Employee Wellness SurveyEmployee Wellness Programs – Corporate Wellness Programs

Employee Health Promotion Programs that support staff members and the environment that they work in have been shown to be a good ROI. Employee Health Promotion Programs may be extensive and sometimes expensive. However, there are ways for small employers to make positive changes at little or no cost.

Employee Health Promotion Program: Nutrition Activities

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

   1. Make available healthy eating reminders and prompts to staff members via multiple means (i.e. e-mail, posters, payroll stuffers, etc.).
   2. Make available appealing, low-cost fruits and vegetables in vending machines and in the cafeteria.
   3. Make available cookbooks, food preparation, and cooking classes for staff members’ families.
   4. Ensure onsite cafeterias follow healthy cooking practices and set nutritional standards for foods served that align with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
   5. Make available healthy foods at meetings, conferences, and catered events.
   6. Use point-of-decision prompts as a marketing technique to promote healthier choices.
   7. Make available healthy cooking demonstrations that teach skills (i.e. fruit and vegetable selection and preparation).
   8. Make available taste-testing opportunities at the worksite.
   9. Make available staff member-led campaigns, demonstrations or programs.
  10. Make available local fruits and vegetables at the worksite (i.e. worksite farmer’s market or community-supported agriculture drop-off point).
  11. Use competitive pricing (price non-nutritious foods in vending machines and cafeterias at higher prices).
  12. Make available protected time and dedicated space away from the work area for breaks and lunch.
  13. Make kitchen equipment available to staff members.
  14. Make available an opportunity for onsite gardening if possible.

Sweetened Beverage Consumption

   1. Make water available throughout the day.
   2. Make available appealing, low-cost healthful drink options in vending machines and the cafeteria.
   3. Modify worksite vending contracts to increase the number of healthy options.
   4. Price non-nutritious beverages at a higher cost.
   5. Use point-of-decision prompts to promote healthier choices.

Portion Control

   1. Label foods to show serving size and/or nutritional content.
   2. Make available food models, food scales for weighing and pictures to help staff members assess portion size.
   3. Make available appropriate portion sizes at meetings, worksite events and in the cafeteria.

Breastfeeding

   1. Support nursing mothers by providing them rooms for expressing milk in a secure and relaxed environment, a refrigerator for storage of breast milk, policies that support breast feeding, and lactation education programs.
   2. Make available flexible scheduling and/or onsite or near-site child care to allow for milk expression during the workday.
   3. Adopt alternative work options (i.e. teleworking, part-time, extended maternity) for breastfeeding mothers returning to work.
   4. Educate personnel on the importance of supporting breastfeeding co-workers.

T.V. & Food Advertising

   1. Place TVss in non-eating areas of the worksite.
   2. Limit food advertising in the cafeteria (i.e. print and other media).

(Adapted from The Health Promotion First Act prepared by David Anderson, Ph.D., StayWell Health Management)

Staff Member Lifestyles Impact Staff Member Health
• Approximately 40% of all deaths in the United States are premature (at least 900,000 deaths annually) and are due to unhealthy lifestyle choices such as tobacco use, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, misuse of alcohol and drugs, and accidents. Other contributors to early death include genetic predisposition (30%), social circumstances (15%), poor access to quality health care (10%), and environmental  exposures (5%).
• Unhealthy lifestyle is the primary contributor to the six leading causes of death in the U.S. – heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory diseases, accidents, and diabetes – which collectively account for over 70% of all deaths.
• People with healthier lifestyles live an average of 6 to 9 years longer,  postpone disability by 9 years and compress disability into fewer years at the end of life.
• The prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults rose to 30% in 1999-2000, a 33% increase from a decade earlier,  and the prevalence of diabetes also rose by 33% during approximately the same period (1990 to 1998).
• About two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, 55% do not get enough physical activity,  26% are completely inactive,10 and only 25% eat recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables  If diet/physical activity patterns continue worsening at their current rate, these behaviors will soon surpass tobacco use as contributors to mortality.
• Among young people, the prevalence of overweight has more than quadrupled in the past 20 years to 16%,  daily participation in high school physical education classes has dropped from 42% in 1991 to 28% in 2003,  more than 60% eat too much saturated fat, and almost 80% do not eat recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables. 
• Lifestyle diseases disproportionately affect women, racial and ethnic minorities, the poor and seniors:
 • The prevalence of diabetes among African Americans is about 70% higher than among white Americans, and the prevalence among Hispanics is nearly double that for white Americans.
 • Women comprise more than half of the people who die each year of cardiovascular disease.
 • Chronic conditions significantly limit daily activity for 35% of persons over 65 years of age. 

