Health HandoutsHealth handouts, wellness handouts, fitness handouts and more…

The Company Health Promotion Program Committee should set out a plan for the entire year that outlines accomplishing goals/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 provided, when and where they will be scheduled, how they will be marketed and evaluated, and what the budget is.  It is important to plan your wellness activities based on your goals/objectives, as well as the budget since different strategies will provide different outcomes.  By way of example, if your intention is to increase awareness on a topic, then distributing pamphlets or scheduling a one-time education session may be appropriate.  However, if your intention 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.

Corporate Wellness Program Marketing

Now is the time to coordinate 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 staff members again and again!  Consider having an overall kickoff exercise to let everyone know about the wellness program.  Upper Management should offer the introduction or invitation so that all staff members are knowledgeable about their backing and leadership in the program.

Possible marketing methods:

• Sending email messages, including reminders
• Design bulletins,
• Displaying bulletin board postings,
• Writing articles,
• Sending letters or
• Mailing special invitations.  

Other Employee Wellness Program Considerations:

• Is the Workplace Health Promotion Program promoted to all staff members or to a specific target audience?
• Do you have a Worksite Health Promotion Program champion (someone who is joined 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 adjust your strategy?
• How will you determine effectiveness and evaluate your program?  And how will you gather the information necessitated to evaluate your program?  

Topics most frequently included in Corporate Health Promotion Programs:

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

The topics and type of Employee Wellness Program planned depend on the needs and interest, overriding intention and resources available.  Program Design Options   include awareness programs such as handouts and/or education sessions, behavior change programs such as tobacco cessation and weight loss classes, and environmental or organization 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 workers 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 start of disease.  Click here for more information on strategies for keeping workers well, identifying disease early, or returning workers 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 goals/objectives.  Step 7 discusses program assessment in more detail.   And Step 6 will launch your program!

A Company Health Promotion Program without goals/objectives 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 modest amount of thoughtful planning, you expand your chances for a successful experience.  Clear goals/objectives are necessitated to plan your wellness program in order to ensure success!

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

Corporate Wellness Program Mission Statement

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

Below are some examples of Corporate Health Promotion Program mission statements:

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

“It is the mission of the XYZ Company Health Promotion Program Committee to foster healthier lifestyle choices to lower health risk factors, better overall well-being, and maintain a productive, active work force.”

Company Health Promotion Program Goals

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

The objective(s) of XYZ Worksite Health Promotion Program in year XXXX is to:  (one or more of the following examples)

• Decrease absenteeism by one day per employee
• Cut down on musculoskeletal injuries by 10%
• Cut down on unnecessary emergency room visits
• Decrease or contain healthcare expenditures
• Improve dietary habits of workers
• Cut down on health risk factors  

Employee Health Promotion Program Objectives

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

Objectives must be easily measurable within a set time frame.  Try using the SMART formula to create both your long and short-term objectives and 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.  For example, the mission for a weight loss program that has an overall intention of improving healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that:

Members (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 colleague (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 staff members with high blood lipids might be:

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

And one last example of a process objective for a tobacco cessation program with an central goal to help  participants in committing to quit for life:

By the end of the 4-week tobacco cessation program, 10 percent 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 mission) and 10 percent of those who quit will still be tobacco-free after one year.

You have now completed Steps 1 through 4, including implementing your Workplace Wellness Program Committee.  It is now time to plan your wellness activities!

Before you begin laying out your Company Wellness Program you need to know where you are now and then decide where you want to go.  Attaining a thorough needs assessment is vital to the success of your wellness program for two reasons:  First it ensures that your Company Wellness Program activities will be targeted to meet your company’s specific needs so that outcomes can be achieved.  Secondly the needs assessment provides 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 limited or those with experience already have an idea of needs.  Do not give in to this temptation!  It is essential that you know what your company needs are, what senior staff expects, and what workers want as well as expect, before you begin a Company Wellness Program.  

Consider and collect data on:

• Employee Demographic Information
• Employee Health Risk Factors
• Medical Claims
• Injury Rates & Causes
• Workers’ Compensation Claims
• Short and Long Term Disability Claims
• Absenteeism
• Employer Culture Audits
• Employee perceived needs and health risks
• Upper Management’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 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
• Health Screenings such as blood lipids, Blood Pressure and blood sugar click here for additional information on wellness 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 costs  

Once your needs assessment is complete, the Corporate Wellness Program Committee can review the outcome and begin drafting and prioritizing program options.  Creating ought to be based upon objectives and identified outcomes, Step 4 of the seven step process!

