Linking your employee wellness programme to national initiatives
How easy is it to talk to employees about their wellbeing? In the world of health promotion, we are constantly treading the fine line between big brother and good employer. If we are to successfully educate people, be it about healthy eating, stroke prevention, or weight management it is essential that we do so in a sensitive manner. This is where last month’s Men’s Health Week (14-20th June) and other national awareness days can be invaluable. They open the door for us to discuss things without seeming overbearing or interfering.
Benefits of National Awareness Days
Men’s Health Week is a great example because it covers so many issues. Traditionally men are less likely to visit a doctor for regular check-ups, and are more likely to ignore early signs of illness or disease until they become serious. The Men’s Health Forum organises the annual awareness week to talk directly to men and encourage them to be more active, and to take more care of their own health. Last year the Forum commissioned Haynes (famous for making car workshop manuals) to produce a workshop manual for the human body – full of great advice for healthy living.
Employee wellbeing schemes can – and should – ‘piggyback’ on these awareness days. They effectively give permission to talk to staff about various health issues. There are plenty to choose from too, with at least one relevant awareness event every month.
Read my top tips on how to incorporate awareness days into your wellness programme: -
Make the link!
At first glance, it may not seem like there is much you can do to link with, for example National Transplant Week (which ended on Sunday 11th July). Although they had a “Miles for Smiles” campaign attached to the week, many clients were already involved in some sort of physical activity challenge. This year we came up with a “Would you want your liver?” roadshow for one of our clients, a light-hearted look at alcohol and other toxins with some general nutritional advice. Not only did staff take away a serious message about the dangers of excess drinking and benefits of healthy eating, but many signed up to the NHS Organ Donor Register – how’s that for corporate social responsibility? With a little imagination, it is easy to link any awareness day to employee wellbeing, and you can often help out a charity or campaign at the same time.
Use the resources available
The majority of awareness days are accompanied by marketing packs including posters, handouts and often websites and challenges. You can make use of these to save time in planning your wellness intervention – but also to ensure that the very latest information is made available. Remember, these resource packs are made by experts in engaging people in their specific sectors.
Make it fun
Yes – there is a very serious side to health promotion, but in many cases, and especially when linking to awareness days, there is an opportunity to have fun. A number of the campaigns linked to physical activity provide an ideal platform for workers to socialise – and compete!
Make it real
Your wellbeing champions know the best way to get messages across to their colleagues, and should be involved from the beginning. In larger organisations, you will likely have access to people who have first-hand experience of many issues raised during awareness days, but most of us know of someone who has been touched by health issues of most kinds. Some of the best champions are those who made changes to their own health – as long as they are not too evangelical!
Count the benefits!
Awareness days do great work in informing the population about both the more common (often easily controlled) health problems and the lesser known issues. This knowledge is often shared with employees’ families – which can pay dividends in terms of time taken off to care for children/partners.
- They give us an excuse to start conversations which may otherwise be hard to begin – and help us to broach subjects which may be sensitive or shrouded in mystery.
- They can provide much-needed relief from stressful work – and boost team cohesion and morale.
- And we can use them to help promote healthy lifestyles in our teams –which is what workplace wellbeing is ultimately about.
If you have any further questions on how to incorporate national awareness event’s into your companions wellness programmes, or you are not sure which on which ones to use, then please visit the Employee Wellness Community where I will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.
About Author: Rob Woollen is the founder and lead consultant at Rightway Employee Wellbeing Solutions.
Should companies pay more attention to their corporate social responsibility in-house?
Little more than a decade ago, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy was only in the domain of large organisations or those with forward thinking... More...
Are you an employer of choice?
Do you want to be an employer of choice? Of course you do – but who are you trying to convince? The title of this article begs immediate qualification.... More...
How useful are pre-employment health assessments?
This question could be ‘how useful is a can of worms’ – questioning a potential candidate about their health ‘pre’ employment has become an ethical... More...
The Challenge of Creating Sustainable Employee Wellbeing Engagement
We are moving, perhaps more slowly than some would prefer, into an age of Enlightened Enterprise. In terms of employers this means (borrowing and expanding... More...