Financial Impact of Lifestyle
• It is estimated that lifestyle-related chronic diseases account for 70% of the nation’s health care costs,  which translates to over 11% of the entire U.S. gross domestic product.
• Two broad-based scientific reviews identified 83 peer-reviewed studies reporting that people with unhealthy habits have higher health costs.
• Research conservatively estimates that high health risks (high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc) account for at least 25% of total health costs. 
• Recent research indicates a direct relationship between modifiable lifestyle risks and reduced worker productivity, and relevant data suggest that the costs to employers in lost productivity due to poor employee health may be substantially more than the direct health and disability costs.
• Unhealthy lifestyles often lead to chronic disease, many of which cannot be cured and require years or decades of expensive treatments. Below are estimated annual costs of selected unhealthy lifestyles and chronic diseases including obesity,  tobacco use,  hypertension,  diabetes,  stress,  and inactivity.
 
Employee Health Promotion Programs Improve Health and Yield Major Savings
• Comprehensive scientific reviews identified 378 peer-reviewed studies showing that Employee Health Promotion Programs improve health knowledge, health behaviors, and underlying health conditions.
• Research has demonstrated that lifestyle modification may often be more effective and cost-effective than health intervention in decreasing morbidity  and mortality.
• Several scientific reviews indicate that Employee Health Promotion Programs reduce health costs and absenteeism and produce a positive ROI.  The most definitive review of financial impact reported that:
 • 18 studies indicated that these programs reduce health costs, and 14 studies indicated that they decrease absenteeism costs.
 • 13 studies that calculated benefit/cost ratios all showed the savings from these programs are much greater than their cost, with health cost savings averaging $3.48 and the absenteeism savings averaging $5.82 per dollar invested in the programs.
• Medical costs are expected to exceed 16 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 and to grow at 7.2 percent annually through 2015, when health expenditures will account for 20 percent of GDP:
 • Per capita health costs in the U.S. are the highest in the world and more than double the median for OECD countries,  yet the United States ranks 26th in terms of healthy life expectancy.  
 • Medicaid is the second largest item in most state budgets, and its portion of the total budgets is increasing each year.
 • Rising health costs for U.S. employers continue to outpace general inflation, averaging 12 percent per year for the past 10 years.   This trend is causing a tremendous financial hardship on U.S. employers.

1. Senior management involvement in the Employee Health Promotion Program- Evidence of enthusiastic commitment and involvement of senior management helps staff members understand their employers’ serious commitment to health.  Staff Members need to perceive that their senior management, supervisors, and coworkers have positive attitudes toward health since these factors have all been associated with improved employee health status.   Management-related factors have been shown to contribute more to success than the content of the intervention. 

2. Participatory planning – A Employee Health Promotion Program should be undertaken in partnership with the workforce.  Staff Members from all levels of staff should be actively engaged in the health and management aspects of the project as well as all on-going processes of any Employee Health Promotion Program.  Planning must also include processes for maintaining communication with all staff and building their commitment to the process.   Beginning Employee Health Promotion Program steering committees to lead interventions during the planning and delivery of worksite health promotion programming improves worker awareness, participation, and satisfaction. Staff Member committees may identify perceived staff member interests regarding educational programming, determine work site-specific characteristics that may affect the intervention or influence participation, and suggest the best methods for promotion and delivery of Employee Health Promotion Programs and activities.  Ways to maximize staff member input and involvement might include interest surveys, focus groups, and peer counsellors. 

