Wellness Plans : Wellness Programs – Creating Supportive Environments.

Precisely how does it feel to walk into your worksite? 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 can leave?

The influence of the worksite environment on the wellness of staff is profound. First there’s 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.

After awhile, more subtle factors begin to affect you. Do your attempts to adopt a healthier lifestyle get recognized at work, or are they sabotaged? Are your managers inspiring you by being healthful role models? Do you get regular opportunities to learn healthier behavior?

In a supportive environment, staff feel that the corporation they work for provides them with encouragement, opportunity, and rewards for healthy lifestyles.

And the spirit that results is highly contagious. Staff Members who feel cared are naturally more loyal and productive.

The following ideas will help you transform your workplace environment into one that truly supports the wellness of your personnel and organization.

Wellness Program Ideas for Creating Supportive Environments

Health Promotion Friendly Facilities

When you enter a worksite, do you feel comfortable? Could you be happy working there? is there enough light and clean air? Are there pleasant work areas, places to eat decent food, take a walk before lunch? Close your eyes. Just how does it smell? Sound? Do the staff members have enough space?

There’s no doubt that our physical environment affects us, from basic safety matters to subtle factors that can cause  or reduce stress. Healthy environments often have these features –

• Vending machines with healthy food choices like low-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 on-site 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 tobacco use areas on-site

• Noise levels are safe and conducive to concentration

• Be certain to work station furniture conforms to ergometric standards

• Safety hazards have been eliminated

• Lockers and showers are available for workers who workout before work or during breaks

• Stairs are clean and well lit, convenient and pleasant to use

Familiarity may make it hard to evaluate a workplace. People  get used to stressful conditions and forget that conditions ever bothered them.

It could be useful to ask individuals  who are unfamiliar with your workplace to walk through with you. Specialist consultants can also help.

Proactive Wellness Policies

One clear way to influence behavior is through policies and procedures. When nurses are not permitted to work more than twelve hours in a row, there will be fewer medication errors.

If parents are allowed flextime to attend to their children’s needs, they will be less stressed. If workers can apply unused sick days to planned vacation time, they will save them up instead of calling in sick to use them all.

Supportive corporate policies could include –

• Seatbelt use required in company cars

• Drug and alcohol policies are appropriate to the industry

• Emergency procedures are developed, known, and practiced

• Flexible work schedules allow workforce to exercise, attend children’s school conferences, etc.

• Nonuse of tobacco policy is enforced

• Excessive overtime is discouraged

• Membership at fitness facility is partially reimbursed

• Shift workers are scheduled to allow adequate rest

• Medical care coverage rewards good health

• Absenteeism policy rewards workforce who do not use sick days

• Employee assistance program available to help personnel with chemical dependencies, depression, family problems

• Meaningful consequences are given for unsafe, unhealthy, prohibited behavior.  Your corporation may have a policy against alcohol use during work hours, but if everybody looks the other way when someone comes back from lunch smelling like beer, the culture is one that permits drinking at lunch-and one in which written policies could be safely ignored.

Prohibited behaviors ought to be confronted promptly. Otherwise your policies become mere lip service in lieu of springboards to health.

Consistent Recognition and Rewards for Success

Attention, praise, and rewards are given for wellness achievements.

You can show you value wellness by celebrating your health promotion programs and those who’ve made lifestyle improvements in company newsletters, on bulletin boards, and at annual banquets, meetings, and celebrations. Incentives are a direct way to show appreciation, too.

Health Promotion mentors are sought and applauded, too. Employees who support others’ efforts to improve their health are noticed and appreciated. Colleague modeling and mentoring courses can encourage those who enjoy helping others to step forward into a new role.

Managers Model and Support Healthful Behavior

Nothing could say “We encourage you to exercise often” better than a manager going on a bicycle ride during the lunch hour–or your supervisor sitting next to you in a weight control class.

Health Promotion activities promote relaxed interaction between individuals  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 can also provide support for staff members who are working on bettering their health. It does not take anything fancy-just a “good job” or “nice to see you at the health and fitness center” can put a glow on the cheeks of most of us.

Managers can also help by permitting workforce the flexibility to attend wellness events.

Ongoing Wellness Programs

It’s crucial that you give staff members the sense that the wellness program is a permanent and important part of the company, not a company fad. That can begin as soon as a new staff member is hired.

New personnel are oriented to the health promotion program as among the employee benefits. Information about the health promotion program should be presented by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable person who invites the new employee to participate.

The staff are familiar with the ongoing health promotion programs.

The wellness programs and wellness staff are well known in the company. Opportunities to participate are abundant and it is easy to sign up.

A wide variety of awareness courses are offered. There are topics of interest for everybody.