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

Company Wellness Program: A Range of Approaches

Although the goal is to eventually have a long-term, accross the board wellness program, some businesses prefer to begin with a single program at a basic level. By way of example, the first steps might be as simple as offering lunch-hour sessions on first aid or healthy eating; or they might launch a pilot project to discover how interested employees are to ensure employees needs are being met before taking on anything more ambitious. This approach supports a chance to show the effect on employees and the workplace so upper management will be more willing to consider a larger and more far-reaching plan.

Other employers plan a variety of drives to meet the needs of the different types of people that make up their workforce. And some decide to advance a sound corporation case, complete with a health plan, before setting out on any type of program. Organizations want to be sure that a new program is fully integrated with their overall corporation vision and mission.

Company Health Promotion Program: Success Factors

Whether your company chooses to think big from the outset or to activate with something smaller, always keep in mind the following key success factors:

• reinforcement and participation from senior staff;
• employee involvement in organizing;
• programs that meet employee needs;
• a realistic budget; and
• continuous review.

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

Good planning will help to be sure that your wellness program happens the way you want it to, and that costs can be identified in advance and kept within budget. Good planning prevents small concerns from becoming bigger.

Steps in Creating a Workplace Wellness Program

Obtain senior staff reinforcement. You may need to cultivate a business case to convince managers that the wellness program is a business strategy-that employee health and job satisfaction affects their work rate. workers need to see evidence that senior staff believes in and is committed to employee health.

Establish a planning committee. Participants are able to include representatives from employee groups as well as from human resources, health and safety, and communications.

Gather information. To prove that your Employee Wellness Program is beneficial, establish a benchmark before the program begins. You may wish to look at employee satisfaction, absenteeism rates, stress levels, prescription costs or WCB expenses. Review what workplace facilities are available to support workers to make healthy choices such as showers and change areas or a secure place to store a bicycle. Review employee needs through a survey or questionnaire, suggestion box or focus group. Communicate the results.

Design the plan to reflect the information gathered. Include program objectives, activities and how you are intend to measure whether your objectives were met. Keep the plan flexible. You may have to change direction in response to employee feedback or changes in the company’s structure.

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

Put activities in place. Provide a variety of activities that establish awareness, expand knowledge, advance skills, and support social interaction. (Activities could include walking clubs, participation in national campaigns such as Company Wellness Programs Week, SummerActive, WinterActive, corporate challenge, golf days, and newsletters that support information about area resources.) Workplaces can also make it easier for staff members to make healthy choices by providing flextime to allow staff members to fit exercise in when it is convenient or by subsidizing programs in cooperation with area or private fitness facilities. A policy on catering for gatherings can be sure that healthy foods are offered.

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

A wellness program doesn’t have to be complicated or a huge expenditure. Just do it. Get reinforcement from senior staff, bring a few committed people together to generate some ideas and get started.

How does it feel to walk into your workplace? Do people look happy? Is the place illuminated and cheerful? Do you feel welcome, wanted and energized? Or do you feel a gloom descend upon you, and count the hours until you are able to leave?
The influence of the workplace environment on the wellness and health of staff members is huge. First there is the physical look, feel, smell, and sounds of the place. Then you’re affected by the policies, like whether others are allowed to light up around you. After a while, more subtle factors start to affect you. Do your attempts to live a healthier lifestyle get recognized at work, or are they sabotaged? Are your managers inspiring you by being healthy role models? Do you get regular opportunities to discover healthier behaviors?
In a supportive environment, employees feel that the business they work for supplies them with encouragement, opportunity, and rewards for healthy lifestyles. And the spirit that results is highly contagious. Staff Members who feel cared are naturally more loyal and productive.
The following ideas will help you transform your workplace environment into one that actually supports the wellness of your workers and organization.

