The process
After you’ve determined a health awareness focus for your employee population, you can create a plan of action.
“You have to help employees get rid of the day-to-day baggage they carry around,” Robinson says. “Creating a culture of health will not only promote any health programs you start but will help relieve employees of stresses when they participate.”
You also need to make an assessment of your workplace wellness environment. Identify strengths and areas that need improvement. Enforce no smoking on the campus; provide healthy choices in vending machines and the cafeteria.
“Employees may have trouble focusing at work,” Robinson says. “This can have everything to do with having a sugar rush, then quick depletion of energy. Provide healthy food alternatives in the office.”
Provide health tips, programs, discounts to gyms and other information through multiple delivery sources. Some employees are more receptive to e-mails or newsletters — or they just need to hear the same message multiple times to get motivated into action.
“Many believe the dollars are soft from wellness programs,” Sims says. “But they do come. Wellness programs are part of the solution to high health cost problems. No matter what options employers choose, if employees don’t take care of themselves, everyone’s costs will be higher.”
