Wellness Program Incentives

A Employee Wellness Program without goals and objectives is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you won’t know where you’re going, how to get there, what you want to do once you have arrived, or even whether or not you have arrived!  The trip may end up ok, or it may end up disastrously.  Yet, with a little thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a efficacious experience.  Clear goals and objectives are needed to plan your wellness program in order to ensure success!

Wellness program objectives and goals are different from one corporation to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources.  Nevertheless, well thought out objectives based on your company’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a successful wellness program!

Company Wellness Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Workplace Health Promotion Program. The mission statement is the central expression of what the Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee wants to accomplish by implementing a wellness program.  It is valuable to consider how your Workplace Health Promotion Program fits in with the organization mission statement, contributes to the central mission and supports the organization bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the organization operations.  

Below are some examples of Company Health Promotion Program mission statements:

“At XYZ Organization, maintaining an environment that supports employee health and safety is our underlying value.  It is the mission of the Workplace Wellness Program to support  in starting Workplace Wellness Program services that fosters and upholds that value.”

“It is the mission of the XYZ Employee Health Promotion Program Committee to cultivate healthier lifestyle choices to cut health risk factors, better overall wellbeing, and maintain a constructive, active work force.”

Employee Wellness Program Goals

The goals and objectives further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment.  Depending on the needs assessment, management expectations and employee interests, examples of goals and objectives can include:

The goal(s) of XYZ Corporate Wellness Program in year XXXX is to:  (one or more of the following examples)

• Reduce absenteeism by one day per employee
• Decrease musculoskeletal injuries by 10 percent
• Lower unnecessary emergency room visits
• Cut down on or contain medical care costs
• Improve dietary habits of staff members
• Decrease health risk factors  

Worksite Health Promotion Program Objectives

Specific Employee Health Promotion Program objectives help meet your long-term objectives and goals.  Both short term and long term objectives should be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the objectives and goals.  In addition to objectives for the expected participant outcomes, process objectives should also be developed for the program process itself.  By way of example, process objectives may include the number of workers you want to take part in the programs, the number of sessions on a topic will be provided, the type of wellness sessions that will be implemented, etc.

Objectives must be easily measurable within a set time frame.  Try using the SMART formula to establish both your long and short-term goals and objectives:

• Specific (one behavior or outcome)
• Measurable (one result that can be monitored or evaluated),
• Attainable (but also challenging),
• Realistic (do you have the resources to achieve?), and
• Time specific (within 3 months – up to 5 years)  

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  For example, the mission for a weight loss program that has an central objective of improving healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that:

Participants (who) will lose an average of .5 – 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) at the end of the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per participant (attainable and realistic).

Or:

Participants (who) will attend 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier eating change at the end of the program (specific what, when, where)

An example of the mission for coaching staff members with high cholesterol might be:

To cut the total cholesterol (specific what) of high risk staff members with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions offered at the workplace (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic & time specific when) to cut the risk factor for heart disease (why).  

And one last example of a process intention for a smoking cessation program with an central objective to assist  participants in committing to quit for life:

By the end of the 4-week smoking cessation program, 10% of the participants will have quit smoking.  Each colleague will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process goal) and 10% of those who quit will still be smoke-free after one year.

You have now completed Steps 1 through 4, including adopting your Worksite Health Promotion Program Committee.  It is now time to plan your wellness activities!