They also know that successful and sustainable wellness programs are much more than several “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 wide commitment to maintaining the health and safety of all staff members. 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 could start by conducting a recent survey of employee needs and interests. If you take this route, pay attention to the results and plan as a result. If you don’t, the employees won’t support the program.

Collecting information about what you are already offering is also a good idea. for  instance, you could 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 ought to be able to wear many hats. the leader’s duties include –

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

• Communicating ideas and a rationale throughout the organization (to senior managers and fellow workers 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 might 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 people  as possible in the program. for example, you will want to form a committee made up of a diverse group of workers 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. Examination allows 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 are able to measure such things as –

• Worker 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’re staying in the programs).

• Changes in employees’ health habits.

• Level of employees’ awareness of healthful 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 senior managers) and fosters excitement about the wellness program.

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

Everyone 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.

If 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.

One possible solution to this challenge is to make physical activity a part of the work day. Obviously, being active at work is advantageous for employees.

But companys also benefit from having fit, energetic and healthy employees who are more productive.

The challenges

Your job takes up a lot of your time. In addition to the hours you spend actually working, there is the time required to get to and from work and take lunch and rest breaks during the work day.

In the end, there are a limited number of hours left over for the rest of your life. This work life imbalance is especially true for Alberta, where statistics show that we work exceptionally hard.

A lot of jobs today are sedentary, and many Americans drive to work. the pressures of work might also cause us to eat lunch at our desks and skip breaks.

Then, after work or on the weekends we juggle household chores, family responsibilities and social engagements.

Wellness Programs –  Get began on a workplace fitness program

Management plays a key role in creating a culture that promotes health. the leaders at your workplace influence the various policies and the informal or formal practices, and these policies and practices affect your attitude towards healthy active living.

Begin by talking to your boss about the advantages of a healthful active workplace. the best way to ensure the success of a workplace fitness program is to have the management on side and cheering you on.

Ask your boss to consider taking these actions –

• Send a memo or message about the importance of health and healthful living that encourages staff to take an active break each day.

• Provide for flexible work hours that help staff to be more physically active. for  instance, they may need to take a longer lunch break to attend an exercise class, making up the time by coming to work early or staying late.

• Make available a meeting room or other suitable office space for noon-hour yoga or exercise classes, and hire a teacher to lead them, or use videos.

If your boss agrees to support a workplace fitness program, do not forget to say thanks.

You don’t need an on-site gym

Only very big companies can afford on-site fitness facilities like exercise equipment or squash courts. Still, most businesss can take other affordable steps to support employees who wish to become more active.

For example –

• Arrange for discounted fees for employees at a gym, recreation centeror YMCA facility.

• Install showers and a place to hang a towel. (Make certain the showers are cleaned regularly and that women who use them will feel secure.)

• Install bike racks or a locked enclosure that is safe, conveniently located and well lighted.

• Hold walking meetings and set up lunch-hour walking groups

• Make workers aware of safe and pleasant walking routes near the workplace, as well as nearby facilities that offer exercise programs (like walking, swimming, running, yoga, stretching).

• Hire a certified instructor to teach staff about health, fitness and how to become more active.

Any size and kind of workplace can support staff members who wish to be physically active. It’s highly desirable to get management on side.

Even when your boss isn’t supportive, you can still find ways to get moving more. Be sure to set up activities for groups and individuals, and encourage your colleagues to join in.

Lack of time is the number one barrier that people  say prevents them from participating in exercise on a regular basis.

The good news is that even short sessions of exercise help your health. Research has shown that 10-minute sessions that add up to between 30 and 60 minutes a day can produce meaningful health benefits.

Additionally, there are numerous ways busy individuals  can use to be more active. These strategies include –

• multi-tasking

• being active at work

• being active with loved ones

• scheduling activity into daily life

Different strategies work for different individuals . Being familiar with the different strategies is key to adopting and maintaining an active lifestyle.

Read on to check out strategies you can try. With enough commitment, some of them are sure to work for you.

Strategy #1 –  Multi-tasking

The first strategy you can try is multi-tasking. This means doing things you already do, but in a more physically active way.

This way you get done what you need to get done and you get exercise at the same time.

