A Point To Ponder
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"The first 90% of a project takes 90% of your time...the final 10% percent of a project takes the other 90% of your time.
-Murphy's Law of Project Management
Recent Publications For Review
01/17/08: Appointing A Company Wellness Leader In A Small Business Setting
Whoever said, "There's no I in team" obviously didn't run a wellness program in a small business setting. In truth, when you look at some of the best small business wellness initiatives in the country, you'll find that the CEO has formally appointed a wellness leader-not a team of people-to oversee the day-to-day management of the program. And while this may not be the preferred mode of operation for larger companies (in these settings teams are essential), appointing a company wellness leader is the ideal approach for operating a wellness initiative in a small business setting.
01/19/08: How to Conduct A Health Interest Survey In A Small Business Setting
One of the most important components of any small business workplace wellness program is the assessment of your employees' interests. By accurately capturing how your employees feel about workplace wellness programs and the specific activities that they have an interest in, leaders of small businesses can take significant steps toward keeping their populations healthy and well.
In order to be effective, there are some basic tasks that will need to be attended to if you are going to successfully capture the specific wellness interests of your employees.
01/30/08: Administering A Physical Activity Campaign In A Small Business Setting
If there's one thing we've learned about keeping people healthy in a worksite setting, it's that physical activity may very well be the magic bullet. Indeed, for the last two decades some of the best scientists in the world have been telling us about the benefits of exercise-and that being physically active can not only keep us healthier but it may also allow us to actually live longer. In this article, we'll outline the specific steps of implementing a physical activity incentive campaign in a small business setting.
02/11/08: Convening 'Lunch And Learns' In A Small Business Setting
In a small business setting, stemming the tide of obesity is an important health priority. Indeed, small businesses in the U.S. hemorrhage big dollars each year as a direct result of their inability to keep employees within ideal body weight parameters. To help your employees learn how to eat better and manage their weight, it's recommended that you conduct regular lunch ‘n learn seminars. Indeed an age-old concept, if done right, these seminars and workshops can go a long way toward not only teaching your employees how to eat more healthfully but also toward creating an overall healthier culture for your company.
02/19/08: Disseminating Quarterly Health Newsletters In A Small Business Setting
If you're a small business health advocate who's looking to advance wellness within the organization, it's essential to provide regular health information to each and every employee. Remember, people often change behaviors by better understanding the risks, consequences, and benefits of becoming healthier. Quality health information can help to accomplish this task.
In this article, we'll examine the concept of providing and disseminating a quarterly health newsletter to each of your employees.
02/21/08: How Health Promoting Policies Can Create A More Supportive Culture In your Small Business Setting
If you want to create a healthier company culture and, ultimately, become a small-business employer of choice, you'll need to take a hard look at your expectations. Indeed, the higher you set your expectations, the more that your employees will rise to the level that's necessary to meet them. And, believe it or not, this Pygmalion-type effect is especially true when it comes to your expectations concerning your employees' health habits. Again, the higher your expectations are in this area, the more likely that your employees will adopt healthier habits to meet your expectations.
02/28/08: Leveraging Community Resources To Create A Healthier Workforce
In this article, a number of important community-based resources-people, places, and things-that can be easily integrated into your already-existing small business workplace wellness initiative are presented. As a result of reading this article, it is our hope that your life as a small business health promotion practitioner will get easier, your resources will go further, and best of all, your employees will be healthier-both at work and in the community.
01/02/08: Big Steps For Small Business
It's no secret that health promotion programming has been embraced by the business community in a big way. However, even though companies are participating in worksite wellness now more than ever before, many small businesses are still on the outside looking in. In fact, very little has been written specifically for small businesses to help them in their quest to create healthier employees and healthier companies. In this article, 10 programming ideas that can make a big difference in any small company are presented.
01/21/07: A New Way Of Thinking About Senior Level Leadership
Instead of treating all leaders as unsympathetic to health promotion, wellness professionals need to tailor their approach to the attitudes of leaders-this article provides the reader with a new mental model of engaging your organization's leaders.
01/21/08: The Importance of Providing Health Screening In A Small Business Setting
To keep employees healthy and productive, the notion of providing health screenings has been embraced by companies all across the U.S. In this report, co-authored with nationally-recognized expert Ann Sabbag, the importance of providing regular health screenings for all employees is discussed.
02/01/08: The Art Of Implementing A Great Wellness Program In A Small Business Setting
In this article, the ten most important things that a small company can do to enhance the health and well-being of its employees are presented.
02/03/07: The Ten Secrets of Successful Wellness Teams
It's no surprise that effective teams are the backbone of great worksite wellness initiatives. In this article, the 10 secrets of successful worksite wellness teams are shared.
