A Employee Health Promotion Program without 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 modest amount of thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a successful experience. Clear objectives are necessitated to plan your wellness program in order to ensure success!
Wellness program goals/objectives are different from one company 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 efficacious wellness program!
Worksite Health Promotion Program Mission Statement
The first consideration is a mission statement for your Worksite Health Promotion Program. The mission statement is the overriding expression of what the Worksite Health Promotion Program Committee wants to accomplish by launching a wellness program. It is important to consider how your Worksite Health Promotion Program fits in with the employer mission statement, contributes to the overriding mission and supports the employer bottom line. This will integrate your efforts throughout the employer operations.
Here are some examples of Employee Health Promotion Program mission statements:
“At XYZ Corporation, maintaining an environment that supports employee health and safety is our underlying value. It is the mission of the Worksite Wellness Program to support in beginning Worksite Wellness Program services that fosters and upholds that value.”
“It is the mission of the XYZ Workplace Wellness Program Committee to cultivate healthier lifestyle choices to decrease health risk factors, improve overall wellness, and maintain a advantageous, active work force.”
Employee Wellness Program Goals
The objectives and goals further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment. Depending on the needs assessment, upper management expectations and employee interests, examples of objectives and goals can include:
The intention(s) of XYZ Worksite Health Promotion Program in year XXXX is to: (one or more of the following examples)
• Decrease absenteeism by one day per employee
• Cut down on musculoskeletal injuries by 10%
• Cut down on unnecessary emergency room visits
• Lower or contain healthcare costs
• Improve dietary habits of employees
• Cut down on health risk factors
Worksite Health Promotion Program Objectives
Specific Corporate Wellness Program objectives help meet your long-term goals and objectives. Both short term and long term objectives must be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and objectives. In addition to objectives for the expected participant outcomes, process objectives must also be developed for the program process itself. By way of example, process objectives may include how many employees you want to take part in the programs, how many sessions on a topic will be available, 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 set up both your long and short-term goals/objectives:
• Specific (one behavior or outcome)
• Measurable (one result that can be inspected 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 overall intention of improving healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that:
Members (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 colleague (attainable and realistic).
Or:
Members (who) will catch 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 an objective for coaching workers with elevated cholesterol might be:
To cut the total cholesterol (specific what) of high risk employees with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions provided at the worksite (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 objective 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, ten percent of the participants will have quit smoking. Each participant will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process goal) and ten percent of those who quit will still be tobacco-free after one year.
You have now completed Steps 1 through 4, including starting your Workplace Wellness Program Committee. It is now time to plan your wellness activities!