Organizing an active Employee Health Promotion Program Committee supplies opportunities for both senior staff and employee participation in the program.  The Wellness Committee must be a group of staff members and managers who formally meet to plan activities to encourage healthier employee lifestyles.

Typical Functions of a Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee:

• Evaluating needs & interests
• Brainstorming program ideas
• Creating activities
• Creating communication plans
• Promoting programs to co-workers
• Serving as champions of the Company Health Promotion Programs
• Assisting with assessment  

Your Corporate Wellness Program Committee must be representative of all levels of the business.  Consider all sections of the workforce – multiple sites, shift employees, diversity (race, gender, ethnicity), and departments.   It’s also valuable to consider who will chair or co-chair the Corporate Wellness Program Committee and whether or not there are the finances to support a Corporate Wellness 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 business size and resources, if you already have a business Safety Committee you might want to consider making it the Safety & Worksite Wellness Program Committee.  You have the potential to request volunteers or invite staff members to take part.  

The number of Worksite Health Promotion Program Committee participants depends on the size of your organization; however, you need a sufficient number of participants to get the work done and yet not too many to keep it manageable, usually a minimum of 4 participants and maximum of 12 to 15 participants.  It’s important 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,
• Upper Management
• Health and safety consultant(s),
• Human Resources (HR) professional(s),
• Employee benefits representative or someone from finance,
• Your Employee Assistance Program provider (if applicable), Click here for more information on EAPs
• Occupational health employee (if applicable).

Establish an effective Worksite Wellness Program Committee!  The Worksite Wellness Program Committee must meet regularly with a planned agenda and action items.  Successful Wellness Committees have a shared mission, vision and objectives and goals.  Members must believe that their participation is worthwhile and appreciated, that their work is valuable, benefits the organization and co-staff members, and they are recognized for their contributions. Refer to the NC Workplace Programs section for examples of what other organizations have implemented.

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

staff members need to be involved on several levels so that they feel ownership of the wellness program.  Employees are the program stakeholders!  All staff members ought to have a chance to provide input and feedback through needs & interest surveys and program assessment tools.  The information gathered ought to be used to plan programs that target those needs and interests to ensure participation, buy-in, and reinforcement.

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

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

Any one or combination of several techniques will ensure that the wellness program meets what employees want.

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

A key to a successful Employee Health Promotion Program requires management commitment and employee involvement.

Employee Health Promotion Program Step 2: Form a Employee Health Promotion Program Committee

An active Company Health Promotion Program Committee sees to employee participation, provides buy-in, management backing, and maintains a team that is ready to take action to integrate wellness programs.

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

The next critical step is to base the Workplace Health Promotion Program on the needs and interests of your business and its staff members.

Employee Wellness Program Step 4: Set Goals and Objectives

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

Employee Health Promotion Program Step 5: Create 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: Choose and Launch a Plan

Once you have the needs assessment data, a Employee Health Promotion Program Committee, goals/objectives it’s now time to enable your plan!

Worksite Wellness Program Step 7: Monitor and Evaluate Your Worksite Wellness Program

Assessment is a critical step to keep a program on target, as well as to see that the program is reaching its goals or achieving the desired results.

In Summary

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

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

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

The program design options hinge upon the goals/objectives and desired outcomes of your program.  If your intention is to help staff members change behavior, cut risk factors, or save medical care dollars then your wellness program would be designed to accomplish those outcomes and a budget would be necessary to support that design.  

There are different wellness program design levels 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 the same results, and therefore ought not be confused.  By way of example, scheduling activities such as an employee wellness fair or lunchtime education sessions, or having brochures available do not usually result in behavior change, but may increase awareness on a topic.  If the intention is behavior change then a different design is necessary, such as Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs and Business Support.  The outline below outlines the wellness design levels with a brief explanation.

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

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

Education Programs:  Educational programs frequently offer more information on a topic and can 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 corporation a modest amount more than awareness programs; however, they are still inexpensive and do not require a whole lot of time for planning or attending a session.  Again, expanding awareness and providing information may not lead to the desired behavior change unless ongoing reinforcement 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 wellness education, address barriers and offer opportunities to practice the desired skills.  Behavior change programs therefore require additional company resources, cost more, and also require additional employee responsibility, time and effort.  The results are often the desired beneficial lifestyle change, which if sustained can lead to potential cost savings.  