3. Primary focus on staff members’ needs – A Employee Health Promotion Program should meet the needs of all staff members, regardless of their current level of health and recognize the needs, preferences, and attitudes of different groups of participants. Program designers should consider the major health risks in the target population, the specific risks within the particular group of staff members, and the business’s needs.   In other words, interventions should be tailor-made to the characteristics and needs of the recipients.   This means that different programs must be offered at different levels.   Participation and commitment may be increased if a group of employees has the opportunity to address a specific modifiable risk factor of their choice.  

4. Optimal use of on-site resources – Planning and implementation of Employee Health Promotion Programs should optimize use of on-site personnel, physical resources, and organizational capabilities.   For example, whenever possible, initiatives should use on-site health and safety, management, work organization, communication, Human Resources, and other specialists.   Well-qualified external leadership may be introduced when in-house expertise is lacking. 

5. Integration – An overall worksite health policy should be developed.  The policies governing employee health must align with the corporate mission, vision, and values, supporting both short- and long-term objectives. These consistent policies must affirm the value of staff member health and a commitment to engage staff members in health enhancement.  Employee Health Promotion Program Procedures should be integrated into a company’s regular management practices and eventually should be formally incorporated into the company’s corporate plan  with adequate resources attached to them.

6. Recognition that a person’s health is determined by an interdependent set of factors – Any Employee Health Promotion Program must address multiple components of an individual’s life:
 • the worksite physical and psychosocial environment;
 • their personal resources such as social support, sense of empowerment, etc.; and
 • their lifestyle practices influencing health.  
 
7. Tailoring to the special features of each worksite environment  – Employee Health Promotion Programs must be responsive to the unique needs of each worksite’s procedures, organization and culture.   Integrating health behaviors and program participation into the existing corporate culture will normalize program participation.

8. Employee Health Promotion Program Assessment – Project management should flow through needs analysis, setting priorities, planning, implementation, continuous monitoring, and assessment.   Assessment must include a clearly-defined range of process measures and outcomes  as well as mechanisms for monitoring the impact of non-intervention worksite changes such as plant closure, major worksite re-organization, and new technology on staff health. 

9. Long-term commitment – To sustain the benefits of the Employee Health Promotion Program, the worksite must continue the initiative over time, reinforcing risk-reduction behaviours and adapting the programs to ongoing personal, social, economic, and worksite changes.

Introduction to Employee Health Promotion Programs

Risky health behaviors by staff members cost a company. Changing those behaviors can save the employer money and increase the staff member’s productivity.

Because work gives an staff member a stable environment and support system, Employee Health Promotion Programs can have a great impact on decreasing high-risk behaviors. This impact results in lower health claims cost, less absenteeism, and less short-term disability.

Employee Health Promotion Programs may include:

Awareness Rasing Activities: Health and wellness newsletters, health topics covered in payroll stuffers, healthy emails.

Health Risk Assessment: Employee health screenings, health and wellness fairs, health rist assessments.

Educational Programs: Lunch and Learn wellness seminars, guest speakers at staff meetings.

Skill Building: Healthy cooking demostrations, activity challenges, CPR instruction opportunites, stress management classes, weight management classes.

Interventions: Massage, tobacco cessation, and skills to help you get the most out of your doctor visit.

Physical environment: Healthy items in the vending machines and cafeterias, clean air practices, ergonomics, bike racks, flex time, welllit stairways.

Assessment: Staff Member needs assessment, baseline Employee Health Promotion Program assessment measures, ongoing Employee Health Promotion Program assessment of overall effectiveness.

Why Make available Employee Health Promotion Programs

The typical employer spends about $8,000 a year on an employee’s medical care. This includes health insurance, disability and worker’s compensation. As these costs climb, health insurance is expected to rise at least 10% per year.

A 1999 study showed that businesses using Employee Health Promotion Programs had a ROI from $1.49 – $13 in benefits per dollar spent. The amount depended on the nature of the Employee Health Promotion Programs used. (S. Aldana, American Journal of Wellness, 2001; 15:296-320)

One study showed that a “stop smoking” element to Employee Health Promotion Programs may save between $404 -$40,829 per employee, depending on the age and sex of the staff member.

