Employee Health Promotion

As organizations today continue to compete in the worldwide economy, expense containment strategies will be increasingly valuable. Controlling the rising expense of employee sickness is becoming a priority for corporate leaders. The emerging corporate culture in this country is one which has an employee population centered in health, safety and wellness. Establishing a corporate strategy for Employee Health Promotion Programs and disability management makes great business sense. The following eight-step process ensures a strategic, integrated, needs-driven and outcome-oriented approach. The following process works best in organizations with strong leadership and a long-term responsibility to employee health.

1. 1. Identify Your Employee Health Promotion Champion

This person ought to be a leader in your organization and a strong advocate of health. Most often this is an individual who actively pursues his or her own personal quest for optimal health. The program champion must have 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 business’s objectives, strategic focus and business values. For example if the organization promotes that “our strength is our people” the wellness program must corroborate how pushes will nurture and protect that valuable resource.

2. 2. Form Your Employee Health Promotion Strategy Team

The Employee Health Promotion Strategy Team ought to include decision makers and stakeholders from sections of the business that have the potential to influence health and the company’s bottom line. These areas may include; finance, human resources(HR), training and development, health services, compensation and benefits, employee assistance services (EAP), marketing, facilities, health and safety, rehabilitation, cafeteria or diet services and the union. A group of six to eight representatives is recommended. The role of the Strategy Team is to cultivate and enable the strategic plan, look for opportunities to encourage health, ensure the program is integrated into key areas of the organization, streamline efforts, maximize business resources and program evaluation.

3. 3. Complete an Corporation Health Audit

The purpose of an Corporation Health Audit is to evaluate your existing programs and services, physical environment and policies & procedures that support health. It is also valuable to look at your business culture or “how things are done” around the business. Participants of the Strategy Team complete the Audit independently and then meet to discuss their evaluation. During the evaluation process, health problems and opportunities are discussed in preparation for the development of the strategic plan.

4. 4. Analyze Your Organization’s Cost Pressures

Cost pressures are identified by analyzing 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 have the potential to be positively impacted by a Employee Health Promotion and to offer a baseline for evaluating change.

5. 5. Conduct a Health Risk Appraisal or Employee Needs & Interest Survey

The next step is to determine your employee’s health risks, interests and readiness to change. A confidential health risk appraisal can accomplish a myriad of goals/objectives. It provides a baseline from which to measure personal lifestyle changes, provides employees with relevant health information, motivates employees to take charge of their health and assists in program planning. Most health risk appraisals offer individual reports and a corporate report identifying elevated-risk areas in the business. Many organizations choose to administer customized needs and interest survey to evaluate employee needs. The benefit of this approach is that the business is able to gather information on the employees’ perceived wellness needs and program interests. This information can be incorporated into the strategic plan. Administering a survey also has the added benefit of fostering a sense of employee ownership to the program.

6. 6. Design Your Strategic Plan for Wellness
   • A vision statement, which tied in with the company’s aspirations.
   • An incentive system to encourage and reward the accomplishment of healthy milestones.
   • A recognition system to applaud performance.
   • Friendly competitions between Levi Strauss & Co. locations to ensure a fun environment.
   • Opportunities to participate in small group educational programs to cultivate group backing.
   • Initiation of support groups for employees completing wellness programs (i.e. smoking control support group).
   • Programs concerning work and family balance.
   • Corporation demographics
   • Focus groups
   • Cultural audit
   • Top drug report
   • EAP utilization
   • Employee benefit services report
   • Health and dental claims
   • Operational performance summaries
   • Health risk appraisals
   • Prepare a Corporation Case to Support Your Plan
   • The Strategic Plan for Health
   • A proposed program budget
   • Marketing strategies
   • Program leadership options
   • An implementation plan
   • Assessment methodology.

The strategic plan ought to incorporate information gathered from the Corporation Health Audit, your organization’s expense pressures, and health risk appraisal data or employee survey results. The strategic plan ought to include your program mission, three or four objectives and several pushes under each intention. The strategic plan provides a framework to encourage, backing and evaluate “best health practices.” It is also valuable that the plan align itself with the vision, goals/objectives of the organization. The sample strategic plan that follows was developed for blue jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co. (Canada) Inc. Levi Strauss & Co.’s mission statement and aspirations (how employees interact with each other in a business environment) guided the development of the plan. Levi Strauss & Co.’s aspirations include the following statement: More than anything, 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 see that it embraced this statement including the following: Other information that was analyzed and used to cultivate the plan included: Your business case for wellness provides the necessary details for approval at the upper management level. The business case includes: In presenting the strategic plan it is valuable to highlight how the plan aligns itself with the strategic direction of the organization. The program budget ought to include educational resources, marketing costs, incentives, leadership costs and supplies. Marketing strategies ought to address how the program will be promoted and rolled out to various groups within the organization i.e. decentralized locations, elevated risk employees, older employees. Program leadership ought to address how volunteers will be used, internal resources and whether consultants have been proposed. All play an equally valuable role in the implementation of your wellness program. The program implementation plan ought to incorporate the following types of programs that help create awareness of positive health practices, assist employees in making lifestyle changes and pushes, which support long-term change. Awareness programs create an awareness of the effect of healthy lifestyle practices and arouse employees to take the next step. Examples of awareness programs include posting educational posters, newsletter articles and lunch and learn classes. Lifestyle change programs are more inclusive and longer in duration. They are designed to assist employees in changing behavior. Examples of lifestyle change programs are diet education programs, stress management programs, back care classes and smoking control programs. A supportive corporate environment encompasses everything from corporate policies & procedures, the physical environment and creating a corporate culture that supports great health practices. Follow-up sessions and support groups for employees who have completed 6-10 week wellness programs also offer a supportive environment for long-term change. Evaluating the effectiveness of a Employee Health Promotion is ongoing. A formal evaluation ought to be conducted annually and may include; re-administering steps three to five, program participation statistics and a year end survey to revisit “soft” problems such as morale, program satisfaction and future program direction.

7. 8. Solicit Input and Communicate Your Plan

Employee input is vital to the long-term performance of your program. An Employee Advisory Committee ought to be formed to roll out the plan. Another key responsibility of this group 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 valuable. This group needs to buy-in to the notion that they play a key role in supporting positive health practices. Regular meetings are advised with front line managers to receive ongoing input, address problems and orient new managers.

Conclusions

The World Health Organization’s definition of health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” In order for us to create healthy workplaces, wellness pushes must have a program champion, have employee ownership, be upper management supported, outcome driven and strategically aligned with the central business objectives of the organization. Wellness plan that embrace these qualities will have a positive influence on an organization’s bottom line. Canadian research points to a myriad of case studies where worksite programs have resulted in lowered absenteeism, decrease claims and increased productivity. Organizations who have embraced wellness as part of “how they do business” share one thing in common. They corroborate a responsibility to their most valuable resource – their people. They be aware of 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 healthy employees are happier, absent less and more constructive. References: Design of Employee Health Promotion Programs by Michael P. O’Donnell. 1995. Published by the American Journal of Health Promotion. Pro Fit-ability by Veronica Marsden. Group Healthcare Management. May 1997. Meeting Expectations by Laura Mensch. Employee Health and Productivity. August 1999 7 Steps to Health Promotion by Daphne Woolf and Veronica Marsden. Group Healthcare Management. February 1996. Published in The Journal of Health Promotion for Northern Ireland, Issue 9, March 2000