Posts from — October 2010

o  Organize a launch event to develop excitement about upcoming activities and to develop a social climate that establishes being active as the norm.

o  Organize and promote monthly or bi-monthly company events that are fun and active, e.g., picnics with physical games, staff tournaments and dragon boat racing.

Be sure to encourage families to join in by including all-ages events like relay races, soccer matches, bocce ball and baseball games.

o  Begin a swim club at a local pool. Invite groups of staff to swim the distance of a nearby lake. Convert kilometres to lengths and reward staff who complete the swim.

Make certain to set up a challenge between personnel and managers to see who covers the greatest distance.

o  Post a sign-up board where staff can become a member of  group or find a buddy to take part in activities of interest.

o  Arrange a business badminton tournament that lasts a few months, with each employee playing once a week. Post the results as the tournament progresses.

o  Organize an office Olympics, World Cup, Wimbledon or Masters Games. Invite teams to compete in a few activities over a month. Reward everyone who participates.

o  Develop a point system in which one minute of activity is equivalent to one point. Make sure to set a target, and post a chart where all workforce can track their points. Reward the first group to reach that target.

o  Co-ordinate a stair climb challenge. Post a chart at the top of the stairwell, and encourage personnel to track the number of flights of stairs they climb each workday.

Be sure to set up teams, and award a prize to the first team to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest.

o  Post and promote a sign-up board for lunchtime walking groups.

o  Organize a walk “across the United States ” Pick a route, find out how many steps it’d take to walk that distance and challenge staff members to do it.

Provide or loan pedometers to employees, and ask them to record the number of steps they take. Or, if you cannot afford pedometers, track the minutes walked. Be certain to set up a challenge between employees and managers to see who can walk across the U.S.  first.

o  Co-ordinate a walk to work club. Acknowledge workforce who either walk to work or walk to public transit.

o  Have a volunteer group leader guide weekly lunchtime power walks.

o  Coordinate a million-step challenge. Form groups, challenge each group to walk a combined sum of a million steps and reward the winner. Departments or sites could compete with each other and with management.

o  Challenge staff to walk 10,000 steps a day. Buy pedometers for all participating staff or, if you can’t afford that, make pedometers available at a lowered rate.

Give tips for increasing daily steps, and reward staff members who succeed.

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

Health Promotion Program -  A Range of Approaches

Even though the goal is to eventually have a long-term, extensive health promotion program, some corporations prefer to begin with a single program at a basic level.

For example, the first steps may be as simple as offering lunch-hour sessions on first aid or healthful eating; or they could launch a pilot project to determine how interested staff are to ensure staff needs are being met before taking on anything more ambitious.

This approach provides a chance to show the impact on staff and the workplace so upper management are going to be more willing to consider a larger and more far-reaching strategy.

Other businesses plan a selection of health promotion programs to meet the needs of the different kinds of individuals  that make up their workforce.  And some decide to develop a sound organization case, complete with a health strategy, before attempting any kind of health promotion program.

Corporations want to ensure that a new health promotion program is fully integrated with their overall company vision and mission.

Wellness Program -  Success Factors

Whether your company chooses to think large from the outset or to begin with something smaller, always rememberthe following key success factors -

o  support and participation from management;

o  staff member involvement in planning;

o  health promotion programs that meet worker needs;

o  A realistic budget; and

o  continuous review.

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

Good planning will help to ensure that your health promotion program happens the way you want it to, and that costs could be identified in advance and kept within budget. Good planning avoids small problems from becoming bigger.

Steps in Planning a Health Promotion Program

Obtain upper management support. You might need to create a business case to convince managers that the health promotion program is a business strategyâ.”that employee health and job satisfaction affects their productivity. Staff Members need to see evidence that upper management believes in and is committed to employee health.

Establish a planning committee. Members can include representatives from employee groups as well as from human resources, health and safety, and communications.

Collect information.  To prove that your wellness program is beneficial, establish a benchmark before the wellness program starts. You may wish to look at employee satisfaction, absenteeism rates, stress levels, drug costs or WCB expenditures.

Assess what worksite facilities are available to support workforce to make healthful options such as showers and change areas or a secure place to store a bicycle. Assess worker needs through a recent survey or questionnaire, suggestion box or focus group. Communicate the results.

Create the plan to reflect the information collected. Include health promotion program goals, activities and how you’re going to measure whether your goals were met.

Keep the plan flexible. You could have to change direction in response to staff member feedback or changes in the company’s structure.

