Workplace Wellness
Helping You Develop Your Comprehensive Wellness Program
40% of Canadians who participated in a Canadian Mental Health Survey reported that they did not really know enough ways to maintain and improve their mental health.
Employees notice when an employer shows concern for their health and well-being. It has been shown that employee turnover is significantly lower among employees that take advantage of wellness programs.
10 Basic Tips For Promoting Organizational Health
- Encourage employee fitness through lunchtime walking, fitness memberships and incentive programs.
- Promote deskercises to reduce strain from keyboarding, sitting, and lack of fresh air and as a way to increase energy and focus.
- Reduce caffeine and encourage higher water consumption. Water can help fight the afternoon ‘lull’ and boost the immune system.
- Get them outside but not for a smoke-break. Light regulates energy.
- Stress the importance of healthy snacks and lunches to increase focus, creativity and energy.
- Promote team building through meetings, projects, training and activities. Support from co-workers reduces stress and gives perspective. Return to work initiatives should include providing support and understanding to those who have been away.
- Encourage effective communication through openness, sharing, and respect even on the ‘tough’ issues, performance reviews and brainstorming.
- Provide training workshops on stress-related and health-related issues. Employees who have a variety of coping ‘tools’ are better able to achieve success and balance.
- Increase access to information through reading materials, wellness centers, and Employee Assistance Programs.
- Model positive behaviour. Wellness and balance must be seen as an organizational priority and must be ‘lived’ and lead by those in management.
Does Your Organization Measure Up? Take the following brief questionnaire
- Is there an overall health policy in place stating your organization’s intent to protect and promote the health of all employees by providing as healthy an environment as possible?
- Do you train your people in healthy workplace principles and methods?
- Is a strategic approach in place to developing and sustaining a healthy workplace and is it based on employee needs?
- Do you have a formal assessment process to determine employee needs, attitudes and preferences in regard to healthy workplace programs?
- Are the workplace health assessment results analyzed and are improvement goals set out in a Healthy Workplace Plan?
- Does the Healthy Workplace Plan lead to improvement of all the key elements of a healthy workplace?
- Do you measure employee satisfaction levels in order to improve the workplace?
- Do you identify the contributions of your people and provide appropriate recognition and rewards?
- Are there good levels and trends in employee satisfaction and morale?
- Do your leaders demonstrate, through their comments and action, a commitment to the management of a healthy workplace?
Critical Questions To Ask Yourself
- What will happen or continue to happen and how much will it cost if we do not invest in wellness? – Benchmark
- What programs do we currently have and are they working?
- What programs would meet more of the needs of our employees? Health Assessment – symptoms and sources
- What outcomes are we hoping for or why are we willing to invest in wellness? From Benchmarks can calculate the costs
- What can we realistically afford to invest? Buy In
Celebrating Mental Health Week and Mental Health Awareness Month
May is when we celebrate. Mental Health Week and Mental Health Awareness Month is a great time for individuals and companies alike to examine their strategies and deliver programs for promoting and building their resiliency.
10 Tips To Promote Canadian Mental Health Week In Your Workplace
- Host an employee Lunch ‘n’ Learn
- Arrange a workplace health fair
- Organize a fundraising luncheon
- Set up a health challenge
- Bring in a massage therapist or relaxation instructor
- Email daily wellness tips to each employee
- Post wellness articles on employee bulletin boards
- Declare a ‘Stress-Down’ day
- Provide healthy snacks
- Promote daily stress busters
Daily Mental Health Week Email Tips
- Marvelous Monday – Make Your Mental Health Matter! Maintain balance in your life. Design the life that you want to live by knowing what your priorities and goals are.
- Terrific Tuesday – Take Time For Your Mental Health! Eat breakfast. Grab a healthy snack. Drink plenty of water. Get up and move around if you have been sitting for a while. What you do to energize yourself through food, water and exercise can have a significant impact on your mental health.
- Wacky Wednesday – Wake Up Your Playful Side! Enjoy your humorous side. Look at the comics. Pull out your stress toys. Look for the funny and keep life in perspective.
- Thoughtful Thursday – Think of Others and Say Thank-You! Support. Talk. Socialize. Ask for help. Build a team. Social support is a great buffer to the never-ending changes that we face.
- Fantastic Friday – Rejuvenate! Get your 8 hours of sleep. Take time to relax. When your life is speeding up, you need to actively take the time to slow it down.
How Healthy is My Business? Important Questions From The Canadian Mental Health Association
The economic health of any business relies upon the health of its employees. But how can you tell if your staff has work-life balance?
- Do managers receive training about how to support their staff to achieve work-life balance?
- Are your employees familiar with the policies and programs available to help with work-life balance?
- Does your organization provide flexible hours to help employees balance their responsibilities at work and at home?
- Do your managers encourage staff to stay home with sick children or elderly relatives when necessary?
- Does your organization have a method to track employees’ satisfaction with their work-life balance?
If the answer to most or all of these questions is “no”, it’s time to think about investing in your business’ success.
