Health And Wellness In The WorkplaceHealth And Wellness In The Workplace

Health and Wellness in the Workplace: Making a Difference

To make a difference in the lives of your fellow staff members, you first need to grasp that getting active is not simply a matter of choice. Some things are within our individual control, but others are molded by the individuals and circumstances in which we live and work.

It’s Easier to Be Active When…

• We know what to do and have the confidence, skills and opportunity to do it.
• It’s fun. “Working out” at the gym does not appeal to everyone. Activities need to reflect what individuals enjoy.
• Our friends, family or co-staff members are active with us (or at least support us).
• We feel safe, thanks to well-lit streets or stairwells.
• Sidewalks, walking/biking trails, parks and gyms are nearby.
• We have money to pay for equipment, instruction or memberships.
• We can walk, bike or take public transit to work.
• Active choices such as taking the stairs, having stretch breaks during meetings and going outside during lunch are “normal” in the worksite.
• Managers support and recognize employee efforts. Better yet, they take part.
• We can juggle our work hours to fit in physical activity.

Consider how you might set up some of these conditions in your worksite. By taking these steps, you’ll increase the likelihood that staff members both want and are able to be active during the workday.

Workplace physical activity pushes that focus only on individuals have limited success. Research shows that reaching people in multiple ways gives the strong chance of long-term success.

A strategy directed at multiple levels is also called an “ecological approach.”

Health and Wellness in the Workplace: Assessment Matters

The sort of evaluation you choose depends on when you do it and the kind of information you gather.

This section outlines when to use three types: formative, process and summative evaluations.

During the Development Stage of a Wellness Program

Use formative evaluations in the planning stages to ensure that your program is built on solid information. These evaluations also help you to foster effective and appropriate materials and procedures.

Examples of formative evaluations include:

• records of senior staff commitments to the program
• employee interest surveys
• workplace environmental assessments
• pre-testing of program materials

During Your Wellness Program

A process evaluation is used when the plan is underway. These evaluations help you:

• track what is going well and what isn’t (and how to revise your program)
• learn if you are reaching the staff members you want to reach
• describe the plan to others
• monitor who is participating in the program

During or Following Your Wellness Program

Summative evaluations take place when the plan is already in place or completed. Use this type of evaluation to measure what employees like about the plan and what could be improved.

All three types of evaluations have their place. The assessment you choose depends on the time and monetary resources you have available.

What Do You Wish to Achieve?

Ponder why you’re evaluating and what your assessment is going to measure.

If you’re trying to learn whether plan has been thriving, see if you followed your mission statement and met your goals/objectives.

If you do not have a mission statement or objectives and goals, decide with senior staff and your employee Employee Health Promotion Program Committee how your organization will measure success.

By way of example, you can measure success by changes in:

• Physical measures (e.g., strength, flexibility, waist circumference of staff members).
• Psychological measures (e.g., employee morale, satisfaction levels, stress levels).
• Productivity measures (e.g., decrease in absenteeism rates, increased employee productivity).

Thinking About workers

If you’re considering making improvements to the program, consider whether the program is still relevant and appropriate for staff members. Find out if there are any barriers to participation in the program or to participation in physical activity during work.

As employees are the ones participating in the program, it’s valuable to give them a chance to offer feedback on the physical exercise plan.

Choosing an Evaluation Method

Decide on your evaluation method. Both measurable results (e.g., absenteeism rates or questionnaire responses) and descriptive results (e.g., one-on-one interviews or focus groups) can be used to evaluate. The method you choose will hinge upon the time and funding available and what you want to measure.

Deciding How to Do the Assessment

Decide when and where you will do your evaluation (and who will be evaluated). For more information, read the “Types of Evaluations” section on this website.
You may want to pilot test your assessment (e.g., with members of the Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee) before sending it out to employees. The employee Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee may also want to evaluate the initiative’s planning process.

Doing the Assessment

• Compare your results to baseline information (i.e., assessment results from before the launch of your program). If you don’t have this information, save your assessment results to compare with later results. You can also look at other information you may have, such as employee satisfaction survey results.
• Analyze and disseminate meaningful and simple-to-understand results with upper management and employees.
• Assessment results can be used to better the current physical activity program and/or to cultivate new pushes in future.

