Creating and Running Your Wellness Program.

A lot of organizations recognize the need for a robust strategy to help their employees be the best they can be.

They also know that successful and sustainable wellness programs are much more than a few “lunch and learn” programs.

Your wellness program ought to include a wide range of key elements, including -

• A clear agenda or statement of objectives.

• A plan characterized by passion.

• an effective leader who is creative and organized.

• A focus on short-term outcomes combined with an overall vision.

• A measurable strategy (what’s important gets measured!).

• A policy of celebrating and communicating success.

Planning Your Wellness Program

Plan carefully to ensure that your wellness program is seen as part of a broad commitment to maintaining the health and safety of all employees. Yes, creating a good plan takes a lot of effort and time (and sometimes resources).

But planning is essential and well worth the investment required. as the saying goes, “failing to plan is planning to fail.”

You may start by conducting a recent survey of employee needs and interests. When you take this route, pay attention to the results and plan thus. When you don’t, the staff members will not support the program.

Collecting information about what you are already offering is also a good idea. for  instance, you may be surprised by your company or corporation’s current wellness and health policies.

Another important step is to establish an agenda and/or measurable objectives to help you determine priorities, timelines and the resources required to launch the program. be bold and creative in your planning, but also realistic.

Leadership

The leader of your wellness program should be able to wear many hats. the leader’s duties include -

• Developing a vision of the wellness program after receiving input from all interested staff members.

• Communicating ideas and a rationale throughout the organization (to senior level managers and fellow staff members alike).

• Keeping others enthusiastic about and committed to a wellness program.

• Serving as a role model and wellness coach.

• Developing and maintaining leadership skills such as giving effective presentations and being well-organized.

Good leaders avoid becoming overwhelmed by overly ambitious and complex plans. You could want to stick to short-term objectives at the starting so that you get immediate and visible results.

These first steps are the basis for a successful wellness program.

Good leaders involve as many individuals  as possible in the program. for example, you’ll want to form a committee made up of a diverse group of employees to provide advice during the planning phase. This approach will -

• Make sure to help you to obtain valuable information from all parts of the corporation.

• Develop ambassadors who will help you implement the wellness program.

Keeping Score and Celebrating

Always keep in mindhow you’ll monitor progress and evaluate the success of your wellness program. Evaluation authorizes you to -

• Identify areas of excellence.

• Identify factors that affect participation in your programs.

• Gain management’s support for your efforts (and maintain that support).

• Better understand issues that need attention.

• Learn from mistakes and change the program to keep it on the right track.

When you evaluate your program, you can measure such things as -

• Staff Member absences.

• Worker turnover rates.

• the cost of your staff member assistance program.

• the cost of benefits, including short-term and long-term disability payments.

• the cost of your drug plan.

• Accident rates and safety records.

• Employees’ participation in wellness programs (and whether they are staying in the programs).

• Changes in employees’ health habits.

• Level of employees’ awareness of healthy lifestyle issues.

• Results of your environmental wellness audit.

• Other noticeable changes in areas such as morale and job satisfaction.

A good communications plan provides ongoing information to workers (including upper-level managers) and fosters excitement about the wellness program.

Positive reinforcement is part of an effective communications plan. for example, you may recognize people  who have helped set up the program or offer tangible rewards for achieving goals.

Everybody needs to know whether employees are getting involved, enjoying the activities and getting some benefit from them. Showing that a wellness program has financial benefits is often an important factor in maintaining strong support from the top.

When you pay attention to the key elements of your wellness program and communicate openly and continuously while planning and delivering it, you will lay a solid foundation and leave a legacy that lasts.