The Employee Health Promotion Programs at Traveler’s Company included a self-care book, a newsletter, single-topic brochures, and videotapes. The Employee Health Promotion Programs saved the company $7.8 million in employee benefi t costs, decreased doctor visits, and it reduced absenteeism by 1.2 days per staff member per year. The estimated Employee Health Promotion Programs ROI was $3.40 per dollar spent.

In 1998, the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) reported a study of 46,026 staff members from six large employers for three years. Staff Members with an inactive lifestyle had 10% higher costs; staff members with depression had 70% higher costs.

Benefits of Employee Health Promotion Programs

Increased Productivity – The Canada Life Assurance Company realized a 4% rise in productivity after beginning an employee fitness program.

Increased Job Satisfaction – According to employee opinion surveys conducted by the Silverstone Group about thier Employee Health Promotion Programs, staff members’ morale increased, which helped support a more creative work environment.

Enhanced Recruitment & Retention – In the midst of a tight labor market, Employee Health Promotion Programs could be a important tool to draw new recruits.

Decreased Absenteeism – Canada Life Assurance Company’s absenteeism dropped 42% among staff members in the Employee Health Promotion Programs.

Decreased Workers Comp & Disability – In one year, Boeing Company’s number of back injuries decreased by 34%. Six million dollars was saved by tracking injuries as they occurred.

Managed Health Care Costs – Golden, Colorado Adolf Coors Company’s Employee Health Promotion Programs returned $6.19 for every dollar spent.

Why have Employee Health Promotion Program objectives?

Employee Health Promotion Program objectives take your business’s priorities for employee health improvement and make them specific and measurable. Well-defined Employee Health Promotion Program objectives provide direction for selecting Procedures and a basis for which to measure progress.

Writing Employee Health Promotion Program objectives

Writing Employee Health Promotion Program objectives is not complicated or difficult. It does require some thought, about your business’s Employee Health Promotion Program vision for a culture of wellness and they should be:
 
 Specific Employee Health Promotion Program Goals
 Measurable Employee Health Promotion Program Goals
 Attainable Employee Health Promotion Program Goals
 Realistic Employee Health Promotion Program Goals
 Timely Employee Health Promotion Program Goals

Specific Employee Health Promotion Program Goals: What is the specific outcome your business is looking for? “Reduce tobacco use among staff members” is more specific than “Improve the health of staff members.” You may wish to write some objectives about specific outcomes (reducing smoking among staff members) and other objectives about specific progress (implementing a smoke-free campus policy or decreasing the price of fresh fruit in the cafeteria to 25 cents a piece).

Measurable Employee Health Promotion Program Goals: Making your objectives measurable provides a means of evaluating your progress and success. There is an adage: “what gets measured, gets done.” Goals which are measurable can be powerful motivators for your business. “Provide more time for staff members to be physically active” is much less measurable than “implement a daily 15-minute walking break into the schedule of all staff members.” “Increase the number of staff members who want to quit smoking” is less measurable than “increase enrollments in the stop-using tobacco program to 120 staff members per year.”

Attainable Employee Health Promotion Program Goals: Determine objectives that challenge your business to change and that will demonstrate a real commitment to employee health. At the same time, set objectives that are achievable. Goals that are set too far out of reach can be overwhelming and may become a barrier rather than a motivator.

Realistic Employee Health Promotion Program Goals: Write objectives that are do-able, given the skills, time, finances and overall strategy of the business. A realistic project may push the skills and knowledge of the people working on it but it shouldn’t break them.

Timely Employee Health Promotion Program Goals: When do you hope to achieve the goal? Next week? Next year? Without a timeframe, the goal is still not clear and is much less likely to galvanize resources and energy within your business.

“Reduce the percent of staff members who use tobacco from 20% to 10%” is much less of a challenge than “By the end of 2010, reduce the percent of staff members who use tobacco from 20% to 15%”.

If your business is interested in measuring the impact of your Employee Health Promotion Program efforts in future years, you’ll want to gather relevant baseline data on the health and health behaviors of your staff member population.

