Health Promotion Blog

Sample Corporate Health Promotion Program meeting agendas and topics for discussion

Is your company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program Wellness Committee new?  Has it existed on paper but been inactive for a while?  In either case, some of the following may be appropriate agenda items for your first Corporate Health Promotion Program meetings.   You may also want to revisit these topics annually.

•    Clarify roles of Wellness Committee members

­    Are members responsible for implementing changes or recommending changes?
­    How long are members’ terms on the Wellness Committee?
­    How will new members be selected?

•    Determine Wellness Committee meeting frequency and processes

­    Determine dates, times, and locations.
­    Determine how agendas will be set.
­    Plan for recording and distributing meeting notes.

•    Plan Corporate Health Promotion Program communication with upper management

­    Does a leader sit on the group or does the coordinator report on progress (and to whom)?
­    How often do leaders want reports on Corporate Health Promotion Program progress?

•    Select a name and brand for your company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program

•    Develop a vision statement for your company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program

•    Identify existing allies Corporate Health Promotion Program for promoting worker health within your company
­    Who do Wellness Committee members know who could be relied on to support workplace changes required to establish a culture that encourages health?

•    Brainstorm challenges your company may face in working to establish facilities, policies and Corporate Health Promotion Program practices that promote worker health
­    What do committee members regard as opportunities? How about potential Corporate Health Promotion Program obstacles?

•    History of past Corporate Health Promotion Program efforts
­    If relevant, summarize past Corporate Health Promotion Program efforts. Discuss what your company learned from those efforts.
?    What has the company tried over the last few years?
?    What has worked well?
?    What hasn’t worked well?
?    How, if at all, was success of previous Corporate Health Promotion Program efforts measured?

A representative Wellness Committee is a cornerstone of a successful Corporate Health Promotion Program, regardless of the size of the company.

Membership of your Wellness Committee

Aim for a committee of a manageable size (no more than 15 members, depending on your company’s size). Your Wellness Committee should represent all employee groups (e.g., full-time and part-time workers, managers and front-line staff, salary and hourly employees, union representation, HR, marketing or communications, legal, and occupational health/safety).

Here are some additional considerations:

• Wellness Committee members can be selected by leadership or can be selected from among volunteers.
• Determine in advance how long Wellness Committee members will support and how new members will be selected. Balance the need for continuity with the need to bring fresh ideas and energy to your company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program.
• It’s not important, or even desirable, to have your healthiest workers on the Wellness Committee. Ideal Wellness Committee members are those who best can represent their peers, motivate others and support the implementation of the Corporate Health Promotion Program.
• Consider providing an incentive or recognition to Wellness Committee members. It legitimizes their positions and encourages participation. Some companys that have implemented stipends have generated enough worker interest that the selection of Wellness Committee membership becomes a competitive process. The Wellness Committee responsibilities become a formal component of the member’s job accountabilities.

Role of your Wellness Committee

In some companys the Wellness Committee is responsible for the implementation of the Corporate Health Promotion Program. In other companys, the Wellness Committee plays an advisory role. In either case, the group members can be asked to:

• Attend regular meetings of the Wellness Committee.
• Help establish a vision and name for the company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program.
• Represent their peer group by sharing ideas, needs, concerns and feedback from their work areas and colleagues about proposed Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies, policies, and programs.
• Make available feedback on the possible barriers to proposed Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies and offer suggestions for addressing those barriers (e.g., how does a proposed policy fit with the schedules of workers?).
• Suggest effective Corporate Health Promotion Program communication Strategies and solutions to challenges. For example, what is the best way to communicate with workers who work the third shift? How will workers react to a proposed message from upper management?
• Be a voice of support for a culture of wellness, carrying the message from the Wellness Committee to their work areas and colleagues.