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

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

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

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

Ideally, the wellness program design would include some of all of these options.  The more comprehensive the approach, the more efficacious the outcome will be.  By way of example, a corporation can have tobacco cessation information available; can schedule a one hour awareness session on the harmful effects of smoking and how to quit; can enable an workplace tobacco cessation program, supply self quit smoking kits, or support staff members to attend a neighborhood program; and/or on an environmental reinforcement level can establish a tobacco-free workplace and grounds, offer decreased health insurance for non-smokers, or support pharmacological quit smoking aids for free.

Employee Health Promotion Program: Components for Success

There are several critical elements that need to be considered to see to the performance of your Company Wellness Program or Company Wellness Program.  These include:  

• Senior Management Backing & Employee Involvement
• Active Corporate Wellness Program Committee
• Program is Based on Employee Needs & Interests
• Goals and Objectives are Established
• Detailed Action Plan Based upon Resources & Budget
• Program Implementation & Internal Marketing
• Evaluation of Outcomes and Program

Major advantages of healthy staff members include:

• Decreased Medical Care expenditures
• Reduced Injuries
• Lowered Rates of Absenteeism
• Increased Morale and Loyalty
• Higher Productivity
• Diminished Use of Healthcare Benefits
• Reduced Workers’ Comp/Disability
• Positive Image in Community
• Reduced Turnover
• Better recruitment for able employees

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

Consider the health risk factors that are exacerbating chronic diseases for adults:

• 59 percent of American citizens are overweight or obese
• Greater than 60 percent of American citizens do not get regular exercise
• More than 75% of Americans do not consume the minimum recommendations for fruits and vegetables
• Heart disease is the leading common cause of death and the leading cause of death in smokers
• 26% of employees stated they were frequently or very frequently burned out or stressed by their work  

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

Most Illnesses Can Be Prevented:  Although it sounds unrealistic, experts insist that avoidable 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 avoidable, and that 2/3 of all avoidable deaths are due to tobacco use, a sedentary lifestyle, and poor nutrition.

Stress Levels are On the Rise:  As company resources diminish and businesses adopt leaner work practices, the effects of absenteeism and lost productivity have a greater influence.  In a new nationwide poll, 78% of Americans described their jobs as stressful, and most believe that stress levels have increased over The previous ten years.  In addition, high levels of company stress can adversely affect a company by rising injuries, absenteeism, and health care costs while decreasing productivity.  Simple solutions such as stress management education, flexible work schedules, quality social interaction, and increased participation in company decision-making can better stress levels in the workplace.

What is the Upfront Cost and Time Investment for a Workplace Wellness Program?

The expenditure depends on the type of Employee Health Promotion Program implemented.  There are several options to reward employee health with pros and cons of each.  The program design depends on the goals and objectives of the wellness program, the corporation resources, and the neighborhood resources available.  

Enhancing nutrition, increasing physical exercise levels, managing stress or addressing work life balance issues, and reducing/eliminating tobacco use, are primary strategies for preventing many of the most common avoidable chronic diseases. The possibilities of how your business addresses these issues are endless and can range from increasing employee awareness, which may include purchasing a few brochures on a variety of topics, and measuring walking distances around your facility, to starting business support such as funding a full-time occupational health consultant or building an onsite fitness center.  

When well-planned and based on your objectives, any of these programs can help you succeed.  Refer below to Company Wellness Program Design Options for additional ideas.

A Corporate Health Promotion Program is a multi-faceted program to assist and support staff members in adopting healthier lifestyles.  This might possibly include growing employee awareness on health issues, scheduling behavior modification programs, and/or adopting employer policies that support health-related objectives.  Programs and policies that reward increased physical movement, 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 scope of optimal health include:

   • Spiritual Wellness,
   • Emotional Wellness,
   • Social Wellness,
   • Intellectual Dimension of Wellness

These dimensions are frequently depicted as a “life wheel” with examples of health components that include fitness, nutrition, purpose in life, financial organization, social health & support systems, stress management, mind-body health, career planning and ongoing learning.   The key to individual health is keeping the “life wheel” in balance.  A all-inclusive workplace wellness program addresses most, if not all, of these dimensions.