Employee Health Promotion Program Data on your staff member population

Health Risk Assessments

Some health plans offer employers free internet-based health risk assessments (HRA), complete with summary aggregate reports. If your health plan does not offer a free HRA, you could pay for an HRA either through your health plan or through a third party vendor.

To encourage taking part in an HRA, assure staff members of confidentiality and consider providing incentives for completing the assessment. The higher the participation rate, the more likely that the aggregate data will accurately represent the behaviors and risks of your staff member population.

Employee Health Promotion Program Health Surveys

You can get a general sense of staff members’ health-related attitudes and behaviors using a “lowtech” paper survey. As with a health risk assessment, staff members will be more likely to respond to a survey if there is an incentive and if they are confident that their responses are confidential. Remember that without widespread participation you’ll only get a “feel” for staff member behaviors rather than a statistically accurate picture.

Employee Health Promotion Program Focus Groups and Informational Interviews

The information you can collect from focus groups or informational interviews with staff members is an important supplement to the anonymous survey or HRA data. Listening to staff members discuss their attitudes, values, receptivity and barriers related to health provides a wealth of information on which to base decisions on how to improve your business’s Employee Health Promotion Program. Employee Health Promotion Program focus groups are especially useful for getting information from hard-to-reach staff member populations, such as those for whom English is a learned language.

Keep Employee Health Promotion Program focus groups small (8-19 staff members, ideally all of a similar job class). If possible, offer incentives such as movie tickets or lunch, to recruit participants. Develop a list of open-ended questions in advance and allow 60-90 minutes for the discussion.

Informational interviews are an alternative to Employee Health Promotion Program focus groups. The Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator of your health improvement Procedures or selected members of the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee can conduct one-on-one interviews with staff members in a variety of positions to better understand their attitudes, interests and barriers related to a) health behaviors and b) the worksite policies, environments and practices.

Population data

If data on the employee population are not available, you can use state or national data to estimate the prevalence of risk behaviors among staff members.

In addition to looking at the health behaviors of staff members, take a good look at your business. The following questions can help you identify opportunities for your business to support and encourage healthy behaviors among staff members.

A strong foundation for employee health improvement

1. To what extent does the senior management in your business actively and visibly support the Employee Health Promotion Program?

__ No support for the Employee Health Promotion Program
__ Support, but not at senior level
__ Support at senior level, but not visible to staff members
__ Strong and visible Employee Health Promotion Program support
Comments:

2. Is the Employee Health Promotion Program tied to your business’s mission statement?

__ No
__ Yes, the Employee Health Promotion Program is tied to business plan OR mission statement
__ Yes, the Employee Health Promotion Program is tied to both business plan and mission statement
Comments:

3. Is there an staff member within your business whose job responsibilities include Employee Health Promotion Program coordination?

__ No
__ Yes, but has little time available to dedicate to Employee Health Promotion Program
__ Yes, and has at least part of the job dedicated to Employee Health Promotion Program
__ Yes, and has at least one full-time position dedicated to Employee Health Promotion Program
__ Yes, and has at least part of the job dedicated to wellness AND has a background that includes Employee Health Promotion Program qualifications
__ Yes, our business has at least one full-time position dedicated to health improvement AND the staff member’s background includes Employee Health Promotion Program qualifications
Comments:

4. Does your business have an active wellness committee with diverse representation?

__ No (does not have a Employee Health Promotion Program Committee, or has a committee that doesn’t meet)
__ Yes, we have a Employee Health Promotion Program Committee, but with limited representation
__ Yes, we have a Employee Health Promotion Program Committee with widespread representation
__ Yes, we have a Employee Health Promotion Program Committee with widespread representation AND committee involvement is a component of each representative’s job responsibilities
Comments:

5. Does your business have an annual budget for Employee Health Promotion Program expenses? (Employee Health Promotion Program expenses may be associated with providing a health assessment, paying for behavior change programs/coaching programs, covering incentives that encourage healthy behaviors, subsidizing healthy food options, communications and activities around specific health topics, fitness centers/walking paths, etc).