For example, you are already travelling to work and other places. Instead of taking the automobile or the bus every time, try using active methods of transportation like bicycling, skating, walking and skateboarding.

If you can’t use active transportation for a whole trip, attempt to be active for at least part of the trip. If you are riding the bus, for example, get off a few blocks early and walk the rest of the way.

Active transportation benefits your body by increasing your activity level, and it also benefits your neighbourhood and the environment by reducing the number of cars on the road.

You can also get physical activity while doing housework and chores.

When you are working around home, attempt to be creative and look for the active choice. for  instance, if you are cleaning the crack between the fridge and the counter, why not move the fridge so you can clean the area better and build your strength at the same time?

For outdoor work, opt for the old-fashioned way of doing things, as they are usually more active. for example, use a snow shovel rather than a snow blower.

Strategy #2 –  be Active at Work

Many American Citizens spend eight hours a day or more working at a sedentary job. Here are a few simple ways to keep your body moving during the workday.

The exercise will revitalize you and help you be more productive.

When you are working at your desk, attempt sitting on a stability ball or disk for part of your day (30 minutes to an hour). This gives your back and abdominals a workout.

Take active breaks at least once a day. During your coffee break, try doing some yoga, stretching or taking a quick walk.

You might find that walking up and down the stairs a few times does a better job of rejuvenating you than the java jolt.

Speaking of the stairs, take them instead of the elevator whenever you can. the stairs in your building are an opportunity to get your heart pumping.

Organize walking meetings at work. Getting outside and having meetings in a less formal setting is a excellent way to be active, makes the workday more fun and encourages creative ideas for work projects.

Strategy #3 –  be Active With Your Loved Ones

Do physical activity with your family, friends, neighbours and pets. With this strategy, you and your loved ones are doing some great multi-tasking together –  enjoying quality time with each other and getting some of the physical activity that you all need to be healthful.

Go for walks, swims or bike rides together. Play Frisbee, soccer and other games and sports together. When you take your children to the park, play with them instead of just watching them play.

Many community facilities offer courses that keep you and your children active at the same time. Research these courses and take one or two.

You can even be active when you are watching your children do activities without you. for example, if your child plays hockey, take the opportunity to walk up and down the stairs in the stands several times.

When you feel self-conscious about doing it alone, why not gather a group of parents to do it together?

Strategy #4 –  Schedule Physical Activity into Your Day

Schedule your exercise directly into your daytimer. Make sure to set a specific time and place for exercising. Make your exercise appointments a priority, just as important as any other appointment you put in your daytimer.

To help you stay committed to your exercise appointments, you may want to make appointments that involve other individuals  -  such as by meeting with a personal trainer, taking an exercise class or jogging with a friend.

When you’re not sure how many appointments to make or what you should be doing during your appointments, attempt consulting with a personal trainer. A personal trainer can help you create a physical activity plan and schedule.

The bottom line –  figure out what works best for you. Experiment with the strategies. Find inspiration by talking to other people  about how they keep active and what strategies they use.

Be creative and patient while you figure out what strategies work best for you. and be aware that your “best strategy” may change from time to time.

With enough effort, you will discover what works for you. Then, run with it!

• Obviously communicating the benefits of being physically active during the workday reinforces the corporation’s commitment to assisting all employees be active.

Use meetings, bulletin boards, newsletters and e-mail to reach as many employees as possible at least once a year.

• Offer flex time for exercise. Invite workers who actively commute to work or exercise during lunch to make up any missed time later in the day.

• Allow staff to work part time, so that they can participate in exercise.

• Include a physical activity account in your benefit plan to pay for or subsidize fitness memberships, assessments, classes, counselling or instruction.

• Give interest-free loans for employees to purchase bicycles or good walking shoes/runners.

• Conduct periodic surveys of staff physical activity preferences, and offer a variety of choices to suit those interests and needs.

• Hire licensed people  to lead stretch breaks or exercise programs or classes. for help in finding accredited fitness leaders, visit Alberta’s Provincial Fitness Unit.

• Recognize employees who participate in exercise. Survey employees first to determine how they prefer to be recognized, e.g., through company newsletters, appreciation lunches, rewards and/or thank you notes.

• Provide child care and other family-friendly amenities during physical activities that occur after work.