Worksite Wellness Program Ideas for Creating Supportive Environments

Wellness Friendly Facilities

When you enter a workplace, do you feel comfortable? Could you be happy working there? Is there sufficient light and clean air? Are there pleasant work areas, places to eat decent meals, take a walk before lunch? Close your eyes. How does it smell? Sound? Do the staff members have sufficient space?
• Vending machines with healthy meal choices like non-fat milk, fruits, sugar-free and caffeine-free beverages and low-calorie snacks
• Workout area, walking paths, playing fields, basketball hoop, or other physical activity opportunities onsite or nearby
• Cafeteria offers healthy foods including a salad bar with low-fat dressing
• Natural light is used whenever possible; all lighting is appropriate and adequate
• Heating and ventilation is adjustable, comfortable and healthful
• No cigarette machines, ashtrays, or smoking areas workplace
• Noise levels are safe and conducive to concentration
• Work station furniture conforms to ergometric standards
• Safety risks have been eliminated
• Lockers and showers are available for employees who exercise before work or during breaks
• Stairs are clean and well lit, convenient and pleasant to use
Familiarity can make it difficult to evaluate a workplace. People get used to stressful conditions and forget that conditions ever bothered them. It might provce useful to ask someone who is unfamiliar with your workplace to walk through with you. Professional consultants can also assist.

Proactive Wellness Policies

One clear way to impact behavior is through policies and procedures. If nurses aren’t permitted to work more than twelve hours in a row, there will be fewer medication errors. If parents are allowed flextime to manage their children’s needs, they’ll be less stressed. If workers are able to apply unused sick days to planned vacation time, they’ll save them up instead of calling in sick to utilize them all.

Supportive corporate policies may include:

• Seatbelt use demanded in business vehicles
• Drug and alcohol policies are appropriate to the industry
• Emergency procedures are developed, known, and practiced
• Flexible work schedules allow workers to exercise, go to children’s school conferences, etc.
• Nonsmoking policy is enforced
• Excessive overtime is discouraged
• Membership at fitness facility is partially reimbursed
• Shift employees are scheduled to allow adequate rest
• Medical Costs coverage rewards good health
• Rates of Absenteeism policy rewards employees who don’t use sick days
• EAP available to help workers with chemical dependencies, depression, family problems
• Meaningful consequences are used for unsafe, unhealthy, prohibited behavior.  Your employer may have a policy concerning alcohol use during work hours, but if everyone looks the other way when someone comes back from lunch reeking of beer, the culture is one that permits drinking at lunchtime-and one in which written policies are able to be safely ignored. Prohibited behaviors must be confronted promptly. Otherwise your policies become mere lip service instead of springboards to health.

Consistent Recognition And Rewards For Success

Attention, praise, and rewards are provided for wellness achievements.
You are able to show you value the Workplace Health Promotion Programs by celebrating your programs and those who’ve made lifestyle improvements in employer newsletters, on bulletin boards, and at yearly banquets, gatherings, and celebrations. Incentives are a direct way to show appreciation, too.
Wellness mentors are sought and applauded, too. Staff Members who support others’ efforts to improve their health are noticed and appreciated. Peer modeling and mentoring classes have the potential to bolster those who enjoy assisting others to step forward into a new role.

Managers Model And Support Healthier Behavior

Nothing could say “We encourage you to exercise frequently” better than a manager going on a bike ride during the lunch hour–or your supervisor sitting next to you in a weight management class. Wellness activities encourage relaxed interaction between people from different departments and at different echelons in the chain of command. That promotes relaxed communication and a feeling of solidarity that is pure gold.
Managers are able to also provide support for workers who are working on bettering their health. It doesn’t take anything fancy-just a “great job” or “nice to see you at the health club” has the potential to put a glow on the cheeks of most of us.
Managers are able to also help by allowing workers the flexibility to catch wellness activities.

Ongoing Employee Health Promotion Programs

It’s important to give staff members the sense that the wellness program is a permanent and important part of the employer, not a employer fad. That can activate as soon as a new employee is hired.
New employees are oriented to the wellness program as one of the employee benefits. Information about the program must be presented by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable person who encourages the new employee to take part.
The workers are familiar with the ongoing wellness programs.
The wellness programs and wellness coordinator are visible in the organization. Opportunities to participate are abundant and it’s easy to sign up.
A wide variety of awareness classes are provided. There are subject matters of interest for everyone.

