Health And Wellness In The WorkplaceHealth And Wellness In The Workplace

A Worksite Health Promotion Program without goals and objectives is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you won’t know where you’re going, how to get there, what you want to do once you have arrived, or even whether or not you have arrived!  The trip may end up ok, or it may end up disastrously.  Yet, with a bit of thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a successful experience.  Clear goals and objectives are needed to plan your wellness program in order to ensure success!

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

Workplace Wellness Program Mission Statement

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

Here are some examples of Employee Wellness Program mission statements:

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

“It is the mission of the XYZ Employee Health Promotion Program Committee to advance healthier lifestyle choices to lower health risk factors, improve central wellness, and maintain a constructive, active work force.”

Employee Health Promotion Program Goals

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

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

• Reduce absenteeism by one day per employee
• Decrease musculoskeletal injuries by ten percent
• Lower unnecessary emergency room visits
• Lower or contain health care expenditures
• Improve dietary habits of workers
• Cut down on health risk factors  

Worksite Wellness Program Objectives

Specific Company Wellness Program objectives help meet your long-term goals and objectives.  Both short term and long term objectives must be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and objectives.  In addition to objectives for the expected colleague outcomes, process objectives must also be developed for the program process itself.  For example, process objectives may include the number of employees you want to participate in the programs, the number of sessions on a topic will be offered, the type of wellness sessions that will be implemented, etc.

Objectives need to be easily measurable within a set time frame.  Try using the SMART formula to establish both your long and short-term goals and objectives:

• Specific (one behavior or outcome)
• Measurable (one result that can be inspected or evaluated),
• Attainable (but also challenging),
• Realistic (do you have the resources to achieve?), and
• Time specific (within 3 months – up to 5 years)  

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  For example, an intention for a weight loss program that has an overriding goal of improving healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that:

Participants (who) will lose an average of .5 – 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) at the end of the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per colleague (attainable and realistic).

Or:

Members (who) will attend 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier eating change at the end of the program (specific what, when, where)

An example of an objective for coaching workers with high blood lipids might be:

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

And one last example of a process objective for a smoking cessation program with an overall intention to help  participants in committing to quit for life:

By the end of the 4-week smoking cessation program, 10% of the participants will have quit smoking.  Each participant will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process goal) and 10% of those who quit will still be smoke-free after one year.

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