Employee Wellness Plans : Workplace Health Promotion Programs: Creating Supportive Environments

How does it feel to walk into your workplace? Do people look happy? Is the place well lit and cheerful? Do you feel welcome, wanted and energized? Or do you feel a gloom come over you, and count the hours until you are able to leave?
The impact of the worksite environment on the health and wellbeing of workers 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. As time passes, more subtle factors begin to affect you. Do your attempts to live 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 learn healthier behaviors?
In a supportive environment, workers feel that the company 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 beneficial.
The following ideas will help you transform your workplace environment into one that truly supports the wellness of your staff members and employer.

Workplace Health Promotion Program Ideas for Creating Supportive Environments

Wellness Friendly Facilities

When you enter 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 food, take a walk before lunch? Close your eyes. How does it smell? Sound? Do the workers have sufficient space?
• Vending machines with healthy food choices like non-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 onsite 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 conducive to concentration
• Work station furniture conforms to ergometric standards
• Safety risks have been eliminated
• Lockers and showers are available for staff members who work out before work or while on 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 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 impact behavior is through policies and procedures. If nurses aren’t permitted to work more than twelve hours consecutively, there will be fewer medication errors. If parents are afforded flextime to manage their children’s needs, they’ll be less stressed. If employees can apply unused sick days to planned vacation time, they’ll save them up rather than calling in sick to use them all.

Supportive corporate policies may include:

• Seatbelt use required in company vehicles
• Drug and alcohol policies are relevant to the industry
• Emergency procedures are developed, known, and practiced
• Flexible work schedules allow workers 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
• Healthcare Costs coverage rewards great health
• Absenteeism policy rewards workers who don’t use sick days
• Employee Assistance Program(EAP) ready to help staff members with chemical dependencies, depression, family issues
• Meaningful consequences are carried out for unsafe, unhealthy, prohibited behavior.  Your corporation may have a policy against 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 lunchtime-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 instead of springboards to health.

Consistent Recognition And Incentives For Success

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

Managers Model And Support Healthier Behavior

Nothing might say “We advocate you to exercise frequently” 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 are able to also provide support for staff members who are working on bettering their health. It doesn’t take anything fancy-just a “great job” or “nice to see you at the fitness center” can put a glow on the cheeks of most of us.
Managers are able to also help by allowing employees the flexibility to go to wellness programs.

Ongoing Workplace Health Promotion Programs

It’s important to give employees the sense that the wellness program is a permanent and important part of the organization, not a organization fad. That can start 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 encourages the new employee to participate.
The workers are familiar with the ongoing wellness programs.
The wellness programs and wellness coordinator are visible 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 everyone.