Developing a Wellness Program.

As organizations today continue to compete in the global economy, cost containment strategies will be increasingly important. Controlling the rising cost of worker ill health is becoming a priority for corporate leaders.

The emerging corporate culture in the USA  is one which has an worker population centered in health, safety and wellness.

Developing a corporate strategy for wellness and disability management makes good company sense. the following eight-step process ensures a strategic, integrated, needs-driven and results-oriented approach.

The following process works best in organizations with strong leadership and a long-term commitment to employee health.

1. Identify Your Program Champion

This individuals ought to be a leader in your organization and a strong advocate of health. Ordinarily this is a personal who actively pursues his or her own personal quest for optimal health.

The program champion must’ve the resources and authority to drive the program forward. the program champion’s key role is to ensure the strategic plan for health is aligned with the corporation’s corporation objectives, strategic focus and organizational values.

For  instance if the organization promotes that “our strength is our individuals ” the wellness program must demonstrate how programs will nurture and protect that valuable resource.

2. Form Your Wellness Strategy Team

The Wellness Strategy Team should include decision makers and stakeholders from areas of the corporation that can influence health and the corporation’s bottom line.

These areas may include; finance, HR, training and development, health services, compensation and benefits, worker assistance services (EAP), marketing, facilities, health and safety, rehabilitation, cafeteria or food services and the union. A team of six to eight representatives is advised.

The role of the Strategy Team is to develop and implement the strategic plan, look for opportunities to promote health, ensure the program is integrated into key areas of the organization, streamline efforts, maximize company resources and program investigation.

3. Complete an Organizational Health Audit

The purpose of an Organizational Health Audit is to evaluate your existing programs and services, physical environment and policies and procedures that support health.

It is also important to look at your organizational culture or “how things are done” around the company.

Members of the Strategy Team complete the Audit independently and then meet to discuss their evaluation. During the evaluation process, health issues and opportunities are discussed in preparation for the development of the strategic plan.

4. Analyze Your Corporation’s Cost Pressures

Cost pressures are identified by evaluating  a number of areas including; benefit costs, Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) claims, drug usage, type of paramedic claims, absenteeism data and EAP utilization.

This process helps to target areas that may be positively impacted by a wellness program and to provide a baseline for assessing  change.

5. Conduct a Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal} or Employee Needs and Interest Survey

The next step is to determine your employee’s health risks, interests and readiness to change. A confidential health risk (assessment|appraisal} can accomplish many goals.

It provides a baseline from which to measure personal lifestyle changes, provides staff members with relevant medical information, excites staff members to take charge of their health and assists in program planning.

Most health risk (assessment|appraisal}s provide individual reports and a corporate report identifying high-risk areas in the business.

Many organizations prefer to administer personalized needs and interest survey to evaluate employee needs. the advantage of this approach is that the business can gather information on the employees’ perceived wellness needs and program interests.

This information may be incorporated into the strategic plan. Administering a recent survey also has the added advantage of fostering a sense of employee ownership to the program.

6. Create Your Strategic Plan for Wellness

The strategic plan should incorporate information accumulated from the Organizational Health Audit, your corporation’s cost pressures, and health risk (assessment|appraisal} data or employee survey results.

The strategic plan should include your program mission, three or four goals and a few programs under each objective. the strategic plan provides a framework to encourage, support and evaluate “best health practices.”

It is also important that the plan align itself with the vision, objectives and objectives of the organization.

The sample strategic plan that follows was developed for blue jeans maker Levi Strauss and Co. (Canada) Inc. Levi Strauss and Co.’s mission statement and aspirations (how staff members interact with each other in a business environment) guided the development of the plan.

Levi Strauss and Co.’s aspirations include the following statement -  Above all, we want satisfaction from accomplishments and friendships, balanced personal and professional lives, and to have fun in our endeavors.

The wellness program plan included a number of components to ensure that it embraced this statement including the following -

1. A vision statement, which tied in with the corporation’s aspirations.

2. an incentive system to encourage and reward the accomplishment of healthful milestones.

