- Gain Leadership
A successful health promotion program starts with a commitment from company leaders, and its continued success depends on ongoing leadership support at all levels of the organization, including middle managers.
- Measure VOI not Just ROI
Successful programs need to be properly evaluated on an ongoing basis. But it’s important to establish the metrics most important to senior management which may include: program awareness, participation rates, worker morale, behaviour change, risk reduction, changing the slope of medical claims payments, lowering absenteeism, increasing productivity, attracting and retaining talent. These are all important outcomes – but it’s important to establish measurable goals at the program’s outset and revisit those goals at key milestones. Program evaluation is critical to maintaining accountability and you can’t effectively manage a program without measuring it.
- Establish a Culture of Health
A healthy company culture is built intentionally so that worker health is integrated into every aspect of business practice. A healthy culture is evident in the corporate mission, it appears in company policies, and is evident in everyday work activities that not only focus on physical health but also recognize the importance of emotional, social, financial, and purposeful health – an alignment between the company’s and one’s personal beliefs and values.
- Talk to Employees
Get clear and compelling messages out to workers that explain what the program is all about, how it works, what’s in it for employees not just the company, and why it’s important to get involved. To be successful strategic communication needs to be frequent, varied in content, multi-channel and tailored to the needs and interest of your population so that it doesn’t fade into background noise. Another way to talk to employees is by asking them what they would like to have in the program. Boosting engagement in wellness is achieved when workers own the program and are given a meaningful voice in its ongoing operation.
- Offer Smart Incentives
Incentives for participation in programs work. Incentives may not even need to involve money, such as being featured in the company’s newsletter, having lunch with the CEO or receiving a recognition award for achieving a health goal. The overall challenge for health promotion practitioners is to migrate individuals from participating in the program to receive an external incentive where the new behaviour becomes an internal incentive and is inherently satisfying.