How to Start an Employee Wellness Program
Employees today are dealing with more stress at their workplaces. As levels of stress increase, fitness and overall well-being decline. People in all positions are expected to work longer hours and juggle more responsibilities. This is contributing to the decline of overall employee health. As a result, wellness programs at large and small businesses are gaining popularity. A well-designed program can increase productivity, boost morale, reduce stress, reduce absenteeism, and control preventable health care costs.
Steps
- Conduct a survey to find out what types of services and programs their fellow co-workers would be interested in and to provide guidance on all phases of the program. It is often helpful to form a committee of employees to conduct a survey. Form a committee of representatives from all organizational levels, areas, and other groups, so you can have a range of opinions represented. In this committee, think about including people from your organization or corporation that have responsibility for some aspect of employee health or well-being, such as human resources, employee benefits, occupational health and safety, the employee cafeteria, and employee unions.
- Determine what type of lifestyle your employees are leading. How many employees take smoke breaks throughout the day? If you have a vending machine, how often does it need to be refilled? Do your employees exercise regularly? Do they eat 3 balanced meals a day? Do they go to the doctor regularly for checkups? Looking at questions like that will provide you with a better sense of the types of programs from which your employees would benefit.
- Have a kick-off "healthy living fair". Offer employees free flu shot, blood pressure checks, cholesterol screenings, BMI assessments, smoking cessation programs. Work with your local hospital to coordinate these events.
- Have a health or wellness event every week. The Healthy Monday campaign, which is associated with Columbia University?s Mailman School of Public Health, encourages people to use Monday as the day for all things health and prevention. This will start the week out on a good note and employees will appreciate the opportunity to improve their health on their company?s dime! Employers could organize Monday walks, free fruit on Mondays, or Monday health screenings.
- Encourage physical activity outside of the office as well. If employees want to enter a local run or walk for a charity race, run a marathon, or take a fitness class, sponsor them!
- Set up a program to assist employees suffering from problems of abuse or addiction, depending on the policies in your workplace. While some companies may choose a zero-tolerance policy for drugs, other companies may choose to offer on-site counselors to encourage employees to quit smoking, drinking, or using drugs. Using work site health promotion to help as many employees overcome their addictions will benefit the entire company.
Tips
- If your organization is small, you may want to link with other small businesses, government agencies, or local non-profit organizations.
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Start an Employee Wellness Program. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.