3. A recognition system to applaud success.

4. Friendly competitions between Levi Strauss and Co. locations to ensure a fun environment.

5. Opportunities to participate in small group educational programs to foster team support.

6. Initiation of support groups for staff members completing wellness programs (i.e. tobacco use control support group).

7. Programs dealing with work and family balance.

Other information that was assessed and used to create the plan included -

1. Company demographics

2. Focus groups

3. Cultural audit

4. Top drug report

5. employee assistance program utilization

6. Staff Member benefit services report

7. Health and dental claims

8. Operational performance summaries

9. Health risk (assessment|appraisal}s

7. Prepare a Corporation Case to Support Your Plan

Your corporation case for wellness provides the necessary details for approval at the  executive management level. the corporation case includes -

1. the Strategic Plan for Health

2. A proposed program budget

3. Advertising and Marketing strategies

4. Program leadership options

5. an implementation plan

6. Evaluation methodology.

In presenting the strategic plan it’s important to highlight how the plan aligns itself with the strategic direction of the organization.

The program budget should include educational resources, marketing costs, rewards and incentives, leadership costs and supplies.

Advertising and Marketing strategies should address how the program will be promoted and rolled out to various groups within the organization i.e. decentralized locations, high risk employees, older employees.

Program leadership should address how volunteers will be used, internal resources  and whether advisors have been proposed. All play an equally important role in the implementation of your wellness program.

The program implementation plan should incorporate the following kinds of programs that help develop awareness of positive health practices, assist workers in making lifestyle changes and initiatives, which support long-term change.

Awareness programs create an awareness of the importance of healthy lifestyle practices and motivate employees to take the next step. Examples of awareness programs include posting educational posters, newsletter articles and brown bagger seminars.

Lifestyle change programs are more comprehensive and longer in duration. They are designed to assist employees in changing behavior. Examples of lifestyle change programs are nutrition education programs, stress management programs, back care classes and smoking control programs.

A supportive corporate environment encompasses everything from corporate policies and procedures, the physical environment and creating a corporate culture that supports good health practices. Follow-up sessions and support groups for employees who have completed 6-10 week wellness programs also provide a supportive environment for long-term change.

Evaluating the effectiveness of wellness is ongoing. A formal analysis should be conducted annually and may include; re-administering steps three to five, program participation statistics and a year end survey to revisit “soft” issues such as morale, program satisfaction and future program direction.

8. Solicit Input and Communicate Your Plan

Employee input is vital to the long-term success of your program. an Employee Advisory Committee should be formed to roll out the plan. Another key responsibility of this team is to solicit feedback from all levels of the organization to ensure buy-in.

Front line Manager’s Information Sessions and focus groups are also important. This group needs to buy-in to the notion that they play a key role in supporting positive health practices.

Regular meetings are recommended with front line managers to receive ongoing input, address issues and orient new managers.

Conclusions

The World Health Corporation’s definition of health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of illness and infirmity.”

In order for us to create healthy workplaces, wellness programs must have a program champion, have staff member ownership, be management supported, results driven and strategically aligned with the overall company goals of the organization.

Wellness program that embrace these qualities will have a positive impact on an corporation’s bottom line. Canadian research points to many case studies where onsite programs have resulted in decreased absenteeism, lower claims and increased productivity.

Organizations who have embraced wellness as part of “how they do business” have one thing in common. They demonstrate a commitment to their most valuable resource - their individuals .

They understand the increased pressures associated with downsized organizations, a rapidly changing workplace, an aging work force and the challenge of balancing work and family obligations. and they share a common belief that healthful workers are happier, absent less and more productive.

References -

Design of Wellness Programs by Michael P. O’Donnell. 1995. Published by the American Journal of Wellness.

Pro Fit-ability by Veronica Marsden. Group Health Care Management. May 1997.

Meeting Expectations by Laura Mensch. Employee Health and Productivity. August 1999

7 Steps to Wellness by Daphne Woolf and Veronica Marsden. Group Healthcare Management. February 1996.

Published in the Journal of Wellness for Northern Ireland, Issue 9, March 2000