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

Put activities in place. Provide a variety of activities that develop awareness, increase knowledge, develop skills, and provide social interaction.

Activities could include walking clubs, participation in national campaigns such as Corporate Wellness Week, SummerActive, WinterActive, corporate challenge, golf days, and newsletters that provide information about community resources.

Worksites can also make it easier for personnel to make healthful options by providing flextime to allow personnel to fit activity in when it is convenient or by subsidizing wellness programs in cooperation with community or private fitness facilities. A policy on catering for meetings can ensure that healthful foods are offered.

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

A health promotion program doesn’t have to be complicated or a enormous investment. Just do it. Get support from management, bring several committed people  together to generate some ideas and get started.

How does it feel to walk into your worksite? Do individuals  look happy? is the place well lit and cheerful? Do you feel welcome, wanted and energized? Or do you feel a gloom come over you, and count the hours until you can leave?

The influence of the workplace environment on the wellness of employees is profound. 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 smoke around you.

After awhile, more subtle factors begin to affect you. Do your attempts to adopt 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 learn healthier behavior?

In a supportive environment, workers feel that the corporation they work for provides 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 worksite environment into one that in truth supports the wellness of your workforce and organization.

Wellness Program Ideas for Creating Supportive Environments

Health Promotion Friendly Facilities

When you enter a worksite, do you feel comfortable? Could you be glad working there? is there enough light and clean air? Are there pleasant work areas, places to eat decent food, take a walk before lunch? Close your eyes. Exactly how does it smell? Sound? Do the employees have enough space?

There’s no doubt that our physical environment affects us, from basic safety matters to subtle factors that can cause  or reduce stress. Healthy environments often have these features -

o  Vending machines with healthful food options like low-fat milk, fruits, sugar-free and caffeine-free beverages and low-calorie snacks

o  Workout area, walking paths, playing fields, basketball hoop, or other exercise opportunities on-site or nearby

o  Cafeteria offers healthy foods including a salad bar with low-fat dressing

o  Natural light is used whenever possible; all lighting is appropriate and adequate

o  Heating and ventilation is adjustable, comfortable and healthy

o  No cigarette machines, ashtrays, or use of tobacco areas on-site

o  Noise levels are safe and conducive to concentration

o  Be sure to work station furniture conforms to ergometric standards

o  Safety hazards have been eliminated

o  Lockers and showers are available for workforce who workout before work or during breaks

o  Stairs are clean and well lit, convenient and pleasant to use

Familiarity could make it hard to evaluate a worksite. Individuals  get used to stressful conditions and forget that conditions ever bothered them.

It may be useful to ask people  who are unfamiliar with your worksite to walk through with you. Expert advisors can also help.

Proactive Wellness Policies

One clear way to influence behavior is through policies and procedures. If nurses aren’t permitted to work more than twelve hours in a row, there are going to be fewer medication errors.

When parents are allowed flextime to attend to their children’s needs, they’ll be less stressed. When staff members can apply unused sick days to planned vacation time, they’ll save them up in lieu of calling in sick to use them all.

Supportive corporate policies may include -

o  Seatbelt use required in organization cars

o  Alcohol and drug policies are appropriate to the industry

o  Emergency procedures are developed, known, and practiced

o  Flexible work schedules allow staff to exercise, attend children’s school conferences, etc.

o  Nontobacco use policy is enforced

o  Excessive overtime is discouraged

o  Membership at exercise facility is partially reimbursed

o  Shift workers are scheduled to allow adequate rest

o  Medical care coverage rewards good health

o  Absenteeism policy rewards personnel who don’t use sick days

o  Worker assistance program available to help workers with chemical dependencies, depression, family problems

o  Meaningful consequences are given for unsafe, unhealthy, prohibited behavior.  Your corporation may have a policy against alcohol use during work hours, but if everyone looks the other way when someone comes back from lunch smelling like beer, the culture is one that permits drinking at lunch-and one in which written policies can be safely ignored.

Prohibited behaviors should 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 given for wellness achievements.

You can show you value wellness by celebrating your health promotion programs and those who’ve made lifestyle improvements in organization newsletters, on bulletin boards, and at annual banquets, meetings, 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 can encourage those who enjoy assisting others to step forward into a new role.

Managers Model and Support Healthful Behavior

Nothing could say “We encourage you to exercise often” 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.

Health Promotion activities promote relaxed interaction between people  from different departments and at different levels in the chain of command. That promotes relaxed communication and a feeling of solidarity that is pure gold.

