Creating a culture of wellness can be a positive step for organisations because it can improve morale and productivity while reducing costs associated with illness. The big question is can you do it without spending a lot of money or investing a lot of time, asks David Creelman
First, the benefits
A good place to start, whether you are think
ing about wellness yourself or leading a con
versation to get stakeholders onside, is sim
ply to envisage the benefits. Imagine fewer
people coming in to work tired or feeling
ill. Imagine fewer calls in the morning with
employees announcing they can’t come in
because they are sick. Imagine an organi
sation tangibly showing it cares for people
by supporting wellness.
The intangible sense of a healthier work
place is potent, but even accountants will
be enthused as they calculate the benefits
of fewer days off, reduced health care costs
and the estimated productivity gains of a
happier, healthier workforce.
Great gains have been made in work
place safety over the two decades; why
shouldn’t we see similar gains in wellness?
Implementation steps
The same implementation steps that apply
to any new HR initiative apply to launching
a wellness program: consult all the stake
holders, get top management onside, and
aim for some quick wins. However, there are
a few extra things to keep in mind for well
ness programs.
Larry Costello, who ran HR at kitchen
and bathroom specialist American Standard
during its famed turnaround from 2000 to
2008, argues that it is a good idea for sen
ior managers to champion a program that
will put them in touch with a wide range of
employees; so it becomes an important ve
hicle for establishing connection and com
munication between a senior manager and
the employees. At American Standard, CEO
Fred Poses chose safety as the program to
champion; but Costello argues that well
ness is a very good program to champion
and it’s the one he took on himself. Con
sider whether the CEO or another senior
leader wants to take on wellness for this
extra purpose.
Another point to keep in mind is that just
because wellness is such a nice thing to do,
that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t apply man
agement discipline. There should be goals,
metrics and assessments to ensure the pro
gram is achieving what is intended.
The key to controlling costs is to recog
nise that a great deal of wellness can be ac
complished by communication and sym
bolic rewards. You don’t have to buy
everyone a gym membership; a trophy for
the department that makes the greatest
gains in fitness can be a great motivator. Ed
ucation sessions on managing diabetes,
stress and weight are not expensive and you
may even find people eager to lead these
kinds of sessions for free. The trick is sim
ply to look for the low-cost interventions:
the ones that educate and encourage peo
ple, not expensive programs that take the
onus for wellness off the individual.
An area of concern
One reason not to pursue a wellness pro
gram would be that you don’t believe the or
ganisation will be able to keep it up. Most
people have a hard time sticking to healthy
eating and exercise programs, and organi
sations, composed of people, are no differ
ent. A wellness program is exciting to launch,
but it really only makes sense if you intend
to continue it over the long term.
Perhaps the single most important test
is to look at the senior management team.
Do they take personal wellness serious
ly? If they are not interested in wellness it’s
unlikely they’ll show long-term support for
the program. Without that support it’s likely
to fade.
If your organisation does have leaders
who you think will be supportive in the long
run, then HR will still want to consider how
to keep the program sustainable. One way
is to ensure the initial program doesn’t have
a large budget – that may sound counterin
tuitive, but experienced HR professionals
know a large budget is likely to be cut where
as a smaller amount will be approved year
after year.
Another sustainability tactic is to design
the program so that it relies on grassroots
initiatives by employees, rather than being
a purely top-down corporate initiative. In
any department there are likely to be a few
wellness enthusiasts. If these people are en
couraged and supported by the organisa
tion then a lot can be done without taxing
budgets or HR time.
In many organisations HR budgets are
tight and employee stress is high. Wellness
programs can be a great thing to deploy in difficult times
David Creelman is CEO of Creelman Research, providing writing, research and commentary on human-capital management. dcreelman@creelmanresearch.com.
