Keys to Launching & Sustaining a Successful Wellness Program

1) No ready, fire, aim! Before you launch anything create a strategic plan that includes the initial roll-out program and at least a one year outlook with proposed budget. The initial roll-out should address employee concerns which can be gathered in a variety of ways- you don’t want to be seen as big brother checking up on employees health. This is a bigger challenge than some executives realize at first.

2) Obtain top-down buy in. Make sure the senior management team is fully behind the initiative and understands what it means as far as employee time and commitment. This means that they not only agree to support the plan roll-out but that they will ‘allow’ their managers and subordinates to attend the various wellness events that are planned throughout the year.

3) Communicate, communicate, communicate. Communicate about the trends in US healthcare and the effect this has on insurance premiums at a macro level. Average health insurance premiums have seen double digit percentage increases annually and these increases are expected to continue to rise every year unless new measures are taken. Communicate about how this affects your company and your employees. Communicate the benefits of the wellness program for employees.

And don’t just post the news in the corner bulletin board in the lunchroom. Deliver the message in a variety of ways, through a variety of channels. Consistency of message is key regardless of the medium but email, voice mail, corporate web micro-sites, lunch & learn presentations, employee newsletters, and snail mail letters can all be effective ways to reach a diverse employee population.

4) Hold my hand. Change is scary for lots of people, be ready to do a bit of hand holding, or have someone contracted to handle this, for a smoother transition and higher employee participation rates. Incentives help too, a small gift card, free gas card, a salon treatment, a free t-shirt!

5) Keep it fresh and keep on keeping it fresh. Don’t just budget for the first wave, that’s usually the easy part. Plan for waves 2, 3, and 4. Wellness is not a fixed destination, it’s more of a lifelong journey and for as long as employees are with you, you’re on the journey with them.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 12th, 2008 at 8:48 pm and is filed under Wellness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.