Functioning of your Wellness Committee

Meet. Schedule regular Wellness Committee meetings on paid work time. Your Wellness Committee may want to meet frequently at first, then slightly less often as your health improvement strategy is more established. If your Wellness Committee is new, it might be useful to ask members to provide information about themselves and their interests.

Communicate. Set up regular and frequent channels of communication with Wellness Committee members so they are up to date and engaged. An email list is often the easiest way to do this. Encourage communication to flow both ways: from Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator to members and from members to coordinator.

Check-in. At least once a year, determine how effectively the Wellness Committee is functioning. Is the Wellness Committee serving its original purpose? Ask committee members for their feedback. Do they feel like their work is making a difference? Do they feel like their input is valued and taken into account when planning and implementing initiatives? Do they understand their expected Corporate Health Promotion Program roles and responsibilities? Are there members who want to rotate off of the committee? How will new members be selected?

Beginning a Corporate Health Promotion Program need not be costly, but will require the commitment of some financial resources. If possible, include the Corporate Health Promotion Program in your company’s annual business plan and budget as you do for other efforts important to your company’s success.

How much to budget for the Corporate Health Promotion Program?

There is no one-size-fits-all formula for establishing a Corporate Health Promotion Program that results in improved employee health. Organizations differ in how much money they need and how much they can make available for the Corporate Health Promotion Program. Consider the following common expenses in developing an adequate Corporate Health Promotion Program budget:

• Corporate Health Promotion Program staffing costs (either internal salaries or consultant fees)
• Corporate Health Promotion Program data collection costs (including health risk assessment costs, if relevant)
• Corporate Health Promotion Program incentives for healthy behaviors (such as discounts on premiums for non-smokers)
• Costs of Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies to be implemented (such as costs of covering tobacco quit medications or costs of subsidizing healthy foods in the cafeteria or vending machines)
• Corporate Health Promotion Program administrative and communications expenses

In times of tight finances, be prepared to justify your requested Corporate Health Promotion Program budget. Arm yourself with data on potential short- and long-term outcomes of the proposed Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies. Itemize the Corporate Health Promotion Program expenses of past initiatives and share projected expenses for initiatives planned for the upcoming year.

Sustaining Corporate Health Promotion Program Funding

A dedicated Corporate Health Promotion Program line item in your company’s budget makes it more likely to be regarded as a need, rather than as a “nice-to-have” amenity that could be cut when funds run low.

One of the best Strategies for ensuring continued financial support for the Corporate Health Promotion Program is frequent communication to upper management, including:

• How many workers have you reached through the Corporate Health Promotion Program? Has morale increased? Have health risks decreased, e.g., fewer workers smoking, more workers active?
• How well are you managing the Corporate Health Promotion Program resources you’ve been given? Where and how has your budget been spent? Keep track of the staff time required for each initiative and be able to present the numbers at any time.
• Anecdotal Corporate Health Promotion Program success stories from workers. Don’t underestimate the power of a good story to put a human face on your success.

Additional sources of Corporate Health Promotion Program Funding

If required, have the individuals responsible for establishing a Corporate Health Promotion Program look for ways to supplement available internal funds. Are there grants or other financing available that can help support your Corporate Health Promotion Program ? What community Corporate Health Promotion Program resources could you use to meet some of your needs?

Finding an individual to lead your company in establishing a Corporate Health Promotion Program

Without a qualified Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator to lead and manage your company’s creation of a culture of wellness, efforts can be scattered and momentum can stall. While it’s vital that the creation of a culture of wellness be someone’s priority, not all companys need a full-time coordinator.  There are a number of ways to secure the time of a qualified coordinator.

Be careful not to confuse Corporate Health Promotion Program skills with fitness skills. You are not looking for a personal trainer or a nutritionist to run your Corporate Health Promotion Program. The following are good indications that an individual may be qualified to be a Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator:

• knowledge of community health, population health and worksite Corporate Health Promotion Programs
• competent working with and understanding aggregate data, preferably Corporate Health Promotion Program data
• competent managing projects, including developing timelines and facilitating meetings
• competent in strategic planning, including defining goals and related objectives
• ability to understand, and use the findings of, journal articles on effective Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies.

