Less turnover and better ability to attract new talent
Good return-on-investment - wellness programs don’t have to be expensive to show reduced health and benefits costs
Healthy workers are good for business! Organizations that support employee health create positive work environments. As a result, employees tend to be more engaged, satisfied with their jobs and devoted to company success.
What is a healthy workplace?
A healthy workplace (PDF) is one where employers, employees, and other partners combine efforts to enhance the wellbeing of people at work. Every organization can build a wellness program to suit its unique needs. Successful programs make sure that:
the workplace is free of hazards to physical safety
employee mental health is promoted and protected
healthy lifestyle behaviours are encouraged
the business is involved in supporting a healthy community
What’s involved in having a workplace wellness program?
Developing a workplace wellness program begins with gaining commitment from all workplace groups, especially management. This ensures that everyone is working towards the same goal and that the program has the resources needed to be successful over time.
Key steps:
Determine who needs to be involved (business owners, managers, human resources, unions, employee groups, etc.).
Establish a Workplace Wellness Committee made up of members from various levels and sectors in the workforce, including at least one senior leader.
Develop a Terms of Reference.
Designate an Workplace Wellness Champion.
Gather information and present a business case that outlines the potential benefits.
Secure buy-in from management that goes beyond endorsement. Leaders should also allocate resources to the program, be actively engaged and encourage staff to participate.
Put a written policy in place that formally adopts the program.
Collaborate with the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, Psychological Health and Safety Committee, and other committees as appropriate.
One of the first tasks of the Workplace Wellness Committee will be to gather and analyze workplace data in order to understand the needs of employees and of the organization. This step is essential for making sure that the Workplace Wellness Program targets the most important areas. It also establishes baseline data to measure the impact of the program in the future.
Key steps:
Develop an assessment plan that outlines what data will be gathered and how.
Examine information on absenteeism, benefits costs, etc.
Conduct surveys and/or interviews with employee groups about what’s important to them. Remember to protect confidentiality!
Audit the work environment.
Review current policies and practices.
Reflect on previous health initiatives, considering what worked well and what didn’t.
Analyze the information gathered. Look for trends over time and areas for improvement.
Make sure all employee groups have been included.
Select the high priority areas that the workplace wellness program will aim to address.
Summarize and communicate the main findings from the assessment and decisions on priority areas to all collaborators, including leadership and employees alike.
TBDHU offers workplaces support to conduct workplace assessments. Email workplacewellness@tbdhu.com.to learn more about our customizable employee interest survey and our comprehensive workplace wellness scorecard.
A healthy workplace plan details how the Workplace Wellness Committee will address the priorities identified in the needs assessment. Thoughtful planning at this stage will help to avoid surprises and roadblocks later.
Key steps:
Develop a strategic plan that outlines goals, objectives, activities, roles and responsibilities, timelines, budget, etc. The plan should:
Combine organizational and individual approaches to address the unique needs and priorities identified during at the assessment stage.
Integrate physical health, psychological health, personal health resources and community involvement.
Build a corporate culture of health.
Include input from leadership.
Engage employees at all levels of the organization and from all work groups.
Provide staff with incentives for participating.
Include approaches for how to promote the program to all staff.
Use evidence-based strategies and include activities that are technology-based.
Consider what data to collect to monitor progress and evaluate the program later on.
Involve external professionals, as appropriate.
Recognize any training needs required for the program to be successful.
Carrying out the Workplace Wellness Plan is what this step is all about. As the program is underway, keep in mind that it’s important for organizational leaders to be continuously involved and employees to be engaged.
Key steps:
Implement the Workplace Wellness Plan ensuring that offerings are available to all workers.
Provide ongoing communication that promotes the wellness activities, the benefits of participating, changes to any policies, etc. It is ideal to have this communication come from leadership as it demonstrates that employee wellness is important to the organization.
Respect each employee's choice to participate.
Track participation in wellness activities and collect other helpful information for measuring progress later on.
Make program adjustments as needed. If the program appears to be faltering, examine reasons as to why and how it could be improved.
Maintain strong linkages with the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, the Psychological Health & Safety Committee, and other groups as appropriate.
Encourage employees to provide ongoing feedback and ideas to the Workplace Wellness Committee, either formally or informally.
Orient any new staff to what the organization offers to support employee wellness.
Evaluating the Workplace Wellness Program shows what difference it is making and helps to maintain management support. Measuring progress helps to identify how the program can be refined. Improvements can be captured in an updated plan that continues to build a healthier workplace.
Key steps:
Review data already gathered and collect any new information needed to measure the quality and impact of the wellness program. This could include an employee survey to assess satisfaction with activities. Participant testimonials can also help demonstrate program success.
Analyze the information collected. Compare data to what was collected at the start of the program, if possible.
Consult with employees for their perspectives to better understand evaluation data, if needed.
Reflect on what is working well and what can be enhanced.
Celebrate achievements.
Disseminate evaluation results to organizational leadership and to employees at all levels. Highlight successes of what is working well to promote employee wellness.
Refine the plan as needed to improve the program.
Continue with efforts to build a healthier workplace.
TBDHU is here to help you build a healthy workplace at every step. We offer:
Guidance on building and implementing a workplace wellness program. We offer support to do a workplace wellness assessment. Ask us about our Workplace Wellness Scorecard and how we can help you conduct an Employee Interest Survey.
Membership on the wellness@work network where workplace health promotion champions receive e-mail updates, invitations to education events, and information about other activities and resources.
