Employee Health Promotion

As with any program, the two most important components for the effectiveness
of your wellness program are senior staff support & employee involvement.
Senior Management determines the vision and provides the resources from which
action plans flow. Genuine support from senior personnel also brings credibility
to the wellness plan. It is that senior staff be visible supporters and role
models for your Employee Health Promotion .

employees need to be involved on several echelons so that they feel ownership
of the wellness program. Employees are the program stakeholders! All employees
must have an opportunity to offer input and feedback through needs & interest
surveys and program assessment tools. The information gathered must be used
to plan programs that target those needs and interests to ensure participation,
buy-in, and support.

There are several methods to identify employee needs and interests
such as:

• Directing Employee Focus Groups
• Discussing Wellness Interests During Department gatherings
• Administering and Summarizing a Needs & Interest Survey
• Including a Time to Give Suggestions on Each Evaluation Tool

Any one or combination of several techniques will be sure that the wellness
program meets what employees want.

Step 3 supplies additional information on determining wellness program needs.
But first, implementing a Employee Health Promotion Committee can help you involve
senior staff & employees, determine need, and plan your wellness program.

Tags 1: Employee Health Promotion, Building Support for your Program
Tags 2: Employee Health Promotion, Employee Health, Building Support for your Program
———————- Article #6 —————————–
Title:- Employee Health Promotion : Form a Employee Health Promotion Committee

Establishing an active Employee Health Promotion Committee supplies opportunities
for both senior staff and employee involvement in the program. The Committee
must be a team of employees and managers who formally meet to plan activities
to reward healthier employee lifestyles.

Typical Functions of a Employee Health Promotion Committee:

• Reviewing needs & interests
• Brainstorming program ideas
• Creating activities
• Creating communication plans
• Promoting programs to co-employees
• Serving as champions of the Employee Health Promotion
• Assisting with assessment

Your Employee Health Promotion Committee must be representative of all echelons
of the organization. Consider all sections of the workforce – multiple
sites, shift employees, diversity (race, gender, ethnicity), and departments.
It’s also important to consider who will chair or co-chair the Employee
Health Promotion Committee and whether or not there are the finances to support
a Employee Health Promotion manager or occupational health consultant, even
on a part-time or contractual basis. Click here for more information on the
benefits of a health consultant.

Depending on your organization size and resources, if you already have a organization
Safety Committee you might want to consider making it the Safety & Employee
Health Promotion Committee. You can request volunteers or invite employees to
take part.

The number of Employee Health Promotion Committee members depends on the size
of your organization; however, you need sufficient members to get the work done
and yet not too many to keep it manageable, usually at least 4 members and maximum
of 12 to 15 members. It’s important to include skeptics of wellness as
well and not just those employees already practicing healthy lifestyles.

Depending on your worksite, consider representatives from the following
areas:

• Employee representatives from a cross section of different departments,
• Senior Management
• Health and safety consultant(s),
• Human Resources (HR) consultant(s),
• Employee benefits representative or someone from finance,
• Your Employee Assistance Program(EAP) provider (if applicable), Click here
  for more information on EAPs
• Occupational health employee (if applicable).

Establish an effective Employee Health Promotion Committee! The Employee Health
Promotion Committee must meet often with a planned agenda and action items.
Successful Wellness Committees have a shared mission, vision and goals/objectives.
Members need to believe that their participation is worthwhile and appreciated,
that their work is important, benefits the organization and co-employees, and
they are recognized for their contributions. Refer to the NC Workplace Programs
section for examples of what other organizations have implemented.