Employer Wellness

How does it feel to walk into your worksite? Do people look content? Is the place illuminated and cheerful? Do you feel welcome, wanted and energized? Or do you feel a dark cloud come over you, and count the hours until you have the potential to leave?
The influence of the worksite environment on the health & wellness of staff members is huge. First there is the physical look, feel, smell, and sounds of the place. Then you’re affected by the policies, like whether others are allowed to smoke around you. After a while, more subtle factors start to affect you. Do your attempts to adopt a healthier lifestyle get recognized at work, or are they sabotaged? Are your managers inspiring you by being positive role models? Do you get regular opportunities to discover healthier behaviors?
In a supportive environment, workers feel that the business they work for supplies them with encouragement, opportunity, and rewards for healthy lifestyles. And the spirit that results is highly contagious. Workers who feel cared are naturally more loyal and constructive.
The following ideas will help you transform your workplace environment into one that truly supports the wellness of your employees and employer.

Employee Health Promotion Program Ideas for Fostering Supportive Environments

Wellness Friendly Facilities

When you arrive at a workplace, do you feel comfortable? Could you be happy working there? Is there sufficient light and clean air? Are there pleasant work areas, places to eat decent meals, take a walk before lunch? Close your eyes. How does it smell? Sound? Do the employees have sufficient space?
• Vending machines with healthy food choices like low-fat milk, fruits, sugar-free and caffeine-free beverages and low-calorie snacks
• Workout area, walking paths, playing fields, basketball hoop, or other physical activity opportunities workplace or nearby
• Cafeteria offers healthy foods including a salad bar with low-fat dressing
• Natural light is used whenever possible; all lighting is appropriate and adequate
• Heating and ventilation is adjustable, comfortable and healthful
• No cigarette machines, ashtrays, or smoking areas workplace
• Noise levels are safe and supportive of concentration
• Work station furniture conforms to ergometric standards
• Safety risks have been eliminated
• Lockers and showers are available for employees who work out before work or during breaks
• Stairs are clean and well lit, convenient and pleasant to use
Familiarity can make it hard to evaluate a workplace. People get used to stressful conditions and forget that conditions ever bothered them. It might provce useful to ask someone who is unfamiliar with your workplace to walk through with you. Professional consultants can also help.

Proactive Wellness Policies

One clear way to impact behavior is through policies and procedures. If nurses aren’t allowed to work more than twelve hours in a row, there will be less medication errors. If parents are given flextime to address their children’s needs, they’ll be less stressed. If workers are able to apply unused sick days to planned vacation time, they’ll save them up rather than calling in sick to utilize them all.

Supportive corporate policies may include:

• Seat Belt use demanded in employer vehicles
• Drug and alcohol policies are appropriate to the industry
• Emergency procedures are developed, known, and practiced
• Flexible work schedules allow employees to exercise, catch children’s school conferences, etc.
• Tobacco-free policy is enforced
• Excessive overtime is discouraged
• Membership at fitness facility is partially reimbursed
• Shift employees are scheduled to allow adequate rest
• Medical Costs coverage rewards great health
• Absenteeism policy rewards workers who don’t use sick days
• Employee Assistance Program(EAP) ready to help workers with chemical dependencies, depression, family problems
• Meaningful consequences are carried out for unsafe, unhealthy, prohibited behavior.  Your company may have a policy concerning alcohol use during work hours, but if everyone looks the other way when someone comes back from lunch reeking of beer, the culture is one that permits drinking at lunch-and one in which written policies are able to be safely ignored. Prohibited behaviors must be confronted promptly. Otherwise your policies remain mere lip service rather than springboards to health.

Consistent Recognition And Incentives For Success

Attention, praise, and rewards are given for wellness achievements.
You are able to show you value the Workplace Wellness Programs by celebrating your programs and those who have made lifestyle improvements in employer newsletters, on bulletin boards, and at yearly banquets, meetings, and celebrations. Incentives are a direct way to demonstrate appreciation, too.
Wellness mentors are sought and applauded, too. Staff Members who support others’ efforts to improve their health are noticed and appreciated. Peer modeling and mentoring classes are able to promote those who enjoy supporting others to step forward into a new role.

Managers Model And Support Healthier Behavior

Nothing might say “We bolster you to exercise often” better than a manager going on a bike ride during the lunch hour–or your supervisor sitting next to you in a weight management class. Wellness activities encourage relaxed interaction between people from different departments and at different levels in the chain of command. That promotes relaxed communication and a feeling of solidarity that is pure gold.
Managers have the potential to also provide support for employees who are working on working on their health. It doesn’t take anything fancy-just a “good job” or “nice to see you at the health club” can put a glow on the cheeks of most of us.
Managers have the potential to also help by allowing workers the flexibility to catch wellness programs.

Ongoing Employee Health Promotion Programs

It’s important to give staff members the sense that the wellness program is a permanent and important part of the corporation, not a corporation fad. That can activate as soon as a new employee is hired.
New staff members are oriented to the wellness program as one of the employee benefits. Information about the program ought to be presented by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable person who invites the new employee to take part.
The workers are familiar with the ongoing wellness programs.
The wellness programs and wellness coordinator are well known in the organization. Opportunities to participate are abundant and it’s simple to sign up.
A wide variety of awareness classes are offered. There are issues of interest for everyone.