__ No
__ Yes, but funds are earmarked for Employee Health Promotion Programs (e.g. only for Weight Watchers or fitness discounts) and do not meet all existing Employee Health Promotion Program needs
__ Yes, funds are available to meet current Employee Health Promotion Program needs
Comments:

6. Does your business have a plan for engaging staff members in the Employee Health Promotion Program?

__ No
__ Yes, we have a communications plan for our Employee Health Promotion Program
__ Yes, we have a communication plan AND we offer meaningful incentives or rewards (such as premium discounts or debit cards) for the Employee Health Promotion Program to engage in healthy behaviors.
Comments:

A data-based approach to the Employee Health Promotion Program

7. Does your business have clearly stated Employee Health Promotion Program objectives and priorities for employee health improvement?

__ No
__ Yes
__ Yes, data (e.g. HRA, claims, productivity) are the basis for defining Employee Health Promotion Program objectives or priorities
__ Yes, data AND evidence-based best practices are a basis for defining Employee Health Promotion Program objectives or priorities
__ Yes, data and best practices are basis for defining Employee Health Promotion Program objectives or priorities as well as measuring Employee Health Promotion Program progress (assessment)
Comments:

8. Has your business completed a Health Risk Assessment?

__ No
__ Yes, but more than 2 years ago
__ Yes, within the last two years, and achieved a participation rate of less than 50%
__ Yes, within the last two years, and achieved a 50% – 79% participation rate
__ Yes, within the last two years, and achieved an 80% or greater participation rate
Comments:

A worksite environment that supports healthy behaviors

9. Does your business’s tobacco reduction strategy reflect best practices?

(Check all that apply)
__ A no-tobacco use policy that includes both buildings AND grounds
__ 100% coverage for the cost of over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy
__ Staff Member access to – and strong promotion of — a tailored stop-smoking program
Comments:

10. Does your business provide opportunities (time and places) for physical activity during the work day?

__ No
__ Yes, indoor places for physical activity (on-site fitness center) OR outdoor places for physical activity (walking paths)
__ Yes, both indoor AND outdoor places for physical activity
__ Yes, indoor and outdoor opportunities AND employees can use work time for physical activity
Comments:

11. Does your business promote healthy eating by providing access to fruits and vegetables?

__ No
__ Yes, fruits and vegetables are available at the worksite (in vending machines, break areas, or cafeterias)
__ Yes, fruits and vegetables are available and discounted at the worksite
Comments:

Benefits that support employee health improvement

12. Does your business provide staff members with self-care resources?

(Check all that apply)
__ Distribution of self-care books
__ internet-based access to health information
__ Nurse advice line
Comments:

13. Which of the following preventive services are covered at 100% by your business’s health benefits?

(Check all that apply)
__ Vision screening
__ Hearing
__ Immunizations (per CDC/ACIP recommendations)
__ Radiology
__ Laboratory services
__ STD screening
__ Preventive health examination for adults
__ Cancer screen (includes: colon, cervical, breast, prostate and ovarian cancers)
__ Contraceptive management
Comments:

14. Which of the following are included in your business’s pharmacy benefit?

(Check all that apply)
__ Mail order or other 90-day supply option for medications
__ Specialty pharmacy network
__ Incentive-based tiered formulary design
Comments:

15. Do your business’s health benefits provide coverage for behavioral health (such as depression, mental illness, counseling, stress management, and chemical dependency)?

__ Yes, at the same level as health benefits
__ Yes, but at a reduced level (less coverage) than health benefits
__ No coverage for mental or behavioral health
Comments:

Why it’s important and how to do it

The Employee Health Promotion Program Vision

A Employee Health Promotion Program vision statement is a concise statement that summarizes the purpose and objectives of your business’s commitment to beginning a Employee Health Promotion Program. Taking the time to clarify and describe your business’s Employee Health Promotion Program vision can provide a focus and a consistent direction for your Procedures for years to come. The vision statement reminds leaders and staff members of the link between staff member health and the business’s ability to achieve its overall mission.

Answer the following questions and you’ll have the components needed to build a simple and powerful Employee Health Promotion Program vision for your business’s culture of wellness:

 • What do you want your Employee Health Promotion Program to accomplish?
 • How do you plan to accomplish it?
 • How does this Employee Health Promotion Program mission support or further the business’s mission?