These are simple events that can be done within your employer to excite healthy behaviors during a contest or during other times. The objective is to encourage employee participation. Some examples:
• Design a sub-committee of enthusiastic staff members who will help promote the exercise program by offering ideas, ideas and encouragement to fellow staff members.
• Establish monthly mailbox brochures to promote a contest or offer fitness-related education/encouragement information.
• Send a periodic voicemail on each member’s phone with encouraging wellness messages.
• Provide regular cumulative health progress reports.
• Offer low-fat or heart-healthy lunch selections weekly in your cafeteria or have staff members bring a healthy snack to share, with a recipe book compiled at the culmination of the contest or specified time period (such as a National Nutrition Month in March).
• Distribute employee gifts (pedometers or other novelty item related to some aspect of your contest theme) as registration kicks off.
• Allow workers “Fitness 15-Minute Walk Breaks;” company time to walk, exercise, etc. If appropriate, you could use a space not currently used to set up a treadmill, elliptical, bicycle, some no cost weights and relaxation music.
• Have a T-shirt design contest.
• Establish posters to map contest (or fitness) progress and to serve as reminder of your goals and objectives:
   • Use push pins or other identifiers for each individual to display in the office showing how they have progressed – staff members have the potential to get very creative with this and design pins that reflect their personalities.
   • Use a bar graph to compare progress.
   • Use a “thermometer” type graphic and color in progress – consider a different, fitness-related graphic all together and color it in as you progress.
• Provide aerobic dance or walking videos in your conference or break rooms.
• Compile a list of organized programs in the community that offer opportunities to get employees exercising by participating as a team (below are just a few):
   • Race For The Cure
   • March of Dimes Walk America event
   • Juvenile Diabetes Research
   • Foundation Walk to Cure
   • American Heart Association’s Heart Walk
   • American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life
   • American Lung Association’s Lung Run
   • Local marathons or special community walks or runs
• Establish or attend a health-and-fitness retreat or workshop.
• Have a soup-and-salad luncheon followed by a hula-hoop contest!
• Use the mall as an alternate walking location during inclement weather.
• Establish “Move it Mondays” – allow staff members to take an extra ten minutes at lunch for physical activity.
• Establish “Tasty Tuesdays” – support workers with low-calorie treats/snacks.
• Establish “Walking Wednesdays”- allow staff members to take an extra 10 minutes during lunch to walk, or “Wacky Wednesdays” that allow staff members to explore new exercises.
• Establish “Thirsty Thursdays” – make healthy smoothies or juice drinks for employees.
• Create “Fresh Fruit Fridays” for employee – offer seasonal fruit treats.
• Send weekly exercise tips to employees via the most effective communications vehicle in your workplace.
• Partner with another corporation representative for local media events coordinated through your advertising or communication department.
• Encourage departmental teams to challenge each other (examples: Customer Service, Marketing, Health Support).
• Designate walking clubs with executive/supervisory leadership.
• Seek out local aerobic opportunities or classes through churches, area groups, college, YMCA, etc.
• Contact several local area gyms and ask if they can or will offer group discounts for exercise programs, waive enrollment fees, or set up a 12-week program as opposed to signing an extended contract.
• Have a Frozen Yogurt Social – “Reap the Benefits of Fitness.”
• Map out a walking track around the building including the number of laps needed for one mile.

These are brief informational “Health Tips” in an e-mail format on many different health-related subject matters. You have the potential to appoint someone within your employer to find specific subject matters on the Internet from sites that are in the public domain or subject matters can be purchased from companies. Some qualified sources include:
• Hope Health
• Sound Ideas, Inc.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Institutes of Health

These e-mails are able to be sent daily, weekly or monthly. Our experience indicates weekly is the best frequency.