What will a Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator do?

The Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator is responsible for guiding a process that establishes workplace facilities, policies and practices that promote health. The individual may do some of all of the following for your Corporate Health Promotion Program:

• act as a liaison between upper management and the Corporate Health Promotion Program employee advisory workgroup
• interpret health-related data on your Corporate Health Promotion Program
• establishe and manage work plans and budgets for implementation of selected Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies
• facilitate Wellness Committee meetings
• lead your company in establishing measurable goals for the Corporate Health Promotion Program
• recommend effective Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies, using the evidence in the health behavior literature and national and/or recommended best practices
• document and report short-term and long-term progress on Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies and goals.

Where can we find a qualified Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator?

Explore the following when looking for a Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator:

• Existing staff: Are there individuals on staff who have the background, or are interested in gaining the skills, to support as a Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator? Is it possible to dedicate a portion of someone’s time (e.g., .5 FTE) to the position of coordinating your company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies? If possible, budget enough to cover not only salary but also continued learning, journal subscriptions and membership fees for this Corporate Health Promotion Program position.
• New staff – Can you hire an individual to be your company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator? Would it need to be a full-time position, or would part-time be sufficient?
• Corporate Health Promotion Program Consultation - Various companys (e.g., health plans, benefit consultants and public health departments) provide Corporate Health Promotion Program consultation on building a culture of wellness within a workplace.

An outside Corporate Health Promotion Program consultant can advise an internal Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator and your Wellness Committee on establishing priorities and determining Strategies. Or, you can contract with a Corporate Health Promotion Program consultant to be your coordinator. If you choose the latter approach, you’ll want to contract with the individual for sufficient hours to carry out all of the responsibilities associated with coordinating an effective strategy.

Strong and visible upper management support for the Corporate Health Promotion Program encourages health and is vital to securing required Corporate Health Promotion Program resources (staff, time, and money) and implementing recommended changes.

1. Identify a Corporate Health Promotion Program champion

In a small company, there may be a single leader who is the clear choice to champion the Corporate Health Promotion Program. In a larger company, look for an executive with the authority to influence others in the uppermost levels of the organization regarding the Corporate Health Promotion Program. The Corporate Health Promotion Program champion need not be the fittest member of upper management. Rather, look for a Corporate Health Promotion Program leader with the disposition to be a visible and vocal supporter of workplace policies that encourage healthy behaviors. Organizations with multiple sites can consider whether it would be useful to have an executive Corporate Health Promotion Program champion at each site.

2. Find existing Corporate Health Promotion Program allies

There may already be a number of individuals within your company who recognize the value of a Corporate Health Promotion Program. Think about who those individuals are in your company; consider areas such as occupational safety, union representatives, risk management, health officers, and human resources when looking for a Corporate Health Promotion Program ally. Secure their stated support for the Corporate Health Promotion Program. Corporate Health Promotion Program support could include contributions of staff time or expertise, financial resources, agreement to endorse/support policy and environmental changes, or agreement to participate in, and voice their support for, changes in the workplace that will help to build a culture of wellness.

3. Build a business case for the Corporate Health Promotion Program

There is a reason that more and more corporations are finding a way to promote the health of the employees via a Corporate Health Promotion Program and policies: A Corporate Health Promotion Program makes good business sense. staff members with healthy behaviors, on average, are more productive when at work (higher presenteeism)1 and incur lower healthcare costs than workers with less healthy behaviors.2,3  As a result it would be foolish not to have a Corporate Health Promotion Program.