A sample Employee Health Promotion Program vision statement might be . . .

 To have staff members who perform at their best and who enable XYZ Corporation to be an industry leader in printing quality and customer service (business’s mission), XYZ Corporation is committed to providing opportunities for healthy behaviors during the workday (how) in order to encourage staff members not to smoke, to be active, and to eat healthfully (what).

The Employee Health Promotion Program Brand

In the same way that your business’s name and brand image provide visibility for your business, your Procedures toward beginning a Employee Health Promotion Program will benefit from being easily recognizable to staff members:

 • A consistently used Employee Health Promotion Program brand on all communications sends a message to staff members that the commitment to a culture of wellness is here to stay.
 • A Employee Health Promotion Program brand institutionalizes the culture and makes it more likely to withstand changes in staff and budget.

Do what you can to engage staff members in beginning the identity (brand) for your business’s Employee Health Promotion Program. Not only are they more likely to accept the name, it’s also a great way to announce to staff members the business’s Employee Health Promotion Program commitment. Here are two possible approaches to involving staff members:

Option 1: Have a Employee Health Promotion Program contest

 1. Announce the Employee Health Promotion Program contest guidelines and deadline.
 2. Have the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee review the ideas submitted, and select a name.

  If, for example, your corporation, Premier Building and Design, is in the commercial construction business, you might receive the following Employee Health Promotion Program ideas from staff members:

  • Cornerstone: Feeling well is what it’s all about
  • Premier Elements: Building healthier staff members
  • Custom Build: Building health builds wealth
  • Building Health: Designing better staff member health

  After reviewing the entries, your Employee Health Promotion Program Committee determines that it likes the name “Premier Elements” and the subtitle “Building health builds wealth”. Your committee awards the “name the Employee Health Promotion Program contest” prize to the two staff members, those who submitted the pieces of the name that represent the final product.

 Premier Elements: Building health builds wealth

 3. Choose a Employee Health Promotion Program logo to go with the name.

  The Employee Health Promotion Program logo is an important piece of the branding

  • Review any ideas submitted for Employee Health Promotion Program logos.
  • If you’re fortunate to have a graphic design professional at your corporation, enlist her or his help with developing the Employee Health Promotion Program logo!
  • As an alternative, select a piece of clip-art that fits with the Employee Health Promotion Program name you’ve selected. For example, the corporation referenced above might look for a symbol that conveys building, health and wealth.

Option 2: Employee Health Promotion Program Committee determines the name and brand

 1. Have your Employee Health Promotion Program Committee brainstorm Employee Health Promotion Program names.
  • To get ideas flowing, ask members to write down all health-related words and words associated with your business or industry.
  • Try clustering words together as in the construction corporation example above.
 2. Once your Employee Health Promotion Program Committee has narrowed down the possibilities to about three ideas, have committee members vote to select a name for your culture of wellness.
 3. Choose a Employee Health Promotion Program logo to go with the winning name.
 4. Announce the business’s Employee Health Promotion Program and the corresponding Employee Health Promotion Program name. Explain that employees on the advisory committee chose the name.

Sample Employee Health Promotion Program meeting agendas and topics for discussion

Is your business’s Employee Health Promotion Program Employee Health Promotion Program Committee new?  Has it existed on paper but been inactive for a while?  In either case, some of the following may be appropriate agenda items for your first Employee Health Promotion Program meetings.   You may also want to revisit these topics annually.

• Clarify roles of Employee Health Promotion Program Committee members  
 ­ Are members responsible for implementing changes or recommending changes?
 ­ How long are members’ terms on the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee?
 ­ How will new members be selected?

• Determine Employee Health Promotion Program Committee meeting frequency and processes 
 ­ Determine dates, times, and locations.
 ­ Determine how agendas will be set.
 ­ Plan for recording and distributing meeting notes.

• Plan Employee Health Promotion Program communication with upper management  
 ­ Does a leader sit on the group or does the coordinator report on progress (and to whom)?
 ­ How often do leaders want reports on Employee Health Promotion Program progress?