• Prevent scheduling meetings over lunch.

• Make certain to encourage active breaks instead of coffee breaks.

• Have active fundraisers rather than bingos. for example, employees might climb the Calgary Tower stairs or take turns riding a stationary bike for 24 hours.

• Make birthday celebrations active times. Instead of a lunch, invite the birthday individuals to select an activity. Options could include a session with a yoga instructor or an evening ski trip.

• Promote a casual dress day. One study found that workers who dress casually were more physically active.

• Establish a wellness newsletter or intranet.

• Promote the Activity Tracker and encourage employees to track their exercise every week.

• be creative, and make the most of the workspace you have. for example, mark off a safe walking path inside or around the building.

You may also set up a training circuit, highlighting features of the worksite like stairs.

• Offer exercise opportunities at different times to accommodate night-, shift-, and part-time staff members.

• for workers in remote or satellite offices, offer equal access to key programs via the intranet. Adapt challenges to suit their environment and take advantage of local facilities and resources.

• Make physical activity available to employees with special needs. Adapt information and activities for any staff who are visually impaired or physically disabled as well as for individuals  who speak English as a second language.

• Educate workers about physical activity using information from reputable sources such as the Alberta Center for Active Living.

• Offer facilities that invite on-site exercise. Possibilities include bike racks, an exercise room, change rooms with lockers and showers, and safe and attractive grounds for walking.

• Hold walking meetings.

• Make sure to encourage employees to walk to peers’ offices in lieu of e-mailing or phoning.

• Make sure to set up a stretching room. This low-cost initiative requires only a room, stretching mats, stability balls and medicine balls. Put up posters that show stretches and exercises.

• Give incentives like shoe bags, ball caps, T-shirts or water bottles to reward staff participation.

• Loan out pedometers for three months, so that staff members can find out how many steps they normally take and how much activity they need to add to get basic health benefits.

• Make space for workers to plant and maintain a flowerbed or garden at the workplace. Use any resulting produce for meetings and potluck lunches or donate it to charity.

• Plan a workplace health fair.

• Hire a certified fitness professional to design and manage an onsite fitness facility.

• Supply employees with active wear that shows off the corporation logo.

• Organize and promote monthly or bi-monthly company events that are fun and active, e.g., picnics with physical games, staff tournaments and dragon boat racing.

Make sure to encourage families to join in by including all-ages events such as relay races, soccer matches, bocce ball and baseball games.

• Start a swim club at a local pool. Invite groups of employees to swim the distance of a nearby lake. Convert kilometres to lengths and reward employees who complete the swim.

Be sure to set up a challenge between workers and managers to see who covers the greatest distance.

• Post a sign-up board where staff can enroll in a group or find a buddy to participate in activities of interest.

• Arrange a business badminton tournament that lasts a few months, with each staff member playing once a week. Post the results as the tournament progresses.

• Organize an office Olympics, World Cup, Wimbledon or Masters Games. Invite teams to compete in several activities over a month. Reward everybody who participates.

• Create a point system in which one minute of activity is equivalent to one point. Make sure to set a target, and post a chart where all workers can track their points. Reward the first group to reach that target.

• Co-ordinate a stair climb challenge. Post a chart at the top of the stairwell, and encourage workers to track the number of flights of stairs they climb each workday.

Make certain to set up teams, and award a prize to the first team to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest.

• Post and promote a sign-up board for lunchtime walking groups.

• Organize a walk “across the United States ” Select a route, figure out how many steps it would take to walk that distance and challenge employees to do it.

Provide or loan pedometers to staff members, and ask them to record the number of steps they take. Or, when you cannot afford pedometers, track the minutes walked. Make certain to set up a challenge between staff members and managers to see who can walk across the U.S.  first.

• Co-ordinate a walk to work club. Acknowledge workers who either walk to work or walk to public transit.

• Have a volunteer group leader guide weekly lunchtime power walks.

• Coordinate a million-step challenge. Form groups, challenge each group to walk a combined sum of a million steps and reward the winner. Departments or sites could compete with each other and with management.

• Challenge employees to walk 10,000 steps a day. Purchase pedometers for all participating employees or, if you can’t afford that, make pedometers available at a reduced rate.