Prior to kicking off your Workplace Physical Activity Program, summarize the information you’ve gathered and plan your next steps.

At this point, you have

• gained backing from upper management for the Workplace Physical Activity Program
• formed an Worksite Wellness Program Committee
• assessed what is possible in your workplace
• found out what employees want and need in a Workplace Physical Activity Program.

Based on this information, you’re now ready to develop your action plan to stimulate physical activity at your workplace.

With the Company Wellness Program Committee, take the following steps.

• Combine the outcome of the employee survey with the workplace environmental assessment, and report to management and workers.
• Prioritize the possibilities at each of the “levels” (individual, social, employer, community, policy) in the workplace listed in “Keys to Success”. By way of example, suppose a large group of employees show an interest in biking to work. Since these people may want to shower and change after their commute each day, you might give showers and changing facilities priority in your workplace. Bike racks might also be significant for making employees’ bikes secure during the workday.
• Consult the list of practical recommendations found this website.
• Create a mission statement (one which aligns with your organization’s overall mission statement) to define your purpose and help guide your process. Setting goals/objectives will help you achieve your mission statement.
• Put together a plan or blueprint discussing what you have learned. Make program and exercise recommendations with timelines, identify resources and assign responsibilities. Revisit the list of tasks outlined in “Step 2: Forming an Employee Committee.” Seek upper management approval to move ahead.
• Once your program is in place, it’s valuable to promote it to staff members. Organizing a launch is a good way to do this. A formal launch also demonstrates management responsibility. If staff members aren’t aware of the program, they can’t take advantage of it!
• Decide what you need to track to show that you have reached your goals/objectives. Measure these factors before you start. This way, when you evaluate later, you will know if there has been a change.

To succeed in encouraging physical activity during the workday, you must discover what employees need and want. They are the people whose behavior you are trying to effect, so it’s important to be aware of their needs and gain their backing.

The Employee Interest Survey

Ask employees questions that allow you to assess such key characteristics as age, sex, social relationships, family responsibilities and current physical activity participation.

It’s significant to know this information so that your physical exercise initiative meets employees’ needs. Workers aren’t going to participate in something they’re not interested in.

Ask workers what they want, and then start changes that fit with their needs and working conditions. For example, workers may not wish to do activities that make them sweat, because they do not want to shower at work.

Ask employees what the business could do to make it easier for them to be more physically active during work. If there’s a common trend throughout your organization, a single change could affect much people.

By way of example, suppose a big group shows interest in biking to work. They may want to shower and change after their commute. You might give priority to installing workplace showers and changing facilities. Secure bike storage might be valuable as well.

If you’re launching a program that requires going outside, begin in the spring. By the time winter comes around, participation is already a habit.

Involving employees is key to expanding physical exercise participation rates. People are more willing to take part in and support physical exercise initiatives when they are involved in decision making.

The following tips will help you produce your own employee interest survey:

• Keep it short (no longer than 10 minutes to complete).
• Make sure employees know why you are doing the survey.
• Rather than using all open-ended questions, which can be long and difficult to analyze, ask people to choose from a drop-down list of possible responses.
• Ask for comments and suggestions in one open-ended question at the end.
• Make it confidential and anonymous. Do not request information that may identify a person.
• If you’re including a list of possible programs or environmental changes, be sure your workplace has the facilities and resources to offer them.

Workplace Physical Activity Programs: Forming an Employee Committee

Although backing from the top is vital to a successful program, backing from other staff members is also valuable.

Once you get the go-ahead from management, identify others who are interested in the project and form a Company Health Promotion Program Committee to help determine the next steps. Depending on the size of your workplace and the amount of employee time management is willing to contribute, this Company Health Promotion Program Committee may be advisory or may plan and carry out the program.

The Employee Health Promotion Program Committee might include employees from human resources, occupational health and safety and finance. It’s also a good idea to involve employee from other areas who have an interest in promoting physical exercise. Terms of reference will define the boundaries of the project. For example, it’s significant for the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee to have clearly defined and understood tasks. Possible tasks include the following:

• Assessing your workplace environment
• Carrying out an employee interest survey.
• Creating a mission statement and goals and objectives.
• Writing a physical exercise or wellness policy declaring the organization’s responsibility to physical exercise.
• Brainstorming program ideas.
• Promoting, communicating and marketing the plan.
• Coordinating specific activities.
• Deciding how the program will be evaluated.
• Continually assessing what is or isn’t working and adjusting the plan.