02/19/07: Great Ideas For Infusing Energy And Commitment Into Your Wellness Team
To be effective, wellness teams need to be (and stay) motivated. This article provides multiple pragmatic approaches for infusing energy into your wellness team.
05/09/07: How To Choose The Right Personal Health Assessment
In an effort to help both large and small businesses manage rising healthcare costs and assist a rapidly aging workforce, WELCOA has developed a comprehensive, personal health assessment.
07/02/07: The Power of Planning
One of the biggest mistakes companies make in their quest to build results-oriented wellness programs is that they don't spend enough time planning. Given the newness of the discipline, t's easy to see how this happens. This article outlines the importance of planning and is a must-read for all health and wellness professionals.
07/15/07: Carefully Crafting A Wellness Operating Plan
In building a results-oriented worksite wellness program, it is essential to have an operating plan and to be effective seven essential components must be included. In this article, the essential elements of a worksite wellness plan are presented.
08/15/07: Choosing Appropriate Interventions
In this article, the 11 most important issues that must be addressed in order to effectively offer appropriate health-promoting interventions to your employees are presented and discussed.
09/15/07: Integrating Wellness Into Your Companies Working Environment
In order to build a results-oriented wellness initiative, it's essential to develop specific strategies for systematically improving the physical working environment of your employees. In this article, nine specific policies, practices, and promotions that have been proven to promote health and well being are presented.
10/01/07: The Fundamentals of Worksite Wellness Evaluation
In order to effectively and competently evaluate a worksite wellness initiative, practitioners need to have a solid understanding of the basics. In this article, the fundamentals of evaluation--specifically the why's, what's, how's, and when's--are set forth.
10/08/07: Getting The Most Out Of Your Evaluation Results
When it comes to evaluating worksite wellness programs, "stickiness" is everything. In a nutshell, stickiness is the notion of getting your information noticed-especially in a world where there's already way too much information floating around as it is. In this article, several useful tips to help you get the most out of your evaluation results are provided.
10/15/07: The Top Ten Reasons Why People Don't Evaluate Their Worksite Wellness Programs
Evaluation is one of those topics that strikes fear into the hearts of worksite wellness practitioners. And over the years, I've come across dozens and dozens of the best excuses as to why practitioners don't evaluate their worksite wellness initiatives. In this article, the top 10 list of the major reasons why people don't evaluate their worksite wellness programs is presented.
01/15/08: The Power of CEO Support In Advancing A Small Business Wellness Initiative
Perhaps the single most important element in building and sustaining a wellness program in a small business setting is having CEO buy-in. Indeed, time and time again, it has been my experience that the organizations that successfully garner senior-level support are the ones that have healthier employees and better working environments.
07/07/07: Carefully Crafting Your Organization's Operating Plan
The operating plan is the essential ingredient in creating a results-oriented wellness program. This article discusses the seven essential elements of any effective operating plan.
04/20/07: How To Choose A Personal Health Assessment
The personal health assessment is perhaps your most essential data collection tool. However, choosing a PHA that meets your needs is not easy. This article provides practical guidance to help you in the process.
04/18/07: 10 Reasons Why Data Collection Is Essential In Building a World-Class Wellness Initiative
When it comes to building a results-oriented wellness program, data collection is key. Indeed, in the WELCOA seven benchmark model, it is the third essential element. In this article, 10 reasons why data collection is important to your company's overall population health management initiative are outlined.
04/16/07: By The Numbers...HRA's, Culture Audits, and Interest Surveys Should Be The Core of Your Data Collection Efforts
When it comes to collecting data, it's important to understand that there are several types of data that need to be gathered if your company's wellness program is to thrive. While there are many forms of data that can be collected, it is absolutely essential to gather data from three primary sources--an employee health risk appraisal, a company-wide health culture audit, and an individual interest survey. Read on to learn more.
04/12/07: Developing A Data Dashboard For Your Wellness Initiative
Data dashboards have been used for years in the business arena. However, they are still relatively new to workplace wellness. In this article, data dashboards are discussed and the concept is applied to workplace wellness initiatives.
03/30/07: The Six Tests of Leading a Healthy Company
The entire process of building a results-oriented worksite wellness program revolves around leadership. In fact, for more than 20 years health leaders have been consistently communicating the importance of CEO and Senior Executive support as the backbone of any healthy company. This article outlines the six tests of leading a healthy company.
03/25/07: The 10 Secrets of Successful Worksite Wellness Teams
When it comes to building results-oriented wellness programs, teams are a big part of the equation. In fact, teams comprise the second critical benchmark of success in the Well Workplace process. In this article, the 10 secrets of successful worksite wellness teams are shared.
12/12/04: Six Ways To Take Your Wellness Program To The Next Level
This report outlines six important ways you can take your wellness program to the next level. While not a comprehensive list, these six strategies--if implemented properly--will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of your employees.