Provide tips for increasing daily steps, and reward workers who succeed.

Wellness Program –  A Range of Approaches

Although the goal is to eventually have a long-term, robust wellness program, some companies prefer to begin with a single program at a basic level.

For example, the first steps can be as simple as offering lunch-hour sessions on first aid or healthful eating; or they might launch a pilot project to find out how interested staff members are to ensure staff members needs are being met before taking on anything more ambitious.

This approach provides a chance to show the impact on staff members and the workplace so management will be more willing to consider a bigger and more far-reaching strategy.

Other businesses plan a selection of programs to meet the needs of the different types of people  that make up their workforce. and some decide to create a sound company case, complete with a health strategy, before attempting any type of program.

Companies want to ensure that a new program is fully integrated with their overall company vision and mission.

Wellness Program –  Success Factors

Whether your corporation chooses to think large from the outset or to start with something smaller, always rememberthe following key success factors –

• support and participation from management;

• worker involvement in planning;

• programs that meet worker needs;

• a realistic budget; and

• continuous review.

In sports, a game plan is a series of steps that a team must follow to accomplish its goal of winning. Most winning teams plan to win. Organizations also need game plans, even when they do not call them by that name.

Good planning will help to ensure that your wellness program happens the way you want it to, and that costs could be identified in advance and kept within budget. Good planning prevents small problems from becoming bigger.

Steps in Planning a Wellness Program

Obtain management support. You may need to create a corporation case to convince managers that the wellness program is a corporation strategy-that employee health and job satisfaction affects their productivity. Staff Members need to see evidence that  senior management believes in and is committed to employee health.

Establish a planning committee. Members can include representatives from employee groups as well as from human resources, health and safety, and communications.

Collect information. to prove that your program is beneficial, establish a benchmark before the program begins. You may wish to look at staff member satisfaction, absenteeism rates, stress levels, drug costs or WCB expenses.

Assess what workplace facilities are available to support employees to make healthful options like showers and change areas or a secure place to store a bicycle. Assess worker needs through a recent survey or questionnaire, suggestion box or focus group. Communicate the results.

Create the plan to reflect the information gathered. Include program objectives, activities and how you are going to measure whether your objectives were met.

Keep the plan flexible. You might have to change direction in response to employee feedback or changes in the corporation’s structure.

Get management approval. Support for staff time and a budget are needed.

Put activities in place. Offer a selection of activities that develop awareness, increase knowledge, develop skills, and provide social interaction.

Activities could include walking clubs, participation in national campaigns such as Corporate Wellness Week, SummerActive, WinterActive, corporate challenge, golf days, and newsletters that provide information about community resources.

Workplaces can also make it easier for employees to make healthy options by providing flextime to allow employees to fit activity in when it’s convenient or by subsidizing programs in cooperation with community or private fitness facilities. A policy on catering for meetings can ensure that healthy foods are offered.

Evaluate the plan. Share your successes with others, learn from your mistakes and modify activities.

A wellness program does not have to be complicated or a immense investment. Just do it. Get support from management, bring several committed individuals  together to generate some ideas and get began.

The influence of the worksite environment on the wellness of employees is profound. First there’s the physical look, feel, smell, and sounds of the place. Then you are affected by the policies, like whether others are allowed to smoke around you.

After awhile, more subtle factors begin 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 healthy role models? Do you get regular opportunities to learn healthier behavior?

In a supportive environment, workers feel that the organization they work for provides 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 productive.

The following ideas will help you transform your workplace environment into one that in fact supports the wellness of your employees and organization.

Wellness Program Ideas for Creating Supportive Environments

Wellness Friendly Facilities

When you enter a worksite, do you feel comfortable? Could you be happy working there? is there enough light and clean air? Are there pleasant work areas, places to eat decent food, take a walk before lunch? Close your eyes. How does it smell? Sound? Do the workers have enough space?

There’s no doubt that our physical environment affects us, from basic safety matters to subtle factors that could cause  or reduce stress. Healthful environments often have these features –

• 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 exercise opportunities on-site or nearby

• Cafeteria offers healthful 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 use of tobacco areas onsite

• Noise levels are safe and conducive to concentration

• Make certain to work station furniture conforms to ergometric standards

• Safety hazards have been eliminated

• Lockers and showers are available for employees who workout before work or during breaks

• Stairs are clean and well lit, convenient and pleasant to use

Familiarity can make it hard to evaluate a worksite. Individuals  get used to stressful conditions and forget that conditions ever bothered them.