4. When developing a Corporate Health Promotion Program use what you know about leadership styles and the decision-making process within your company

Every company is different. Build upper management support for the Corporate Health Promotion Program in the way that makes the most sense for your company. Think about the following as you plan how to approach upper management for Corporate Health Promotion Program support:

• What are the current pressures and priorities facing executives? How could a Corporate Health Promotion Program and a healthier workforce support those priorities?
• How do your leaders prefer to receive data: written documents? verbal presentations?
• What kinds of Corporate Health Promotion Program information are likely to influence decisions? Do they want data and Corporate Health Promotion Program statistics specific to your company, or are state or national data sufficient? Are your leaders more influenced by internal factors or by what competitors are doing?
• Who would your leaders see as a reliable messenger for this Corporate Health Promotion Program information? Does someone from the risk management area carry more clout than someone from the human resources area?
• How do decisions get made in your company? Informal committee meetings? Formal or informal meetings between executives? Plan accordingly and you improve the odds that the Corporate Health Promotion Program will become a reality.

5. Maintain Corporate Health Promotion Program support once you have it

Once you have appropriate Corporate Health Promotion Program support, ensure that you keep it by regularly updating your leaders on the health of the employees and progress toward establishing a culture that encourages health. Ask upper management how often they want to receive Corporate Health Promotion Program progress reports.

Source Information:
1 Bunn, JOEM, 2006, 48:10.
2 Foldes, Bland, An et al. Modifiable Health Risks and Short-Term Health Care Costs. BC/BS of Minnesota internal research, submitted for publication.
3 Anderson, 2000, American Journal of Health Promotion, 15:1.

The workplace environment is a effective, but often overlooked, component in managing worker health.  Here we will identify some of the best-practices in establishing a Corporate Health Promotion Program that supports your organization’s employee health strategy and allows workers to take charge of their own health.  For example, a Corporate Health Promotion Program that includes a smoke-free workplace policy increases the likelihood that workers will try to quit smoking and will quit smoking successfully. Similarly, a Corporate Health Promotion Program that includes discounting healthy foods in your cafeteria and vending machines helps raise workers’ consumption of healthy foods which supports your investment in disease management programs for workers with diabetes, heart disease or hypertension. The following will guide you through the ten key steps in establishing a Corporate Health Promotion Program and workplace environment that encourages worker health.

In an era of rising healthcare costs and fervent competition, corporations have a vested interest in the health of their workers.  Research has found that, on average, workers with healthy behaviors (such as not smoking or being active for 30 minutes a day) incur lower healthcare expenses, are absent from work less often, and are more productive when at work (higher presenteeism) than workers with unhealthy behaviors.

Corporate Health Promotion Program: Getting Upper Management Support

Corporate Health Promotion Program support from the uppermost level of upper management is vital to your success in establishing a culture of wellness within your workplace. Look for Corporate Health Promotion Program support from a leader who is respected by and can influence other leaders. (It’s not important that he or she be the fittest executive within your organization just that they directly support the Corporate Health Promotion Program.) You will be relying on this culture-of-health champion to advocate for changes that you recommend and to ensure the organization allocates adequate Corporate Health Promotion Program resources (staff, time, and money) to maintain and improve the workplace policies, physical environment, and social norms.

Secure Corporate Health Promotion Program Staff and Financing

The creation and maintenance of a Corporate Health Promotion Program within your company needs to be someone’s priority. However, unless your company is quite large, you likely don’t need to hire a full-time staff person for the Corporate Health Promotion Program.  There are a number of ways to find an individual with the required skills to guide and support your company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program.

Beginning facilities and Corporate Health Promotion Program policies, such as those allowing workers to be physically active during the workday, does not need to be costly, but it does require adequate and sustained financing.  If possible, include the creation of a workplace environment that supports the Corporate Health Promotion Program as a permanent component of the operating budget; that helps to ensure it’s an ongoing priority for your company.

Worker Involvement in the Corporate Health Promotion Program

Setting up a cross section of staff members to advise your company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program ensures that improvements in workplace facilities, policies and practices address the true needs and barriers of all groups of staff members.   In addition, these workers can support as the front-line Corporate Health Promotion Program supporters of policies and practices with their peers.

