Completing a workplace wellness assessment helps identify your program’s strengths and any areas in need of improvement. Assessment results can also be used as a baseline measure for future evaluation and a starting point for your wellness initiatives.
Getting Started
Identify a workgroup of at least four to five people who will be responsible for completing the wellness environment assessment. Forming a diverse group from all areas and levels of your organization is important for meaningful assessment and successful planning and implementation. Participants could be HR professionals, employees from various departments, administrators, or supervisors.
Once you have completed the assessment, determine which areas the workgroup will focus on, such as healthy eating, physical activity or smoking cessation. Establish a time for the workgroup to meet, so members can regularly monitor program progress. Also, determine a schedule for annual assessments, so that assessments can serve as a tool for continuous improvement and accountability over time.
Make a List
Create a list to determine which wellness components are currently in place and identify areas for improvement. The assessment can be done by the full workgroup, or you may want to assign a few key personnel (such as the HR lead or workgroup coordinator) to do a preliminary scan. Your list should include the following items:
- Categories: The major six categories are general health, physical activity, nutrition, health screening, tobacco use, and emergency response—but you can create other categories depending on your employees’ needs. Each category should include several questions that address what initiatives you currently have in place at your workplace.
- Current Status: List whether you have the component, are in the process of instituting the component or planning for the component, or do not have the component.
- Potential Priorities: Use the assessment results to identify what components you want to focus on that are either currently in process or do not yet exist.
Employee Input
Conduct an employee survey to get a better understanding of your employees’ current health habits and interest areas. The survey should be voluntary and anonymous to encourage employees to be honest about their health needs. You should also consider engaging employees in focus groups or informal interviews to gather information on their wants and needs. This can be done either before or after the survey—or in place of the survey if you think focus groups or informal interviews would be more effective. Consider offering incentives or prizes to employees who complete the survey.
Whatever method you use to gather information, make it as easy as possible for employees to complete and submit the information so you can gain valuable insight into how to improve your workplace wellness program and reduce your company’s health care expenses.