Managers can also provide support for employees who are working on bettering their health. It does not take anything fancy-just a “good job” or “nice to see you at the gym” can put a glow on the cheeks of most of us.

Managers can also help by allowing staff the flexibility to attend wellness events.

Ongoing Health Promotion Programs

It’s imperative that you give workforce the sense that the health promotion program is a permanent and important part of the corporation, not a corporation fad. That can begin as soon as a new worker is hired.

New personnel are oriented to the health promotion program as among the staff member benefits. Information about the health promotion program ought to be presented by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable person who invites the new staff member to participate.

The personnel are familiar with the ongoing wellness programs.

The health promotion programs and wellness staff are well known in the business. Opportunities to participate are abundant and it is easy to sign up.

A wide variety of awareness courses are offered. There are topics of interest for everybody.

These are fun and easy events that can be done within your corporation to motivate healthy behaviors during a contest or during other times.  The goal is to encourage employee participation. Some examples -

o  Develop a sub-committee of enthusiastic personnel who will help promote the fitness program by offering ideas, suggestions and encouragement to fellow staff members.

o  Develop monthly mailbox flyers to promote a contest or provide fitness-related education/encouragement information.

o  Send a weekly voicemail on each participant’s telephone with encouraging wellness messages.

o  Give regular cumulative health progress reports.

o  Give low-fat or heart-healthy lunch selections once a week in your cafeteria or have workers bring a healthy snack to share, with a recipe book compiled at the end of the contest or specified time (such as a National Nutrition Month in March).

o  Distribute staff member gifts (pedometers or other novelty item related to some aspect of your contest theme) as registration begins.

o  Allow staff members “Fitness15-Minute Walk Breaks;” business time to walk, exercise, etc. When appropriate, you may use a space not currently used to set up a treadmill, elliptical bike, some free weights and meditation music.

o  Hold a T-shirt design contest.

o  Develop posters to map contest (or fitness) progress and to serve as reminder of your goals -

o  Use push pins or other identifiers for each individual to put up in the office showing how they have progressed â.” employees can get very creative with this and design pins that reflect their personalities.

o  Use a bar graph to compare progress.

o  Use a “thermometer” kind graphic and color in progress â.” consider a different, fitness-related graphic all together and color it in as you progress.

o  Provide aerobic dance or walking videos in your conference or break rooms.

o  Compile a list of organized events in the community that offer opportunities to get staff members exercising by participating as a team (below are just a few) -

o  Race for the Cure

o  March of Dimes Walk America event

o  Juvenile Diabetes Research

o  Foundation Walk to Cure

o  American Heart Association’s Heart Walk

o  American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life

o  American Lung Association’s Lung Run

o  Local marathons or special community walks or runs

o  Develop or attend a health-and-fitness retreat or workshop.

o  Hold a soup-and-salad luncheon followed by a hula-hoop contest!

o  Use the mall as an alternate walking location during inclement weather.

o  Designate “Move it Mondays” â.” allow staff members to take an extra 10 minutes during lunch for exercise.

o  Designate “Tasty Tuesdays” â.” provide workforce with low-calorie treats/snacks.

o  Designate “Walking Wednesdays”â.” allow workers to take an extra 10 minutes at lunch to walk, or “Wacky Wednesdays” that allow workers to explore new exercises.

o  Designate “Thirsty Thursdays” â.” make healthful smoothies or juice drinks for personnel.

o  Designate “Fresh Fruit Fridays” for staff â.” offer seasonal fruit treats.

o  Send weekly exercise tips to workforce via the most effective communications automobile in your worksite.

o  Partner with another corporation representative for local media events coordinated through your marketing and advertising or communication department.

o  Be certain to encourage departmental teams to challenge each other (examples - Clients Service, Marketing and Advertising, Medical Support).

o  Launch walking clubs with executive/supervisory leadership.

o  Seek out local aerobic opportunities or courses through churches, community groups, college, YMCA, etc.

o  Contact several local area health clubs and ask if they can or will offer group discounts for exercise plans, waive enrollment fees, or set up a 12â.”week program as opposed to signing an extended contract.

o  Hold a Frozen Yogurt Social â.” “Reap the Advantages of Fitness.”

o  Map out a walking track around the building including the number of laps required for one mile.

These are short informational “Health Tips” in an e-mail format on many different health-related topics. You can appoint someone within your company to find specific topics on the Internet from sites that are in the public domain or topics may be purchased from companies.

