Posts from — December 2008

Why Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative follow up?

Getting feedback from Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative participants serves two purposes: to obtain information that quantifies a Wellness Program’s impact, and to find ways to improve a Workplace Wellness Program.

Building follow up into your Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative

Make it Simple
• Keep follow up to information you absolutely require. A three-question survey is more likely to get a response than one with 20 questions.
• Use email or phone for follow-up. Use personal and business email addresses; use cell phone and unit phone numbers.
• Go to the Employees: go to the unit or somewhere else they will all be gathered, and get follow up information there.
• Give participants a stamped envelope addressed to you, with a printed form listing the information you will need.

Make it structured
• Tell participants right from the beginning that you will be doing follow up after the Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative is finished. Be specific about the information you will collect.
• If you need to do hands-on measurements, find out if participants will be coming back to your location for another reason (like another clinic appointment). Ask them to stop by while they are in the building – or, better yet, go to where they will be.
• Ask participants where they will be the next time you will be collecting information. They may already know their next duty station if they will be PCSing soon.
• Plan ahead for follow up and put it on the schedule. Planning to do follow up “when you have time” usually means follow up will never get done.

Make it catchy
• Give participants something to go along with the request for information. For example, if you send an email to ask for information, send along a yummy recipe or a timely fitness tip.
• Schedule a ‘reunion’ day to collect follow up information. Invite participants to come back and share successes and challenges. Have some (healthy) munchies available.
• Have a silly contest – the team with the most follow up information wins something, like having their photos posted on a prominently-placed bulletin board or an eggplant trophy, or some other fun thing.

Why bother to market your Workplace Wellness Programs?
Because of the transient nature of the many worker populations, you must market your Workplace Wellness Programs all the time. Your goal should be to keep your Workplace Wellness Programs as visible as possible.

Creative marketing can increase awareness of your Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative for:
• Potential Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative participants
• Upper Management
• Line and medical personnel
• Potential partners and volunteers

Creative Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative marketing ideas

Involve Upper Management in your marketing Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative as frequently as possible.
• For example: invite Upper Management to judge a Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative logo contest.

Link your Workplace Wellness Programs to national advertising campaigns
• …like the Great American Smokeout and the Dairy Council’s Milk Mustache campaign.

Collaborate closely with personnel in the corporate office.
• Submit articles about your Workplace Wellness Programs that coincide with National Health Observances. For example: highlight your Asthma Program in May, which is National Asthma Awareness Month.
• Let the corporate office know you can always provide an article to them when they run short on material. (Then make sure you always follow through.)
Word of mouth is the most effective advertisement for your Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative
• Use real employees in your advertising: enlist the help of successful Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative participants or use Employees and other post personnel for your marketing materials, when possible.
• Create “buzz” by incorporating an element of competition: which ‘team’ had the most steps over the past week? Which department engaged most frequently in physical activity?
Take advantage of technology
• Use post television and radio resources.
• Use email whenever you can.
Don’t simply market your Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative to potential participants, but market the opportunities for others to be involved, as well.
• For example: does the Red Cross know you can always use a volunteer? Do other departments/clinics know that you can always use personnel with some temporary down time?
Don’t be “old news”
• If you put advertising materials up, be sure to take them down in a timely manner.
• Update marketing logos and themes as appropriate.