125 Workplace Wellness Programs you Just Might Want To Steal
Use the suggestions below to enhance your Comprehensive Wellness Program. This compilation of Wellness Programs was presented by Beverly at the Best Practices Forum.
This is not a complete list, but it can certainly help you to evaluate the programs you do have and see where you may need to add programs in order to keep your employees healthy, engaged, and productive. It is important that you ensure that you implement the right workplace wellness programs for your organization, as opposed to getting caught in the flavour-of-the-day trap.
Workplace Wellness Programs Based On The Seven Spokes To Wellness™
Living Healthy Programs
- stress management and mental illness workshops (especially depression, SAD as mental illness will affect 1 in 5)
- stress circles – a place to vent and find strategies and support for current challenges
- substance use and abuse awareness programs
- smoking cessation and control
- nutrition counselling and weight control programs/posting BMI charts
- add juice dispensing machines and water coolers in high traffic areas
- vending machines with low-calorie/healthy snack choices and nutritional information
- stop offering low value snacks during meetings
- colour-coded cafeteria choices
- posters to encourage breakfast – suggest choices to start the day
- healthy packed lunch ideas for adults and kids
- partnering with local restaurants for healthy lunch choices
- links to weekly healthy recipes on-line
- office cookbook of healthy recipes
- healthy or low-cost cooking programs/healthy shopping instruction
- partner with a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) provider. Individuals pay a fee to receive a weekly box of fresh, organic produce food
- programs on naturopaths, homeopaths, herbal remedies and vitamins
- information sessions on fad diets/debunking false nutrition information
- promoting active living and fitness activities such as a aerobics, walking or cycling clubs
- self-defense classes
- relaxation training and energy specialists
- use of chiropractors and massage as part of health benefits
- stretching classes such as yoga, tai chi
- active living challenges such as walking challenges with pedometers/stair climbing challenge
- Wellness Wednesdays, Walking and Talking Thursdays, Mindful Mondays, Tea Toddlers Tuesdays
- sleep and sleep disorders workshops e.g. snoring issues
- 7 hour s per night for 30 days sleep challenge
- how to get a better nap information and access to sleep rooms
- fatigue management, alertness testing and impact ono driving sessions
- encouraging light breaks
- 6 glass a day for 30 days challenge
- Whole Life Challenge incentivizes major lifestyle change by awarding points for completing each of the 7 Daily Habits: nutrition, exercise, mobilize, sleep, hydrate, lifestyle, and reflect for 8 weeks
- 21 days of gratitude challenge
- team visioning board exercise
- information sessions on STD’s, insect bites, memory enhancement, motion sickness, healthy skin/psoriasis, gingivitis and mouth care, hair loss, ear infections, fever, TMJ, varicose veins, shingles, defensive driving, sun safety, avoiding home and vehicle theft, food safety/handwashing
Environment Strategies
- violence prevention in the workplace sessions
- equity in the workplace evaluation
- harassment policy and training
- literacy/numeracy programs
- skill enhancing training
- air quality and sick building testing
- decorate with a plant wall
- implementation of a a smoke-free workplace/location
- fire safety, hazard control and WHIMS Training
- injury prevention, CPR/First Aid, emergency response programs
- improved access signage
- installing safety guard rails
- work station evaluation
- access to standing desks
- ergonomic and repetitive strain reduction training/stretching
- tips to prevent eye strain
- host walking meetings
- health and safety written and implemented policies/Safety Audits
- access to bike racks, showers and change areas to encourage fitness
- make stairs bright and attractive and post signs to encourage their use
- incentivize ride sharing
Attaining Balance Programs
- childcare and eldercare programs and information
- family planning information
- parenting classes
- retirement planning
- personal responsibility leave
- availability of alternative work arrangements such as telecommuting, job sharing
- work-family-life transition support
- partner with a laundry service
- anger management and family violence
- budgeting, financial counselling, tax preparation courses
- money safety tips – ATMS, credit cards, understanding credit reports
- advertising and promotion of community support groups
- cafeteria take-out program
- access to will, power of attorney, and estate experts
- vacation planning and safe travel tips
- bereavement information and leave
- shift work and lifestyle programs
- corporate policy on limiting overtime and extended work hours
- work-life balance tips in newsletters
- corporate family days – bike rodeos, BBQ, picnics
- volunteering and promotion of charity/causes – United Way, MADD
- other information sessions on chemical free lawn and garden care, menopause, infertility, lice prevention, poisoning, fire safety, seat belts and booster seats, playground safety, internet safety, home safety and energy efficiency, swimming pool safety
Dynamics & Culture Strategies
- clearly communicated vision and mission
- clear and accurate job descriptions and supportive appraisal system
- employee empowerment through decision-making, pace of work and connection to corporate goals, (on-line tools that connect to goals such as Baxter Healthcare)
- two-way communication training
- ‘no lunch hour’ meeting rules unless it is a lunch ‘n’ learn
- absenteeism and attendance program
- career tracking, (on-line tools like Pfizer)
- continuing education reimbursement
- job rotation, special project assignments
- time management and interruption management
- clearly defined change and complaint/suggestion processes