Why Corporate Health Promotion Programs?

workers invest a great deal of time working, and the fact of the matter is that our traditional work-week is growing.  In fact, the everyday American now works about 47 hours per week.  In addition, items such as modems, laptops, cellular phones, voice and email have confused the work-life boundary.  These realities decrease the amount of time that the average person is able to devote to wellness and health pursuits, and yet workers are predicted to be top of their game when at work.

A recent study by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses observed that workplace wellness or Employee Health Promotion Programs are efficacious in assisting employees to make beneficial health changes due to several factors such as convenience, environmental backing, and co-worker or social acceptance.  

What’s the Association between Wellness and the Workplace?

Programs and policies that encourage healthy behaviors can make a big difference on employee wellness AND impact the business’s bottom line.  Studies show that for each dollar invested by employers in Workplace Health Promotion Programs/wellness programs, there were savings between $1.49 to $4.91 with a median savings of $3.14*.  In business jargon, that’s more than a 3:1 minimum ROI – a number that is difficult to disregard, and a best practice that must draw serious consideration from employers.  In fact, a Workplace Health Promotion Program literature review posted in Health Promotion Practitioner Journal observed:

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

There is little doubt that a inclusive wellness program targeted to meet an enterprise’s specific needs can save money by lowering absenteeism, lowering health care expenditures, lowering employee turnover, and building work rate.

• The United States Department of Health & Human Services, 2003

Following cost, poor employee engagement and inadequate communications and support are listed as the greatest challenges for employers administering any health benefi t program.22

By law, employers 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.

Corporations that only engage in the minimally required due process communication of a Worksite Wellness Program, however, do a disservice to the plan and the company.

Opinions about Medical Care in businesses represent one of the largest disjoins between management and employees. In discussing the need for savings, most businesses (70%) believe their company effectively communicates about increasing Medical Care costs, while only 34% of employees feel increasing Medical Care costs effect their business’ ability to succeed.23 When it comes to behaviors, 74% of businesses believe their employees should be held largely accountable for improving, managing and maintaining health, yet only 4% of businesses think that employees 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 percent to 20 percent of the total expense of employee-only coverage may be appropriate.
- The program must be reasonably designed to promote great health or prevent disease for people in the program.
- The reward must be available to all similarly situated people. More specifically, the program must allow any individual for whom it is unreasonably diffi cult due to a health care condition to meet the Workplace Wellness Program standard (or for whom it is medically inadvisable to attempt to meet the Workplace 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 Company Wellness Program is not communicating. You need to tell people what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. You have to get workers engaged and inform them of what’s going on.”

A properly started Workplace Wellness Program is designed to save a business more money with greater participation. Still, a business must match its focus on program design with an equally strategic investment in efforts to take part workers in the initiatives.

Lay out your case – Despite widespread recognition of increasing Medical Care costs, staff members remain skeptical that the issue affects business operations. In fact, only 53% of staff members even believe what their business communicates about the subject.24 Employers need to be more candid and forthcoming about the amount they spend on Medical Care and how that relates to larger budgetary constraints and potential investments.

Says Motorola’s Saenz: “We share with employees that we have been able to maintain Motorola’s Medical Care spend trend below national average over the past decade due to their participation in our various Worksite 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 overall health benefi ts to the employee and not the organization. By personalizing the information in this way, it establishes a win-win scenario instead of presenting the program as a sacrifi ce on the part of the employee. Information ought to be presented through multiple channels, constructed in a way that makes sense to all levels of workers, and given to workers, dependents and retirees.

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

As noted earlier regarding PepsiCo’s HealthRoads, one strategy is for businesses to brand their Corporate Wellness 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 initiative helps employees and other stakeholders see the larger objectives and goals of the Corporate Wellness Program, instead of focusing on isolated offerings.

Say it loud, say it proud – As a potential cost-saving program, Employee Health Promotion Programs ought to be given the same executive backing and internal commitment as any comparable business effort. Businesses ought to not approach wellness as simply a preventive, financially-motivated program, but rather as an opportunity for the business to distinguish itself and become more competitive.

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

Companies should discover ways to facilitate discussions about the program among staff members. This could take the form of support groups, interactive media and the sharing of success stories.

However, since Corporate Health Promotion Programs touch on potentially private health problems, it is valuable communication remains positive and inclusive, while not pressuring workers. Discussion of wellness problems should be voluntary, though companies 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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