Some qualified sources include -

o  Hope Health

o  Sound Ideas, Inc.

o  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

o  National Institutes of Health

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

If the majority of your personnel don’t have e-mail, consider providing the information to them through -

o  Bulletin boards

o  Check stuffers

o  Mailbox stuffers

o  Newsletters

SAMPLE #1 Employee Health Promotion E-mail Messages

From - Health Promotion 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 are dressed properly for the weather.  And the secret to that, for a winter workout, is to dress in layers.

Layer 1 — Avoid 100% cotton in the first layer, next to your skin. Cotton holds perspiration. 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 when you get too warm.

Layer 3 — When needed, over the sweatsuit, you are able to add a waterproof and windproof jacket. When it’s very cold, you might 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. Prevent 100 percent cotton socks. Do not wear sneakers or boots that fit too tightly …  This will restrict blood flow and your feet will end up feeling colder.

Head — About 40 percent of your body heat is lost through your head. Wear a hat and cover your ears.

Lips — Do not forget lip balm with sunscreen … even in winter!

SAMPLE #2 Corporate Wellness E-mail Messages

From - Wellness Program

To - Wellness Team

Subject -  Energy Improves

Need an energy increase? Here are some ideas for tapping into your own energy sources — and most require little effort.

o  Get an extra hour of sleep. No surprise here — it can make a big difference in your energy level the next day.

o  Eat less more often. Have small, balanced meals or snacks throughout your day for a steady supply of fuel and energy. Make note of which foods seem to improve your energy level.

o  Drink plenty of water. Dehydration contributes to fatigue, which you can offset by drinking water throughout the day.

o  Prevent alcohol and caffeine. Both could contribute  to dehydration and fatigue. They also tend to disrupt sleep patterns.

Wellness Workshops are learning sessions planned and organized by you to meet specific objectives. Decide on a topic and pick a speaker. Pick a site for the “Lunch and Learn” session, ordinarily a lunchroom or break room.

Depending on your budget and goals, workers can brown bag the lunch or you may provide the meal. Meetings could be mandatory or elective, your option.

Experience tells us the most success are going to be achieved if these Wellness Seminars are elective and if the business provides lunch.

Goals for Wellness Seminars

Education on a specific medical problem. You might want to pick one of your group’s top diagnoses. Examples are -

o  Diabetes â.” diabetes avoidance and care by a certified diabetic educator

o  Heart disease â.” cardiovascular health (individual counseling sessions with a nutritionist)

o  High blood pressure

o  High cholesterol

o  Flu and pneumonia

o  Breast cancer â.” breast health or breast self-exam sessions could be taught by a trained instructor

Education on health insurance benefits -

o  Diabetes â.” what are the covered benefits, where to purchase diabetic supplies, support groups for personnel with diabetes.

o  Health Promotion Program Benefits

o  Well baby/child care.

Education on the importance of enrolling in your health plan or local health department’s health education programs or disease management programs. Example programs -

o  Diabetes

o  Respiratory

o  Low-Back Pain

o  Cardiovascular

o  Tobacco use

Community Resource Speakers for Wellness Workshops

o  Local health plan office

o  Local heart association

o  Local cancer society

o  Pharmacies â.” many pharmacists are available to speak on pharmacy-related issues.

o  Pharmaceutical Organizations â.” many businesses have standard presentations created for employers that are provided free of charge to use at your own direction. Some examples are -

o  Know Your Numbers (high cholesterol) â.” Pfizer

o  Respiratory Health Promotion (flu and pneumonia) â.” Pfizer

o  Men’s and Women’s Health â.” Pfizer

o  Local gyms/fitness trainers/YMCA â.” can discuss walking safety, advantages of walking, swimming and aerobics.

o  Yoga and/or Pilates instructors

o  Running, cycling club representatives

o  Local hospital nutritionists

o  Stamp Out Smoking â.” Tobacco Coalition representatives

Topics for Wellness Workshops

o  Biking â.” benefits and opportunities for cycling

o  Nutrition and health (Heart Healthful lunch for all attendees)

o  Cardiovascular health

o  Women’s health issues

o  How to recognize the signs and signs of heart attack and stroke

o  National Staff Member Fitness Day within the office setting â.” Governor’s Council on Fitness representatives can promote event

o  Exercise tolerance and healthy heart issues

o  Beginning a workout program â.” include the importance of seeing the doctor before the starting of any new exercise program

o  Self-defense

o  Domestic abuse

o  Safety in general

o  Exercise safety

o  Walking/running benefits and safety tips Tobacco dangers and avoidance

Conducting an Staff Member Fitness Challenge at your worksite is a fun and motivating way to elevate awareness among staff members about the importance of starting and sustaining an exercise program.