- email and technology guidelines and training
- ensuring full vacation usage
- encouraging healthy shift work rotations and full use of breaks
- conflict management training
- handling negative attitudes workshops
- management training – scheduling, incentive and recognition programs, workload impact, communication and feedback skills, conflict management skills and support skills, priority setting
Employee Health Services
- access to an EAP
- on-site medical services
- workplace medical examinations
- health risk screening and counselling including blood pressure, blood cholesterol, blood glucose clinics, thyroid, bone density screening, prostrate, depression
- encourage self-exams – breasts, testicles
- medical surveillance programs
- promotion of and access to immunization and flu shots
- clearly defined disability case management
- active rehabilitation and return to work initiatives
- self-care education (see health living programs)
- disease management information and presentations including diabetes, stomach disorder, arthritis, asthma, allergy, pain control, foot and back care programs, chronic fatigue, migraines
- health on-line with continuous learning/reminders/tips
- fitness appraisals
- health and safety fairs
- hand-washing tips and reminders
- visiting your doctor guide – tips to efficiency
- links and information on-line help lines
Remuneration & Benefits
- alternative therapy coverage
- access to an on-site massage therapist or seated massage breaks
- orthotics
- orthodontics
- fitness subsidies
- subsidies for wearable technology
- education subsidies
- cessation and weight control partial reimbursement incentives
- safety shoe reimbursement
- out-of-country coverage
- vision care
- salary reviews
- paid volunteering time or charity donation matching program
Support Building
- fitness breaks and stretches
- team challenges and corporate sport teams such as soccer, volleyball, and hockey
- use employees who are in-house experts e.g., gardening, yoga, construction
- celebrate birthdays, anniversaries – other significant dates and achievements
- 5 minute catch up at the beginning
- daily/weekly team chats and check-ins
- social hour and dj for a day – bring music and celebration together
- allow pets at work
- high 5 boards
- acknowledgement and gratitude sharing at the end of the week
15 Healthy Workplace Programs
Workplace programs that you can implement to help you and your team on the road to building resiliency and creating a healthy workplace and culture.
#1 Identify Current Mental Health Risks
Is stress putting your team at risk? Survey your employees to find out what is working and what is not. Check the psychological health and safety status of your workplace. Conduct a workplace psychosocial risk assessment to identify factors that influence employee psychological health and safety.
#2 Set up a Health Challenge
Encourage employees to get moving. Promote employee health and fitness through walking challenges, stair climbing, fitness memberships and incentive programs. Provide opportunities for employees to sign-up for lunch hour, or after-work activities encourage group activities, relationships, teamwork and a healthy lifestyle.
#3 Host a Lunch 'n' Learn
From Building Resiliency to Understanding Mental Health Issues, these presentations will dispel myths, identify issues and provide clear direction for moving forward. Employees who have a variety of coping ‘tools’ are better able to achieve success and balance.
#4 Start a 21 day Gratitude Challenge
Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.
#5 Encourage a Stress Down Day
Mindfulness, muscle relaxation, yoga, and meditation reduces stress, increases calmness and promotes happiness. Encourage employees to start with just a few minutes of focused breathing at the beginning of each workday to reduce stress.
#6 Provide Health Break Activities
Stress the importance of healthy snacks, water, and lunches to increase focus, creativity and energy.
#7 Light it Up
Encourage your team to get outside, not for a smoke-break, but for a light break. Not only does it give you a break, but light helps to regulate mood and energy.
#8 Encourage Frequent Stretch Breaks
Promote deskercises to reduce strain from keyboarding, sitting, and as a way to increase energy and focus.
#9 Promote Team Building
Celebrations And Social Gatherings are an important part of workplace culture. Promote team building through meetings, projects, training and activities. Support from co-workers reduces stress and gives perspective.
#10 Highlight Pictures of Your Team Taking Care of Their Mental and Physical Health
Social Connection Matters. One of the 10 Important Elements Of Organizational Culture is social support, however it is often one of the most neglected areas of workplace culture. Being socially connected at work helps in buffering against the stress of deadlines, customer service issues and setbacks.
#11 Celebrate an Obscure Health-related Holiday
Our Wellness Awareness Calendar contains more that 450 wellness awareness days, weeks and months that you can use to enhance your workplace awareness programming.
#12 Focus in on Effective Communication
Encourage effective communication through openness, sharing, and respect even on the ‘tough’ issues, performance reviews and current challenges.
#13 Promote Self-care
Self-care during challenging times is critical. Without it, our teams can not be as productive, creative or as resilient as they can be. Give your teams permission to focus on their self-care needs.
#14 Reduce Mental Health Stigma
Educate your leaders and employees on mental health at work and use resources and tools to promote mental health and eliminate stigma for employees seeking help.
#15 Looking for a Workshop
Contact Beverly about hosting a workshop on Managing Complexity and Change and in building resiliency in your team during this Healthy Workplaces Month. Encourage a positive, engaged, and happy working environment!
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