Develop a Corporate Health Promotion Program “Brand” and Vision

A Corporate Health Promotion Program vision and a brand are effective first steps in bringing a Corporate Health Promotion Program from an idea to a reality. What would you like your workplace environment to look like five years from now? A succinct Corporate Health Promotion Program vision statement summarizes for all (workers and leaders alike) the reasons for establishing a Corporate Health Promotion Program. It also reminds everyone of the link between worker health and your company’s ability to achieve its overall mission.

Branding your company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program sends a message to workers that the company’s commitment and support of healthy behaviors is important and is here to stay. Choose a Corporate Health Promotion Program name and logo that resonate with workers. Then use that brand on all Corporate Health Promotion Program communications with workers about the policies, facilities and programs your company offers to promote healthy behaviors.

Evaluate Your Existing Corporate Health Promotion Program Situation

Exactly how your company establishes a Corporate Health Promotion Program that encourages healthy eating, physical activity, and reduces tobacco use will depend on the unique characteristics of your company and employee population.

Evaluate how the current workplace facilities, policies, and unwritten norms support — or discourage — healthy behaviors.

Gather information on the health and health-related behaviors of your employee population.  The most common method is by using a validated health risk assessment. If you don’t have data specific to your workers, you can estimate the prevalence of different health risks and behaviors within your employee population using state or national data.  Note: Information on staff members’ health interests alone is not sufficient; but can be a useful supplement to health risk data and might help you set priorities.

Determine Corporate Health Promotion Program Priorities and Goals

Use what you’ve discovered about the health of the employees and about your current workplace environment to determine your company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program priorities. From those Corporate Health Promotion Program priorities, define clear and measurable Corporate Health Promotion Program goals for improving the health of the employees and your company’s culture. Well written goals will provide the basis for planning and for measuring your progress.

Choose Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies

Focus your company’s Corporate Health Promotion Program resources (time, energy and money) on tactics that are most likely to produce results:  an increase in healthy eating, an increase in physical activity, and a reduction in tobacco use. There’s no need to guess at what might work. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reviewed thousands of studies and has identified the Corporate Health Promotion Program approaches most likely to result in significant, lasting, and widespread improvements in health behaviors. Those Corporate Health Promotion Program tactics are included in the physical activity, tobacco, and healthy eating sections of this website.

The formula for Corporate Health Promotion Program success is to make the healthier choices the easier choices.

Implement Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies

Once you’ve chosen your Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies, it can be useful to arrange the work on a timeline.  The “right” amount of time for implementing each Corporate Health Promotion Program strategy depends on the staff time, budget, and business demands of your company.  Work plans keep your efforts moving and help to ensure that plans to establish a Corporate Health Promotion Program stay on track even if there are changes in staffing or other challenges.

Communicate and Educate About the Corporate Health Promotion Program

Ensure workers are aware of the Corporate Health Promotion Program opportunities you’ve provided.   Planning your Corporate Health Promotion Program communications allows you to communicate regularly with workers without overwhelming them at any one time.

Monitor and Report Your Corporate Health Promotion Program Results

At the same time that you plan your Corporate Health Promotion Program Strategies, think about how you’ll measure success.  It’s much easier to gather information – or to establish systems for collecting information — before you implement a Corporate Health Promotion Program strategy rather than as an afterthought.   Keep in mind that you’re likely to see improvements in worker morale and/or behaviors before you see decreases in absenteeism or healthcare claims.

Report both your Corporate Health Promotion Program successes in building a healthy workplace environment (such as complete implementation of a policy that provides workers time for walking during the workday), and Corporate Health Promotion Program successes in getting staff members to take charge of their health (an increase in the number of workers who contacted the stop-smoking program, or an increase in the number of fruit-cups purchased from the cafeteria following a promotion and price-cut).