Recently there has been a government drive to help employers improve the health of their workforce.

State authorities have allocated money for health checks and the federal government has been talking up the high return employers can expect when they invest in workplace health and wellbeing.

Great news!

However, not every intervention ticks all the boxes. For smaller organisations in particular, it is important to know what works and what doesn’t, so you can get the most out of your investment in terms of both financial return and increased productivity.

What does work?

• Including everyone. Successful health and wellbeing initiatives involve the whole organisation, from senior staff through to people on the “factory floor.” 
• Making it specific. Are there recurring health risks amongst your employees? Initiatives can be disease-specific, such as about weight loss for a working population that is overweight, to smoking cessation, diabetes prevention, or mental health wellbeing programs.
• Making it personal. A really good way to kick start employee participation in a health and wellbeing program is to lead by example. If the boss sheds 20 kg, gives up smoking and improves her fitness, a program that tries to help others do the same is more likely to be successful.  Sincere motives are at the heart and soul of any health and productivity program.
• Recruiting supporters. One effective method for getting the team involved is to win over opinion leaders in the workplace.  They’re not hard to identify and if they’re engaged the program is more likely to zing.
• Keeping it simple. Simple strategies work.  From changing the food available in the canteen or organising a local run to a healthy take-away store rather than the local hamburger outlet, to starting the day with ten minutes of exercises, simple strategies are easier to maintain and often more effective than complicated battle plans!
• Getting help if you need it. There are a number of companies around that can help a workplace deal with this issue. Signing up for one of the commercially available team-based programs that encourage walking or some other form of exercise can be relatively inexpensive and foster not only health and well-being but a team approach to the work place. 

What doesn't work?

• Relying on self motivation. Sending people off for blood tests and then having them follow-up with their GP, for example, isn’t a great approach. One advantage of workplace health and wellbeing programs is that team dynamics can help keep people motivated. Lose this motivational outsource and participation suffers. 
• Perfunctory marketing. Putting up posters around the workplace can raise awareness of a health and wellbeing initiative but if the program has no soul or life, people don’t tend to take much notice. Try and be creative and personal in your marketing.
• A focus on reducing absenteeism. If the program is obviously about reducing absenteeism rather than the wellbeing of the workers, don’t expect it to be successful. In fact, no matter how cleverly you ‘spin’ the initiative, people tend to pick up on discrepancies between what you say and what you mean. Be sincere about health and wellbeing.
• A focus on saving the company money. Again, people tend to be pretty canny. If your focus is on saving money rather than improving health, people are less likely to commit to the program.

If you’re looking for more health and wellbeing inspiration, why not check out the Partnership for Prevention Program, an initiative in the United States where CEOs and government leaders spend time reaching out to other senior management, so that they are leading by example.  A great example of the power of partnerships!