It may be useful to ask people  who are unfamiliar with your workplace to walk through with you. Professional consultants can also help.

Proactive Wellness Policies

One clear way to influence behavior is through policies and procedures. When nurses aren’t allowed to work more than twelve hours in a row, there will be fewer medication errors.

If parents are allowed flextime to attend to their children’s needs, they’ll be less stressed. If staff members can apply unused sick days to planned vacation time, they’ll save them up in lieu of calling in sick to use them all.

Supportive corporate policies may include –

• Seatbelt use required in company automobiles

• Alcohol and drug policies are appropriate to the industry

• Emergency procedures are developed, known, and practiced

• Flexible work schedules allow staff members to exercise, attend children’s school conferences, etc.

• Nonsmoking policy is enforced

• Excessive overtime is discouraged

• Membership at fitness facility is partially reimbursed

• Shift staff members are scheduled to allow adequate rest

• Medical care coverage rewards good health

• Absenteeism policy rewards employees who don’t use sick days

• Employee assistance program available to help staff members with chemical dependencies, depression, family problems

• Significant consequences are given for unsafe, unhealthful, prohibited behavior.  Your business may have a policy against alcohol use during work hours, but when everybody looks the other way when someone comes back from lunch smelling like beer, the culture is one that authorizes drinking at lunch-and one in which written policies can be safely ignored.

Prohibited behaviors ought to be confronted promptly. Otherwise your policies become mere lip service instead of springboards to health.

Consistent Recognition and Rewards for Success

Attention, praise, and rewards are given for wellness achievements.

You can show you value wellness by celebrating your programs and those who’ve made lifestyle improvements in corporation newsletters, on bulletin boards, and at annual banquets, meetings, and celebrations. Incentives are a direct way to show appreciation, too.

Wellness mentors are sought and applauded, too. Employees who support others’ efforts to improve their health are noticed and appreciated. Colleague modeling and mentoring classes can encourage those who enjoy helping others to step forward into a new role.

Managers Model and Support Healthy Behavior

Nothing could say “We encourage 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 control class.

Wellness activities promote 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 can also provide support for employees who are working on improving 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 can also help by authorizing workers the flexibility to attend wellness events.

Ongoing Wellness Programs

It’s important to give employees the sense that the wellness program is a permanent and important part of the organization, not a corporation fad. That can begin as soon as a new worker is hired.

New workers are oriented to the wellness program as one of the employee benefits. Information about the program must be presented by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable person who invites the new employee to participate.

The staff members are familiar with the ongoing programs.

The programs and wellness staff are well known in the corporation. Opportunities to participate are abundant and it’s easy to sign up.

A wide variety of awareness classes are offered. There are topics of interest for everybody.

• Create a sub-committee of enthusiastic staff members who’ll help promote the fitness program by offering ideas, suggestions and encouragement to fellow workers.

• Develop monthly mailbox flyers to promote a contest or provide fitness-related education/encouragement information.

• Send a weekly voicemail on each participant’s telephone with encouraging wellness messages.

• Provide regular cumulative health progress reports.

• Offer low-fat or heart-healthy lunch selections once a week in your cafeteria or have workers bring a healthy snack to share, with a recipe book compiled after the contest or specified time (like a National Nutrition Month in March).

• Distribute worker gifts (pedometers or other novelty item related to some aspect of your contest theme) as registration begins.

• Allow employees “Fitness15-Minute Walk Breaks;” business time to walk, exercise, etc. If appropriate, you could use a space not currently used to set up a treadmill, elliptical bicycle, some free weights and meditation music.

• Hold a T-shirt design contest.

• Create posters to map contest (or fitness) progress and to serve as reminder of your objectives –

• Use push pins or other identifiers for each individual to put up in the office showing how they have progressed – employees can get very creative with this and design pins that reflect their personalities.

• Use a bar graph to compare progress.