It’s a concentrated effort in which to engage them in physical activity for a specific period that, hopefully, will help them start a healthful habit that’ll last a lifetime.

Notwithstanding, it’s vital that you practice wellness year-round. This section provides a comprehensive list of Wellness Program ideas that have been implemented within wellness programs.

All ideas presented in this section have been successful for one or both of the entities. Each activity/idea may be used as a stand-alone event, even if you don’t conduct a fitness contest, or may be held paired with your Staff Member Fitness Contest.

You might want to pick some of the ideas you think will work for your workforce or think of others and begin your program to develop a better state of health.

Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that extensive wellness programs, or Wellness Programs, can lower healthcare and insurance costs, decrease absenteeism, and improve performance and productivity.

Other benefits demonstrated in studies include improved ability to attract and retain key personnel, greater worker allegiance, and improved public image of the company.

Health Care and Insurance Costs

A number of studies provide evidence of lower medical and insurance costs for participants in health promotion programs, namely health promotion programs involving exercise.

For $30 per person, the Bank of America conducted a health promotion program for retirees using a risk assessment questionnaire, self-care books and other mailed materials. Insurance claims were decreased an typical of $164 a 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 one-year savings of $700,000. Savings for conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle are $722 per case.

Coca Cola announced a reduction in healthcare claims with an exercise program alone, saving $500 per worker each year for the workforce (60%) who joined their HealthWorks fitness program.

Prudential Insurance Corporation reports that the company’s major health costs dropped from $574 to $312 for each participant in its health promotion program.

Lowered Absenteeism

Absenteeism has been proven to be impacted by corporate health promotion and health promotion programs.  The evidence indicates a significant reduction in absenteeism and resultant dollars saved then of staff member exercise plans.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks wellness program lowered absent days .8% to save $2 million in one year. FitWorks members also spent 3.3 days less on short-term disability for an additional savings of $4.7 million.

Focusing wellness efforts on high-risk workers can lead to better results. A national manufacturing business reports a decrease of 12.2% in illness days for these workers.

A two-year study by the DuPont Business of the effect of its robust health promotion program on absences among employees reports that blue-collar employees at intervention sites had a 14% decline in disability days vs. 5.8% decline for controls. There were a total of 11,726 fewer net disability days.

Improved Performance, Productivity and Morale

A number of employers with health promotion programs report documented improvement in job attitude, work performance, energy level, and/or overall morale among health promotion program participants–all crucial factors in enhancing productivity.

A Johnson and Johnson study found that staff member attitude changes were greater at wellness intervention sites with significant positive attitude changes noted in the categories of organizational commitment, supervision, working conditions, job competence/security, and pay/benefits.

In a Canadian government study, the Canada Life Assurance Company experimental group realized a 4 percent increase in productivity after starting an employee fitness program, compared to the control group.

Moreover, 47% of health promotion program participants announced that they felt more alert, had better rapport with their coworkers, and usually enjoyed their work more.

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

The Bottom Line

The following sample of corporate wellness wellness program results have been announced by individual businesss -

Company -  Dollars Saved/Dollars Spent

o  Bank of America (Fries) -  $5.96/$1

o  PacBell -  $3.10/$1

o  Wisconsin School District Insurance Group -  $4.47/$1

o  Prudential Insurance -  $2.90/$1

o  Bank of America (Leigh) -  $4.73/$1

o  General Mills -  $3.50/$1

Summary

There is compelling evidence that a sizable portion of the billions of dollars currently spent by employers on health-related costs is avoidable by means of wellness programming.

Well-planned, robust wellness programs (wellness programs and worker wellness programs) have been proven to be cost-effective, especially when the wellness programming is matched to the health problems of the specific worker

Free Wellness Programs and Affordable Health Management Alternatives

Begin a free health promotion program or run a successful health promotion program in the office for little or no cost to your corporation.  The benefits of employee health promotion at work are many.

The articles on wellness program have generated a selection of questions, mainly from wellness providers but also from companies attempting to begin their own wellness programs. There are a number of things to do to begin a successful wellness program at work.

Suggestions for Beginning a Free or Cheap Wellness Program

Before beginning a inexpensive or free health promotion program for your company, learn more about what workers want. Survey workers to learn more about their wellness concerns.

