Many larger businesses rely on workplace wellness committees to organize their workplace wellness programs. But small businesses may not have the capacity or need for a committee.
Instead, consider identifying a “Wellness Champion” to guide the development and implementation of your small business wellness program.
A champion can be someone who has responsibility for workplace wellness as part of their job description or has a personal interest in health and wellness.
A strong wellness champion possesses the following characteristics:
- Positioned with access to the business owner/CEO
- Well respected by management
- Visible and well-liked by employees
- A fitness/health role model – someone who ‘walks the talk’
- A strong communicator
One of the key responsibilities of the Wellness Champion is to create shared ownership of the wellness program among employees. Successful champions encourage involvement from employees by asking for their ideas, providing encouragement and coming up with creative ways to keep employees engaged in the program.
Over the course of developing and implementing the WellnessFits program, we have learned that there are several things that Wellness Champions can do when implementing workplace wellness programs and activities:
Hold a Launch Event
Use a launch event to generate interest in activities or challenges you plan. If possible, provide information about a grand prize at the launch or when people are signing up – prizes spark interest and give participants something to strive for!
Incorporate Motivation and Retention Strategies
Regardless of why an employee decides to participate, what happens in the program will largely determine how long the participant will stay in the program. Personal attention from the workplace champion is crucial at the early stages.
Communication in the form of regular check-ins with participants via email or face to face opportunities (i.e. asking someone “how did it go last week?) are great for building intrinsic motivation among participants. Visual reminders of progress can include wall charts, posters or graphs illustrating either individual or group successes in reaching targets and goals.
Offer Opportunities for Challenges and Goal Setting
Peer encouragement is a very useful motivation technique. To be most effective, challenges should emphasize participation with less emphasis on outcomes. Personal or public statements of goals using a pledge or other form of commitment are great motivation. The WellnessFits ready-made challenges encourage participants to set goals and self-assess their progress.
Offer Incentives
Rewards and incentives can help to keep participants motivated. Participation gifts, certificates and rewards for certain achievements are commonly used in many workplaces.
Extrinsic incentives that are not related to program outcomes are typically useful early in the program. Gift certificates, discount coupons, T-shirts, water bottles, plaques, coffee mugs, buttons, pens and pins are examples of extrinsic incentives items that encourage participation.
Incentive prizes can appreciate in value in accordance with participation or goal attainment. For example, a $50 cash incentive for employees who are smoke-free for six weeks might rise to $500 for those who stay smoke free for a year.
Strategically plan to use incentives throughout your challenge – to get people started, in recognition of a milestone like the halfway point or for significant accomplishments.
Recognize Successes
Sometimes recognition is more powerful than incentives. Don’t forget to celebrate successes!
Interested in getting more tips and ideas for creating a healthy workplace? Visit wellnessfits.ca to learn more about our free WellnessFits small business program.