• Select a name and brand for your business’s Employee Health Promotion Program

• Develop a vision statement for your business’s Employee Health Promotion Program

• Identify existing allies Employee Health Promotion Program for promoting staff member health within your business
 ­ Who do Employee Health Promotion Program Committee members know who could be relied on to support worksite changes required to establish a culture that promotes health?

• Brainstorm challenges your business may face in working to establish facilities, policies and Employee Health Promotion Program practices that promote staff member health
 ­ What do committee members regard as opportunities? How about potential Employee Health Promotion Program obstacles?

• History of past Employee Health Promotion Program efforts  
 ­ If relevant, summarize past Employee Health Promotion Program efforts. Discuss what your business learned from those efforts.
? What has the business tried over the last few years?
? What has worked well?
? What hasn’t worked well?
? How, if at all, was success of previous Employee Health Promotion Program efforts measured?

A representative Employee Health Promotion Program Committee is a cornerstone of a successful Employee Health Promotion Program, regardless of the size of the business.

Membership of your Employee Health Promotion Program Committee

Aim for a committee of a manageable size (no more than 15 members, depending on your business’s size). Your Employee Health Promotion Program Committee should represent all employee groups (e.g., full-time and part-time staff members, managers and front-line staff, salary and hourly employees, union representation, Human Resources, marketing or communications, legal, and occupational health/safety).

Here are some additional considerations:

 • Employee Health Promotion Program Committee members can be selected by leadership or can be selected from among volunteers.
 • Determine in advance how long Employee Health Promotion Program Committee members will serve and how new members will be selected. Balance the need for continuity with the need to bring fresh ideas and energy to your business’s Employee Health Promotion Program.
 • It’s not necessary, or even desirable, to have your healthiest staff members on the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee. Ideal Employee Health Promotion Program Committee members are those who best can represent their peers, motivate others and support the implementation of the Employee Health Promotion Program.
 • Consider providing an incentive or recognition to Employee Health Promotion Program Committee members. It legitimizes their positions and encourages participation. Some businesss that have started stipends have generated enough staff member interest that the selection of Employee Health Promotion Program Committee membership becomes a competitive process. The Employee Health Promotion Program Committee responsibilities become a formal part of the member’s job accountabilities.

Role of your Employee Health Promotion Program Committee

In some businesss the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee is responsible for the implementation of the Employee Health Promotion Program. In other businesss, the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee plays an advisory role. In either case, the group members can be asked to:

 • Attend regular meetings of the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee.
 • Help establish a vision and name for the business’s Employee Health Promotion Program.
 • Represent their peers by sharing ideas, needs, concerns and feedback from their work areas and colleagues about proposed Employee Health Promotion Program Procedures, policies, and programs.
 • Make available feedback on the possible barriers to proposed Employee Health Promotion Program Procedures and offer suggestions for addressing those barriers (e.g., how does a proposed policy fit with the schedules of staff members?).
 • Suggest effective Employee Health Promotion Program communication Procedures and solutions to challenges. For example, what is the best way to communicate with staff members who work the third shift? How will staff members react to a proposed message from upper management?
 • Be a voice of support for a culture of wellness, carrying the message from the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee to their work areas and colleagues.

Functioning of your Employee Health Promotion Program Committee

Meet. Schedule regular Employee Health Promotion Program Committee meetings on paid work time. Your Employee Health Promotion Program Committee may want to meet regulary at first, then slightly less often as your health improvement strategy is more established. If your Employee Health Promotion Program Committee is new, it might be useful to ask members to provide information about themselves and their interests.

Communicate. Set up regular and frequent channels of communication with Employee Health Promotion Program Committee members so they are up to date and engaged. An email list is often the easiest way to do this. Encourage communication to flow both ways: from Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator to members and from members to coordinator.

Check-in. At least once a year, assess how effectively the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee is functioning. Is the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee serving its original purpose? Ask committee members for their feedback. Do they feel like their work is making a difference? Do they feel like their input is valued and taken into account when planning and implementing initiatives? Do they understand their expected Employee Health Promotion Program roles and responsibilities? Are there members who want to rotate off of the committee? How will new members be selected?