Before making plans to bolster physical exercise during work, it’s significant to discover what is “doable” in your workplace.

You don’t want to raise employee expectations by offering something that’s not feasible due to funding or space limits. For example, it’s not realistic to suggest putting in a fitness facility if there’s no space for it. Be open, however, to creative ways around limitations.

Workplace Physical Activity Programs: Finding out What’s Feasible in Your Workplace

Check with recreation departments or fitness facilities for diagrams of the local walking trails or underground pedways. Great walking trails may be right around the block from your workplace.

Below are some inquiries to help you assess your workplace:

• What facilities or opportunities does your work space provide that make it easier to be physically active during work? By way of example, do you have stairs, bike racks, showers, space for a fitness facility, factory walking lanes?
• What nearby facilities or opportunities could employees use to be more physically active during work? Are you close to sidewalks, walking trails, neighborhood centres, bike lanes for active commuting and/or exercise facilities?
• What resources are available?
• Can the plan access funds, personnel, space, equipment, facilities?
• What is the structure of your business? For example, consider employee size, working hours, number of sites, unusual shifts, length of lunch breaks and ability to use flex time.

Gaining senior staff reinforcement is critical to the success of a physical activity program.

Whether the changes you’d like to make involve the work environment, overall policies or specific programs, successfully implementing your ideas is dependent upon senior staff backing.

Support from upper management is critical for 3 reasons:

• You need their support to involve staff members in a workplace initiative.
• When management pays attention to and supports initiative, employees also see the initiative as worthwhile.
• Senior Leadership has the power to give work time and money to support the plan.

It’s important to keep senior staff involved throughout a physical exercise plan, but at three points you’ll need support for:

• An central concept, including a go-ahead to evaluate what workers want to do within the limitations of your workplace environment.
• A detailed plan (based on the assessment above) coupled with resources to carry out the plan.
• Evaluating the initiative to improve it along the way or to advocate for continuing or expanding the initiative.

Approaching Senior Management

Prior to approaching management to gain initial backing for promoting physical activity during the workday, do your homework.

• Prepare a company case clearly outlining how the company will benefit by promoting physical exercise during the workday.
• List the individual, social and corporate benefits of physical activity and the benefits of being active during work.
• Present some basic ideas about what the program could include. See the Success Stories and Ideas sections on this website to highlight what other workplaces have done.

Expect questions such as the following from upper management:

• How will this help our organization?
• How can we encourage employees to participate?
• How much will it cost to operate this program or make this change?
• How will we know a year from now whether or not this was a meaningful use of time and resources?

Ask managers about the types of activities they would support. Often managers have their own ideas they would like to see acted on to improve the workplace.

Remember to include middle managers when gaining support for your plan. They may be very helpful when you need volunteers to lead teams in corporate physical activity challenges.

In today’s organization atmosphere, the health of workers is often related to the health of the organization. Increased job satisfaction, improved morale, reduced illness and injuries, and increased work rate are just some of the advantages of having healthy workers. Promoting health in your workplace does not have to be be complicated, expensive or time-consuming. Any organization, big or little, can reward healthy eating and active living in the workplace. Here are some ideas:

Healthier Eating

• For breakfast gatherings, instead of serving donuts, sizable muffins, cookies, tea and coffee with cream and sugar, offer healthier alternatives such as bagels, small muffins, fresh fruit, water, 100% fruit juice and milk with coffee and tea.
• For lunch meetings, avert serving chips, fried foods, rich pastas, and salads loaded with dressing. Instead, offer sandwiches, bagels, whole grain low fat crackers and cheese, 100  percent fruit juice, water, salads with dressing on the side, vegetable and fruit trays.
• Fully reimburse (or partially reimburse) employees for items purchased to better their health (e.g. healthy eating cookbooks, consultation with a Registered Dietitian).
• Arrange for the cafeteria or food vendors to offer healthy meal choices.
• Arrange to have healthy choices like bottled water, 100 percent fruit juice, fruit bars, and raisins available in vending machines.
• Provide a means for people to share healthy recipes with each other (for example, posting recipes on the Intranet, on posters or by e-mail).