Keep the survey confidential to protect employees’ identities. Typically the most popular company wellness topics are smoking cessation, weight reduction concerns and heart and cholesterol health.

Look for Employee Wellness Freebies

Find out who will come in for free to speak to workers and explore partnerships with outside agents related to employee health promotion.

For  instance, consult a local branch of a well-known weight loss corporation and ask if someone can come in and speak to personnel. Look for agencies that are willing to come in and talk about topics related to wellness at no cost to personnel, in exchange for something from you.

Find Corporate Health Promotion Partnerships

Working with a weight loss corporation to set up a speaking engagement for employees is the perfect opportunity to explore a potential wellness partnership.

The losing weight organization may say that when 10 personnel join the health promotion program, they will hold weekly meetings at organization headquarters for the individuals  who joined.  The losing weight group also may offer organization personnel a discount when a few individuals  join the health promotion program.

Nonprofits an Untapped Health Management Resource

There are also plenty of nonprofit agencies who would be thrilled to visit a business to discuss health management. But it’s up to you to offer them something in return.

For  instance, if the MS Society came in and talked about the signs of MS, the company could offer to organize an MS walk (in keeping with company health management goals, right?), or an auction with employee and company-donated items where the proceeds go to MS.

The people  at the nonprofit agencies would be glad to open a dialog with your corporation and to talk about what they would want in return for a speaking engagement. In many cases, they will not need anything at all for a first meeting.

Accumulating Data and Evaluating Health Promotion Program Results

Gathering data and evaluating  results of a health promotion program can be tricky because of HIPPA laws. Nevertheless, if at least 10 personnel joined the weight loss program, or 20 individuals  participate daily in the all-new “Let us Walk a Mile at Lunch” program, that sort of progress can speak strongly to senior-level management.

And, company successes will potentially give management more incentive to provide money for more health management and health promotion programs in the future.

Small corporation wellness programs are catching on. A well-designed wellness program can increase productivity, boost morale and vitality, reduce stress, lower absenteeism, and control avoidable healthcare costs within an organization.

The beauty of it’s that you’re simply helping workforce to make smart choices so the costs of beginning a wellness program are minimal compared to the benefits.

Worker health is a major concern for small company owners. In a small shop, even a few sick workforce can disrupt the flow of the worksite and bring the operation to a standstill.

Instead of sitting back and hoping for the best, some owners are taking the matter of worker health into their own hands by starting worker wellness programs. Here’s how they work . . .

Overview of staff member wellness programs

Worker health promotion programs are programs initiated by the corporation to enhance the overall health of their labor force and to help individual staff overcome specific health-related hurdles.

These health promotion programs can be offered in a variety of formats -  In mandatory staff training sessions, as voluntary seminars, or through a third-party provider offering a wide-range of staff member assistance programs.

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

Why offer worker wellness programs?

Apart from the obvious concern for the health of your personnel, there are a few other reasons why employee wellness programs make sense for small companies. Right off the bat, your company will benefit from the reduced level of absenteeism that goes hand in hand with a healthful workforce.

Wellness programs will also reduce the number of injuries that occur in the worksite, not just from accidents, but also from repetitive motion and other recurring sources.

Since even a minor blip in employee attendance can have a large impact on a small business, a more reliable workforce will inevitably translate into a smoother work cycle and a more robust bottom line.

Wellness Program Features

Wellness programs can cover a wide range of health-related topics. Based on your employees’ needs, it is entirely up to you to determine the kind of health promotion programming you want to offer.

Nevertheless, most worker health promotion programs offer some at least some health promotion programs in the following areas -

o  Nutrition. Diet can significantly impact an worker’s ability to do their job effectively. Nutritional programs educate employees about food choices and equip them to make healthy dietary choices.

o  Fitness. In addition to diet, exercise is an important factor in a healthful lifestyle. Wellness programs frequently provide employees with opportunities to incorporate exercise into their daily lives.

o  Use of tobacco Cessation. Statistics prove that smokers tend to fall ill more frequently than their non-use of tobacco coworkers. Since sick staff members disrupt the workplace, use of tobacco cessation programs are a no-brainer for both corporations and staff members.

o  Physiological Testing. Many corporations offer physiological as a regular part of their wellness programs. Cholesterol tests, blood pressure (BP) screenings, and other simple exams can provide early warning signs for more serious problems.

o  Stress Management. Stress itself takes a toll on employees. However, stress is also linked to other health problems like depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Wellness programs that help employees deal with stress improve not only the psychological health of your employees, but their physical health as well.