If the majority of your staff members do not have e-mail, consider offering the information to them through:
• Bulletin boards
• Check stuffers
• Mailbox stuffers
• Newsletters

SAMPLE #1 Worksite Wellness E-mail Messages

From: Corporate Wellness Program
To: Wellness Team
Subject: Layering for Exercise

One way to help ensure enjoyment of a winter walk (or run) is to make sure you’re dressed properly for the weather. And the secret to that, for a winter workout, is to dress in layers.
Layer 1 — Avoid 100 percent cotton in the first layer, next to your skin. Cotton holds moisture. Wear underwear made from manmade fabrics to wick perspiration away from skin.
Layer 2 — A zippered sweatshirt and sweatpants will keep you warm. Just open the zipper if you get too warm.
Layer 3 — If needed, over the sweatsuit, you have the potential to add a waterproof and windproof jacket. If it’s very cold, you may want to wear a jacket made with goose down.
Hands — Mittens will keep your hands warmer than gloves.
Feet — Wear socks made from wool or manmade fabrics that keep your feet dry and warm. Avoid 100 percent cotton socks. Don’t wear sneakers or boots that fit too tightly … this will restrict blood flow and your feet will end up feeling colder.
Head — About 40% of your body heat is lost through your head. Wear a hat and cover your ears.
Lips — Don’t forget lip balm containing sunscreen … even in winter!

SAMPLE #2 Job Site Wellness E-mail Messages

From: Workplace Health Promotion Program
To: Wellness Team
Subject: Energy Boosts

Need a boost of energy? Here are some ideas for tapping into your own energy sources — and most require little effort.
• Get an extra hour of sleep. No surprise here — it is able to make a sizable difference in your energy level the following day.
• Eat less more often. Have little, balanced meals or snacks throughout your day for a steady supply of fuel and energy. Make note of which foods seem to boost your energy level.
• Drink plenty of water. Dehydration leads to to fatigue, which you have the potential to offset by drinking water throughout the day.
• Avoid alcohol and caffeine. Both are able to contribute to dehydration and fatigue. They also tend to disrupt sleep patterns.

Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Programs are informational sessions planned and organized by you to meet specific goals. Decide on a topic and select a speaker. Select a site for the “Lunch and Learn” session, usually a lunchroom or break room. Depending on your budget and objectives, workers have the potential to brown bag the lunch or you might offer the meal. Meetings have the potential to be mandatory or elective, your choice.
Experience tells us the most success will be experienced if these Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Programs are elective and if the corporation supplies lunch.
Goals for Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Sessions

Education on a specific health issue. You may want to choose one of your group’s top diagnoses. Examples are:
• Diabetes – diabetes prevention and care by a certified diabetic educator
• Heart disease – cardiovascular health (individual counseling sessions with a dietician)
• Hypertension
• Hypercholesterolemia
• Flu and pneumonia
• Breast cancer – breast health or breast self-exam sessions can be taught by a trained instructor

Education on medical insurance benefits:
• Diabetes – what are the covered benefits, where to purchase diabetic supplies, support groups for workers with diabetes.
• Workplace Health Promotion Program Benefits
• Well baby/child care.

Education on the significance of enrolling in your health plan or local health department’s health education programs or disease management programs. Example programs:
• Diabetes
• Respiratory
• Low-Back Pain
• Cardiovascular
• Tobacco use

Community Resource Speakers for Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Programs
• Local health plan office
• Local heart association
• Local cancer society
• Pharmacies – many pharmacists are available to speak on pharmacy-related problems.
• Prescription Drug Corporations – countless businesses have standard presentations developed for employers that are given free of charge to use at your own direction. Some examples are:
   • Know Your Numbers (elevated blood lipids) – Pfizer
   • Respiratory Wellness (flu and pneumonia) – Pfizer
   • Men’s and Women’s Health – Pfizer
• Local gyms/personal trainers/YMCA – have the potential to discuss walking safety, advantages of walking, swimming and aerobics.
• Yoga and/or Pilates instructors
• Running, cycling club representatives
• Local dieticians
• Stamp Out Smoking – Tobacco Coalition representatives