Active Living

• Create programs and group activities to advocate employees to become active, such as walking programs, contests and challenge programs, stretch breaks, team sports or participation in local or provincial programs.
• Offer onsite health professionals (e.g. personal trainers, fitness instructors) or incorporate this service in Employee Assistance Programs to help workers work towards physical activity objectives.
• Give a supportive environment in the workplace that makes healthy choices easy: bike racks, shower facilities, clean, safe and accessible stairwells, walking or running routes in the vicinity of the workplace, and fitness center facilities.
• Provide|Offer|Give} flex time so that workers have more opportunities to take part in physical activity programs as part of their working day.
• Reimburse health club membership fees, fitness class registrations, and fitness equipment purchases.
• Give corporate fitness center memberships to cut costs of individual memberships.

Keeping It Fresh!

Find a champion to:

• Create lunch ‘n learn sessions to offer information and motivation for healthy eating and active living.
• Invite demonstrators to provide cooking lessons or tips for making healthy foods.
• Display a list of local restaurants that offer healthy diet choices on their menus.
• Distribute information to educate workers on portion sizes.
• Include physical exercise and nutrition information in newsletters, pay check inserts, bulletin boards or e-mails.
• Establish activities that reward healthy eating and physical activity. By way of example, start a year-round lunch-time walking club, and special activities

Can a small business support workplace wellness? You bet! In fact, in some ways it is easier to set up a healthy workplace in a small business than in a sizable business.

Limited resources, especially in small organizations, can keep a corporation from setting up a Worksite Health Promotion Program. Reasons can include:

• lack of fiscal resources;
• lack of employee;
• lack of senior-level reinforcement;
• minimal knowledge of the wellness concept and;
• issue about making wellness available to all employees.

According to the Wellness Councils of America, some small corporation owners may have a flawed idea of what is involved in maintaining a Employee Wellness Program. Some employers aren’t certain that a program would truly work and others feel that trying to change personal lifestyle behaviours is intruding and “none of their business”.  Maybe they do not understand that it need not be costly and that they do not need special employee. They may not be aware that some employee would like to see some healthy changes and would help make things happen in their workplace.

It Can Be Done

Many small companies have found ways to have a Worksite Health Promotion Program that works for them. They keep the expense and effort to a minimum and still have results that are positive for everyone. In 2006, Graham Lowe wrote a report on the best places to work in Calgary. He said that healthy workplaces often have a “positive workplace culture”.  In a workplace with a positive culture, individuals feel appreciated, valued, and trusted.

Dr. Lowe says it is easier for a small workplace to have a positive workplace culture than for a sizable workplace. Many employees prefer to work for a small business, he says, because it supports more opportunities to work closely with others and foster a sense of community.

In his report, Dr. Lowe says the most thriving companies with fewer than 100 employees have:

• excellent employee benefits;
• policies that reward a balance between work and personal life;
• flexible schedules;
• competitive salaries;
• excellent leadership with an emphasis on teamwork;
• environmentally responsible corporation policies;
• procedures for seeking employee input; and
• a focus on placing employees’ personal well-being ahead of the personal gain of Upper Management.

All or most of these elements are also elements of an effective Workplace Wellness Program.

Tips and Ideas

There are various ways to include health and wellbeing in a small employer. You may not necessarily need a wellness consultant or a fancy fitness center. What you do need is support from senior staff and a Company Wellness Program Committee of a handful of committed people. Below are some ideas that your workplace can consider.

Communications and Promotion

• Send out a regular “wellness” newsletter on paper or internet based. Or send out a simple message such as the weekly Healthy U Hot Tip.
• Utilized promotions that are ready-designed, such as Healthy Workplace Week.

Active Living and Healthy Eating

• Urge employee to sign up for the Stairway to Health stair climbing contest.
• Have pedometers for staff members and count their steps.
• Rent a nearby school or neighborhood fitness center and offer exercise classes.
• Hire a local fitness instructor to give classes or lead stretch breaks. Expenses can be shared with staff members.
• Install safe bicycle parking.
• Offer healthy alternatives at employer meetings and lunches.