• Use a “thermometer” kind graphic and color in progress – consider a different, fitness-related graphic all together and color it in as you progress.

• Offer aerobic dance or walking videos in your conference or break rooms.

• Compile a list of organized events in the community that offer opportunities to get employees exercising by participating as a team (below are just a few) –

• Race for the Cure

• March of Dimes Walk America event

• Juvenile Diabetes Research

• Foundation Walk to Cure

• American Heart Association’s Heart Walk

• American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life

• American Lung Association’s Lung Run

• Local marathons or special community walks or runs

• Develop or attend a health-and-fitness retreat or workshop.

• Hold a soup-and-salad luncheon followed by a hula-hoop contest!

• Use the mall as an alternate walking location during inclement weather.

• Designate “Move it Mondays” – allow employees to take an extra 10 minutes during lunch for exercise.

• Designate “Tasty Tuesdays” – provide employees with low-calorie treats/snacks.

• Designate “Walking Wednesdays”- allow employees to take an extra 10 minutes during lunchtime to walk, or “Wacky Wednesdays” that allow employees to explore new exercises.

• Designate “Thirsty Thursdays” – make healthy smoothies or juice drinks for workers.

• Designate “Fresh Fruit Fridays” for staff – offer seasonal fruit treats.

• Send weekly exercise tips to workers via the most effective communications car in your workplace.

• Partner with another business representative for local media events coordinated through your advertising and marketing or communication department.

• Be sure to encourage departmental teams to challenge each other (examples –  Customer Service, Marketing, Medical Support).

• Establish walking clubs with executive/supervisory leadership.

• Seek out local aerobic opportunities or classes through churches, community groups, college, YMCA, etc.

• Contact a few local area gyms and ask if they can or will offer group discounts for fitness programs, waive enrollment fees, or set up a 12-week program as opposed to signing an extended contract.

• Hold a Frozen Yogurt Social – “Reap the Advantages of Fitness.”

• Map out a walking track around the building including the number of laps required for one mile.

Some qualified sources include –

• Hope Health

• Sound Ideas, Inc.

• Centers for Illness Control and Prevention

• National Institutes of Health

These e-mails may be sent daily, weekly or monthly. Our experience indicates weekly is the best frequency.

When the majority of your workers do not have e-mail, consider providing the information to them through –

• Bulletin boards

• Check stuffers

• Mailbox stuffers

• Newsletters

SAMPLE #1 Corporate Wellness E-mail Messages

From –  Wellness Program

To –  Wellness Team

Subject –  Layering for Exercise

One way to help ensure enjoyment of a winter walk (or run) is to make sure you are dressed properly for the weather. and the secret to that, for a winter workout, is to dress in layers.

Layer 1 — Avoid 100% cotton in the first layer, next to your skin. Cotton holds perspiration. Wear underwear made from manmade fabrics to wick perspiration away from skin.

Layer 2 — A zippered sweatshirt and sweatpants will keep you warm. Just open the zipper if you get too warm.

Layer 3 — If needed, over the sweatsuit, you can add a waterproof and windproof jacket. If it’s very cold, you may want to wear a jacket made with goose down.

Hands — Mittens will keep your hands warmer than gloves.

Feet — Wear socks made from wool or manmade fabrics that keep your feet dry and warm. Prevent 100% cotton socks. Do not wear sneakers or boots that fit too tightly … this will restrict blood flow and your feet will end up feeling colder.

Head — About 40 percent of your body heat is lost through your head. Wear a hat and cover your ears.

Lips — Don’t forget lip balm with sunscreen … even in winter!

SAMPLE #2 Corporate Wellness E-mail Messages

From –  Wellness Program

To –  Wellness Team

Subject –  Energy Improves

Need an energy increase? Here are some ideas for tapping into your own energy sources — and most require little effort.

• Get an extra hour of sleep. No surprise here — it may make a large difference in your energy level the next day.

• Eat less more often. Have small, balanced meals or snacks throughout your day for a steady supply of fuel and energy. Make note of which foods seem to boost your energy level.

• Drink plenty of water. Dehydration contributes to fatigue, which you can offset by drinking water throughout the day.

• Prevent alcohol and caffeine. Both can contribute  to dehydration and fatigue. They also tend to disrupt sleep patterns.