gardening, yoga, construction
• celebrate birthdays, anniversaries – other significant dates and achievements
• 5 minute catch-up at beginning of work week
• pot lucks and food for meetings
• green room for time outs and regrouping self
• encouraging face to face communications
• learn names

**The creation of health or harm within an corporation depends on how work is managed.  Workplace Culture Strategies must address high demand/low control, high effort/low reward, fairness, purpose and trust.

• childcare Programs and information
• family planning information
• parenting classes
• Senior care Programs and information
• retirement planning
• individual responsibility leave
• alternative work arrangements such as telecommuting, job sharing
• work-family-life transition support
• anger management and family violence
• family counselling initiatives
• budgeting and financial counselling
• understanding credit reports
• money safety tips – ATMS, credit cards
• advertising and promotion of community support groups
• cafeteria take-out program
• tax preparation initiatives
• will, power of attorney, and estate experts
• vacation planning and safe travel
• interpersonal relationship speakers
• motivational speakers
• bereavement information
• shift work and lifestyle Programs
• limit overtime
• family wellness days – bike rodeos, BBQ, picnics
• swimming pool safety
• charity information – United Way, MADD
• other information sessions on:
• chemical free lawn and garden care,
• menopause,
• infertility,
• poisoning,
• fire safety initiatives
• seat belts and booster seats,
• playground safety,
• internet safety,
• home safety and energy efficiency

• violence in the workplace
• equity in the workplace initiatives
• harassment policy and training
• literacy/numeracy Programs
• professional development and skill enhancing training
• air quality and sick building testing
• smoke-free workplace
• fire safety initiatives
• hazard control and WHIMS Training
• injury prevention, CPR/First Aid, emergency response Programs
• enhanced signage
• installing guard rails
• work station design, ergonomic and repetitive strain reduction training
• stretching initiatives
• health and safety written and implemented policies
• Safety Audits
• access to bike racks, showers and change areas
• make stairs attractive and post signs to promote their use
• proper lighting
• monitoring noise levels
• shift work strategies related to lighting, noise, air, breaks etc.

• Add Stress Management Programs and mental health Programs
• Add substance use and abuse Programs
• Add tobacco cessation and control
• Add nutrition counselling
• Add weight control Programs and counselling
• Add promote use of food logs
• Add posting BMI charts
• Add juice dispensing machines
• Add water coolers
• Add snack machines with low-calorie snack choices
• Add snack machines with fruit, vegetable and calcium choices
• Posting nutritional information on snack machines
• Add color-coded cafeteria choices
• Encourage breakfast – suggest choices to start the day
• healthy packed lunch ideas for adults and kids
• partnering with local restaurants for healthy lunch choices
• healthy recipes on-line
• healthy or low-cost cooking Programs
• healthy shopping instruction
• naturopaths, homeopaths, herbal remedies and vitamins
• Add information sessions on fad diets
• Add disease prevention information
• STD’s
• active living and fitness Programs such as a aerobics, walking or cycling clubs
• Add self-defense training
• Add relaxation training
• chiropractors
• relaxation and energy specialists
• Add stretching classes such as yoga, tai chi
• Add active living challenges
• walking challenges with pedometers
• stair climbing challenge
• sleep and sleep disorders e.g. snoring
• napping information and sleep rooms
• alertness and driving sessions
• encouraging light breaks
• create a wellness Yellow Pages
• information sessions on
• insect bites,
• memory enhancement,
• motion sickness,
• nose bleeds,
• healthy skin,
• frost bite,
• gingivitis and mouth care,
• hair loss,
• ear infections,
• fever,
• psoriasis,
• TMJ,
• varicose veins,
• shingles,
• defensive driving,
• sun safety,
• avoiding home and vehicle theft,
• food safety
• handwashing

**Healthy Living Programs should assist in the development of self-efficacy which means that the individual has a senses that they can influence the course of events in their normal daily life, that they can deal with their normal consequences, that they feel confident and sure of themselves.