Policy and Company Initiatives

• Enlist an ergonomics professional to assess workstations.
• Create policies to support work-life balance (for example, mandatory vacations, flextime, limits to work and e-mail on personal time).
• Offer a wellness subsidy for a variety of health and leadership activities and courses.
• Offer monetary incentives/rewards to be healthy.
• Offer wellness rewards and incentives as rewards and recognition for a job well done.
• Conduct an company health audit.
• Become a partner with the neighborhood (for example, daycare, gyms, festivals, parks, restaurants).
• Spread the workload. Set up a Employee Wellness Program Committee.

Small companies may not have a lot of time, money, or human resources available for a Workplace Health Promotion Program. But they often have a big advantage over big companies-a beneficial workplace culture. That is a great foundation for a Workplace Health Promotion Program. When staff members are satisfied, enjoy their work environment, they are more beneficial, and tend to be healthier.  With a little creativity and passion, small companies can foster efficacious Workplace Health Promotion Programs. Get support from upper management, create a Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee of two or more and discover the possibilities!

Workplace wellness is in the process of evolving.

Early efforts to set up healthy workplaces focused on safety at the workplace and injury prevention for staff members.

More recently, programs are designed to assist  workers to choose healthier behaviors like being more physically active or stopping smoking. Campaigns to raise awareness, educational sessions to expand knowledge, opportunities to acquire new skills, and changes to policies to make it easier for workers to make healthy choices are frequently included. This approach is taken because the workplace is a good way to reach individuals, since most adult Canadians invest a large part of their day at work.

While safety and lifestyle programs are 2 aspects that contribute to the health of employees, workplace wellness is more effective when a third factor is brought into the equation-the environment at work.

How the workplace affects health.

Increasingly, it is recognized that the workplace itself has a powerful affect on people’s health. When individuals are satisfied with their job, they are more advantageous and tend to be healthier. When employees feel that the environment at work is harmful, they feel stressed. Stress has a big impact on employee mental and physical health, and in turn, on productivity.

Consultant Graham Lowe has identified 5 components of workplace culture that directly affect employees’ health and the health of the company overall-credibility, respect, fairness, pride, and camaraderie. The underlying idea is that corporations must genuinely care about the well-being of their employees.

Companies today who want to attract and keep great employees have leaders who understand the association between employee satisfaction and employee health and believe that workplace wellness is a employer plan.  Their management practices include making reasonable demands on time and energy, involving employees in decision making, rewarding work well done, openly communicating, and offering support to balance work and home life.

Employers know that employees are looking for jobs that compensate well, have good benefits, are interesting, and include good health and safety programs. So in today’s competitive hiring market, it’s become more significant than ever for corporations to enhance job satisfaction and ensure that employees enjoy being on the job. Workplace wellness benefits both employers and employees.

How does workplace wellness profit the company?

A workplace wellness program can help a corporation to:

• attract and keep workers;
• lower the costs of disability, prescription drugs, and absenteeism;
• lower the effects of a stressful workplace;
• lower health expenditures or keep them contained; and
• better morale by creating a happy, supportive environment.

How Do Employee Wellness Programs Profit staff members?

staff members of companies that have a Corporate Wellness Program are likely to have:

• increased awareness and knowledge of ways to improve their health;
• a better (less stressful) workplace;
• increased protection from injury;
• improved health and wellbeing;
• higher morale and greater job satisfaction;
• increased productivity and performance at work;
• reduced personal medical care expenditures; and
• a more relaxed/flexible approach to health problems.

Both employers and staff members have a responsibility for creating a healthy workplace. Staff Members are expected to arrive at work in great health, and the company is expected to support an environment that allows staff members to maintain great health, enjoy their work, and contribute to the company’s success.

Workplace wellness is much more than a “lunch and learn” program. It’s about planning a “people first” approach to doing business. It’s about taking care of employees, implementing a beneficial work environment, and paying attention to the factors that keep employees healthy and happy at work. A good Company Wellness Program has an influence on employees’ mental, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual wellness.