Topics for Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Programs

• Bicycling – benefits and opportunities for cycling
• Nutrition and health (Heart Healthy lunch for all attendees)
• Heart health
• Women’s health issues
• How to recognize the signs and symptoms of heart attack and stroke
• National Employee Fitness Day within the office setting – Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness representatives can reward event
• Exercise tolerance and healthy heart issues
• Beginning an exercise program – include the importance of seeing the doctor before beginning of any new exercise program
• Self-defense
• Domestic abuse
• Safety in general
• Exercise safety
• Walking/running benefits and safety tips Tobacco dangers and avoidance

Conducting an Employee Fitness Challenge at your workplace is a fun and exciting way to raise awareness among employees about the significance of beginning and sustaining an physical activity program. It is a concentrated effort in which to engage them in physical activity for a specific time period that, hopefully, will help them start a healthy habit that will last a lifetime.
However, it is valuable to participate in wellness all year. This section provides a accross the board list of Corporate Health Promotion Program ideas that have been implemented within wellness programs.
All ideas presented in this section have been thriving for one or both of the entities. Each activity/idea has the potential to be used as a stand-alone event, even if you don’t conduct a fitness contest, or has the potential to be held in conjunction with your Employee Fitness Contest.
You may want to choose some of the ideas you believe will work for your employees or think of others and begin your initiative to foster a better state of health.

Studies have repeatedly established that inclusive Employee Health Promotion Programs, or Employee Health Promotion Programs, are able to reduce medical care and insurance costs, lower absenteeism, and better performance and productivity. Other benefits established in studies include improved ability to attract and retain key personnel, greater employee allegiance, and improved public conception of the organization.

Health Care and Insurance expenses

A number of research studies provide evidence of decreased medical and insurance costs for participants in Workplace Wellness Programs, especially wellness programs involving exercise.

For $30 per person, the Bank of America implemented a Workplace Wellness Program for retirees using a risk assessment questionnaire, self-care books and other mailed materials. Insurance claims were reduced an average of $164 per year in this group while they increased $15 for the control group. Since they were able to document significant changes in risk behavior, they anticipate greater savings in future years.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks participants claim $300 less per case for a 1-year savings of $700,000. Savings for conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle are $722 per case.

Coca Cola published a reduction in healthcare|medical|medical care|healthcare} claims with an physical activity program alone, saving $500 per employee per year for the staff members (60%) who joined their HealthWorks fitness program. Prudential Insurance Corporation reports that the business’s major medical expenditures dropped from $574 to $312 for each attendant in its wellness program.

Decreased Absenteeism

Absenteeism has been established to be impacted by wellness programs. The evidence indicates a significant decrease in absenteeism and resultant dollars saved as a result of employee exercise program.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks program diminished absent days .8 percent to save $2 million in one year. FitWorks participants also invested 3.3 days less on STD for an additional savings of $4.7 million.

Focusing Employee Wellness Program efforts on elevated-risk staff members is able to lead to better results. A national manufacturing company reports a decrease of 12.2% in illness days for these staff members.

A 2-year study by The DuPont Corporation of the effect of its inclusive Corporate Wellness Program on absences among staff members reports that blue-collar staff members at intervention sites had a 14 percent decline in disability days vs. 5.8 percent decline for controls. There were a total of 11,726 fewer net disability days.

Enhanced Performance, Productivity and Morale

A number of employers with Worksite Wellness Programs report documented improvement in job attitude, work success, energy level, and/or overall morale among program participants–all critical factors in enhancing work rate.

A Johnson & Johnson study saw that employee attitude changes were greater at Company Wellness Program intervention sites with significant beneficial attitude changes noted in the categories of company responsibility, supervision, working conditions, job competence/security, and pay/benefits.

In a Canadian government study, the Canada Life Assurance Organization experimental group realized a 4 percent increase in productiveness after starting a employer fitness program, compared to the control group. Further, 47 percent of program participants reported that they felt more alert, had better rapport with their co-workers, and generally enjoyed their work more.

Swedish investigators saw that mental success was significantly better in physically fit employees than in non-fit employees. Fit employees committed 27 percent fewer errors on tasks involving concentration and short-term memory, as compared with the success of non-fit employees.