Why Complete a Company Wellness Program Environment Assessment?

The purpose of completing the assessment is to identify your worksite’s strengths and areas in need of improvement. The assessment will lead your workgroup to recommend actions for changes to make the worksite more supportive of healthy behaviors (i.e. healthy food choices in snack machines, policies to enforce no smoking on worksite grounds or encouraging walking during break times). You may find some of the actions for supporting healthy behaviors are easy to do and others may not be feasible or efficient in your worksite.  The assessment results can also be used as a baseline measure for evaluation.  The initial assessment can later be compared with a follow-up assessment several months later to note progress.

Who should do the Company Wellness Program Environment Assessment?

Identify a workgroup (at least 4-5 workers) who will be accountable for completing the assessment.  This may be a subset of your wellness workgroup.  Forming a diverse group from all areas and levels of your corporation is important for meaningful assessment and successful planning and implementation. Suggested participants include: human resources, workers from various departments, administrators, supervisors, worker or wellness staff.

When should the Company Wellness Program Environment Assessment be Done?

Use the assessment as a starting point for your Corporate Health Promotion Program. Once you have completed the assessment, determine which areas the workgroup will focus on (i.e. healthy eating, physical activity, general health, etc.). Start a time for the workgroup to meet and monitor the progress. Also determine a schedule for annual assessments, so that the assessment can serve as a tool for continuous improvement and accountability over time.

Part 1 – Company Wellness Program Assessment Checklist

Complete a Worksite Wellness Assessment Checklist to determine what wellness components you currently have at your worksite.   This can be done with the full workgroup or you may want a few key personnel (such as the Human Resources lead, Wellness Coordinator or Workgroup Coordinator) to do a preliminary scan based on information they gather and then let the full workgroup react to their findings. Ask your broker for a sample wellness assessment checklist or create your own.

Completion of the checklist provides a reference point of the wellness functions that are currently in place or in process and it provides an overview of some of the items that should be considered for a broad-based Corporate Health Promotion Program.

Company Wellness Program Checklist Components:

Categories.  There are six major categories (General, Physical Activity, Nutrition, Health Screening, Tobacco Use and Emergency Response Plan).  Each category has several questions that address what you currently have in place at your worksite.

Current Status.  Initially, list whether you have the component (Yes), are in the process of instituting the component or you are planning for the component (In Process) or don’t have the component at all (No).  At the end of each category, sub-total the number in each column and then total all of the categories at the end of the checklist to get an overview of where your worksite Company Wellness Program currently rates. You should also use this baseline measure as a benchmark for later evaluation.  By evaluating where your worksite is on each wellness component, you will be able to get a general idea of your status across each category and all 57 items.

Potential Priorities.  After you have completed the assessment and the employee interest survey, you can use the potential priority column to indicate what components you might want to focus on that are either currently in process or don’t exist.  This can serve as a first screening of possible areas to focus on as you develop your action plan.

Part 2: worker Input

Why would we want to do an employee survey?

You should conduct an employee survey to get a better understanding of your target audience (your corporation’s workers) and get an initial idea of their current health habits and interest areas.  The survey can be tailored to your worksite and can be done in paper form or through the use of survey instruments on the internet or that can be purchased.   You can create your own employee survey or ask your broker for a Workplace Wellness Needs and Interest Survey.

As was the case with the worksite environmental assessment, the employee survey results can also be used as a baseline measure for later evaluation.  The initial survey results can later be compared with a follow-up survey several months later to note progress.

You should also consider engaging workers in focus groups or informal interviews to gather information on their wants and needs.  This can be done either before or after the survey, or if you don’t have the resources to survey workers, you could use this method to gather information in place of the survey.

No matter what method you use to gather information, make it as easy as possible for workers to complete and submit the information so you get a high return rate.  Look at offering an incentive or prize for workers who complete the survey.