Posts from — October 2008

Why it’s important and how to do it

The Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative Vision

A Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative vision statement is a concise statement that summarizes the purpose and goals of your employer’s commitment to establishing a Workplace Wellness Program. Taking the time to clarify and describe your employer’s Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative vision can provide a focus and a consistent direction for your Strategies for years to come. The vision statement reminds leaders and employees of the link between employee health and the employer’s ability to achieve its overall mission.

Answer the following questions and you’ll have the components needed to build a simple and effective Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative vision for your employer’s culture of wellness:

• What do you want your Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative to accomplish?
• How do you intend to accomplish it?
• How does this Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative mission support or further the employer’s mission?

A sample Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative vision statement might be . . .

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

The Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative Brand

In the same way that your employer’s name and brand image provide visibility for your business, your Strategies toward establishing a Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative will benefit from being easily recognizable to employees:

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

Do what you can to engage employees in establishing the identity (brand) for your employer’s Workplace Wellness Program. Not only are they more likely to accept the name, it’s also a great way to announce to employees the employer’s Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative commitment. Here are two possible approaches to involving employees:

Option 1: Have a Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative contest

1. Announce the Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative contest guidelines and deadline.
2. Have the Workplace Health and Wellness Initiative Committee review the ideas submitted, and select a name.

If, for example, your business, Premier Building and Design, is in the commercial construction business, you might receive the following Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative ideas from employees:

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

After reviewing the entries, your Workplace Health and Wellness Initiative Committee determines that it likes the name “Premier Elements” and the subtitle “Building health builds wealth”. Your committee awards the “name the Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative contest” prize to the two employees, those who submitted the pieces of the name that represent the final product.

Premier Elements: Building health builds wealth

3. Choose a Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative logo to go with the name.

The Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative logo is an important piece of the branding

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

Option 2: Workplace Health and Wellness Initiative Committee determines the name and brand

1. Have your Workplace Health and Wellness Initiative Committee brainstorm Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative names.
• To get ideas flowing, ask members to write down all health-related words and words associated with your employer or industry.
• Try clustering words together as in the construction business example above.
2. Once your Workplace Health and Wellness Initiative 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 Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative logo to go with the winning name.
4. Announce the employer’s Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative and the corresponding Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative name. Explain that staff members on the advisory committee chose the name.

Sample Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative meeting agendas and topics for discussion

Is your employer’s Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative Workplace Health and Wellness Initiative 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 Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative meetings.   You may also want to revisit these topics annually.

•    Clarify roles of Workplace Health and Wellness Initiative Committee members
­    Are members accountable for implementing changes or recommending changes?
­    How long are members’ terms on the Workplace Health and Wellness Initiative Committee?
­    How will new members be selected?

•    Determine Workplace Health and Wellness Initiative Committee meeting frequency and processes
­    Establish dates, times, and locations.
­    Determine how agendas will be set.
­    Plan for recording and distributing meeting notes.

•    Plan Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative communication with leadership
­    Does a leader sit on the group or does the coordinator report on progress (and to whom)?
­    How frequently do leaders want reports on Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative progress?

•    Select a name and brand for your employer’s Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative

•    Develop a vision statement for your employer’s Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative

•    Establish existing allies Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative for promoting employee health within your employer
­    Who do Workplace Health and Wellness Initiative Committee members know who could be relied on to support worksite changes necessary to establish a culture that promotes health?

•    Brainstorm challenges your employer may face in working to establish facilities, policies and Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative practices that promote employee health
­    What do committee members regard as opportunities? How about potential Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative obstacles?

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