The Bottom Line

The following sample of Corporate Wellness Programs wellness program results have been reported by individual employers:

Business: Dollars Saved/Dollars Spent

• Bank of America (Fries): $5.96/$1
• PacBell: $3.10/$1
• Wisconsin School District Insurance Group: $4.47/$1
• Prudential Insurance: $2.90/$1
• Bank of America (Leigh): $4.73/$1
• General Mills: $3.50/$1

Summary

There is compelling evidence that a large portion of the billions of dollars now being invested by employers on health-related expenditures is preventable by means of Worksite Health Promotion Programs. Well-planned, all-inclusive Worksite Health Promotion Programs (Worksite Health Promotion Programs and Worksite Health Promotion Programs) have been shown to be cost-effective, particularly when the Worksite Health Promotion Programs is matched to the health concerns of the specific employee.

Free Corporate Health Promotion Programs and Low Cost Health Management Alternatives

Design a no cost Employee Wellness Program or run a thriving health management program in the workplace for little or no cost to your organization. The benefits of workplace wellness and learning how to implement a health management program at work are numerous. The articles on health management have generated a variety of questions, mostly from wellness providers but also from corporations trying to implement their own wellness workplace programs. There are a number of things to do to implement a thriving health management program at work.

Suggestions for Starting a Free or Low Cost Company Health Promotion Program

Prior to starting a low cost or no cost wellness program for your corporation, learn more about what staff members desire. Survey staff members to learn more about their wellness issues. Keep the survey confidential to safeguard employees’ identities. Typically the most popular workplace wellness subject matters are tobacco cessation, weight loss issues and heart and cholesterol health.

Look for Corporate Wellness Program Freebies

Look for who will come in for no cost to talk to workers and look into partnerships with outside agents linked with workplace wellness. For example, contact a local branch of a well-known weight loss corporation and ask if someone can come in and talk to workers. Find agencies that are willing to come in and talk about topics related to wellness at no cost to workers, in exchange for something from you.

Find Worksite Health Promotion Program Partnerships

Working with a weight loss organization to set up a speaking engagement for staff members is an excellent opportunity to explore a potential wellness partnership. The weight loss organization may say that if ten staff members join the program, they will hold regular meetings at organization headquarters for the people who joined. The weight loss group also may offer organization staff members a discount if several people join the program.

Nonprofits an Untapped Health Leadership Resource

There are also plenty of nonprofit agencies who would be thrilled to visit a organization to discuss health management. But it’s up to you to offer them something in return. For example, if the MS Society came in and talked about the signs of MS, the organization could offer to organize an MS walk (in keeping with organization health management goals and objectives, right?), or an auction with employee and organization-donated items where the proceeds go to MS. The people at the nonprofit agencies would be glad to open a dialog with your organization and to talk about what they would want in return for a speaking engagement. In a myriad of cases, they won’t need anything at all for a first meeting.

Collecting Data and Reviewing Worksite Wellness Program Results

Collecting data and analyzing results of a Worksite Wellness Program is able to be tricky because of HIPPA laws. Nonetheless, if at least ten staff members joined the weight loss program, or 20 people participate daily in the all-new “Let’s Walk a Mile at Lunch” program, that sort of progress is able to speak strongly to senior staff. And, employer successes will potentially give senior staff more incentive to support money for additional health management and Worksite Wellness Programs in the future.

Small organization wellness programs are catching on. A well-designed wellness program can improve productiveness, boost morale and vitality, decrease stress, reduce absenteeism, and control avoidable medical care expenditures within a organization. The beauty of it is that you’re simply helping staff members to make smart choices so the expenditures of implementing a wellness program are minimal compared to the benefits.

Employee health is a major concern for small corporation owners. In a small corporation, even a few sick workers have the potential to disrupt the flow of the workplace and bring the operation to a standstill.

Rather than sitting back and hoping for the best, some small organization owners are taking the matter of employee health into their own hands by launching Employee Wellness Programs. Here’s how they work.

Overview of Workplace Health Promotion Programs

Employee wellness programs are programs instituted by the organization to improve the overall health of their labor force and to help individual workers overcome specific health-related hurdles. These programs can be offered in a variety of formats: In mandatory employee training sessions, as voluntary courses, or through an outside provider offering a wide-range of Employee Assistance Programs.

In every case, however, the business foots the bill for the programs because an investment in employee health is a business investment that directly impacts the business’s bottom line.

Why offer Worksite Health Promotion Programs?

Apart from the obvious issue for the health of your staff members, there are many other reasons why Company Wellness Programs make sense for small employers. From the get-go, your company will benefit from the lowered level of absenteeism that goes hand in hand with a healthy workforce.

Workplace Health Promotion Programs will also reduce the number of injuries that occur in the workplace, not just from accidents, but also from repetitive motion and other recurring sources. Since even a minor blip in worker attendance has the potential to have a large impact on a small corporation, a more reliable workforce will finally translate into a smoother work cycle and a more robust bottom line.

Worksite Health Promotion Program Features

Workplace Health Promotion Programs have the potential to cover a broad range of health-related issues. Based on your staff members’ needs, it’s entirely up to you to figure out the kind of programming you want to offer. Nonetheless, most Workplace Health Promotion Programs offer some at least some programs in the following areas:

• Nutrition. Diet is able to significantly influence an employee’s ability to do their job effectively. Nutritional programs educate employees about food options and equip them to make healthy dietary choices.
• Physical Fitness. In addition to diet, physical activity is an valuable factor in a healthy lifestyle. Company Wellness Programs usually offer employees with opportunities to incorporate physical activity into their daily lives.
• Tobacco Cessation. Statistics prove that smokers tend to fall ill more commonly than their non-smoking peers. Since sick staff members disrupt the workplace, tobacco cessation programs are a no-brainer for both employers and staff members.
• Physiological Testing. Many employers offer physiological as a regular part of their wellness programs. Cholesterol tests, Blood Pressure screenings, and other simple exams can provide early warning signs for more weighty issues.
• Stress Management. Stress itself takes a toll on staff members. Nonetheless, stress is also linked to other health issues such as depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Workplace Health Promotion Programs that help staff members deal with stress improve not only the mental health of your staff members, but their physical health, too.

Organize a Company Workplace Health Promotion Program for Your Employees Today

The advantages to starting a workplace health and wellbeing program are many.

A few corporate wellbeing and health tips to get staff members started on the path to a healthier lifestyle:

1. Look around, and determine if workers lead a healthy lifestyle before launching an Workplace Wellness Program. How many workers run outside during lunch for a tobacco break? Would a tobacco cessation program help? How often do the junk food-laden snack machines must be replenished? Is anyone working out or taking advantage of local walking trails as part of their healthy living goals/objectives? The answers to these questions will give corporations a clearer idea of the Workplace Wellness Program that’s right for them.

2. Survey employees to ascertain their healthy lifestyle habits. Are they exercising regularly? Eat three square meals a day? Have regular physicals? Really? Then what planet are they on? Because we would love to visit! A corporate wellness program benefits most employers because employees don’t have the time or energy to stay on top of health and wellness problems at work or when they leave the office to go home.

3. Give Company Wellness Programs a big kick-off with a healthy living “fair.” Offer staff members free flu shots, Blood Pressure checks, blood lipid screenings, body/fat ratio assessments, tobacco cessation programs and free mammograms- and contact the local hospital, because there’s plenty more where this came from. Businesses keep their staff members hopping during the week. Give staff members a chance to amp up their healthy lifestyle on the employer dime. A corporate health & wellness program is an additional benefit that staff members get for working for the employer!

4. Incent to live- offer cash money for employees to lose weight, commit to a tobacco cessation program and generally enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Promote humankind’s innate competitive nature by offering prizes for wellness and health employee “winners.” And, bolster a healthier lifestyle by sponsoring employees who want to enter a local 5K for charity race, run a marathon or play a sport.