The Importance of Physical Wellness
Physical wellness could be considered the foundation of the
other areas of wellness in a similar way that physiological needs are the
foundation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Physical wellness has an effect on
one’s emotional and social wellness certainly, and that can result in an
indirect effect on intellectual and spiritual wellness of an individual too.
It is important to address physical wellness in the
workplace because the physical wellness of employees can have large benefits or
costs to the employer. Health care costs can be drastically reduced when
employees are encouraged to embrace physical wellness and healthy habits.
Employee morale and emotional health can benefit from a workplace that embraces
physical wellness. An author in the British Journal of Sports Medicine endorses
physical activity at the workplace and points out that it’s an ideal
environment for promoting physical wellness because of the support, motivation
and encouragement from co-workers and the easy access (Karch) .
Because we spend a majority of our waking time at work, it is important for
this place to give employees opportunities to better themselves and their
health through physical activity.
Physical Wellness in the Workplace: Weight loss Challenge
A fun and effective
strategy to encourage physical wellness in the workplace is to implement a
weight loss challenge once a year. This will help employees kick start a
healthy life style and the nature of a competition will help them stay
motivated and committed to their goals. In a 2012 survey, 73% of employers said
they use some type of incentive to engage employees in health improvement
programs (Swayze) .
A weight loss challenge with rewards and incentives along the way can get
employees into a routine that will provide rewards to their health for a
lifetime.
There are a few questions that should to be answered before
the wellness team or HR representatives roll out the weight loss challenge:
·
What will be the duration of the challenge and
when will you implement it?
·
Will employees compete in teams or individually?
·
How will you measure success and determine the
winner(s)?
·
Why would employees be motivated to participate
in the weight loss challenge?
o
determine “prizes” and set a budget
·
How can you keep employees committed to the
competition?
There are important notes to consider on the questions you
should answer before beginning the weight loss challenge. When determining the
duration of the weight loss challenge you need to consider the time of year to
implement the program. Try not to select a time frame that is particularly busy
or stressful for employees because this may influence the participation and
success of the challenge. You also need to consider how long it will take
employees to get results that will be sufficient enough to determine a winner
without pressuring them to reduce their weight at an unhealthy pace. Twelve
weeks is a good suggestion for this type of program. It is not too long that
employees will lose interest and it’s not too long for a wellness team or HR to
administer and keep up with (Sammer) .
The question of a team competition versus individual
competitors can be a difficult decision. There tends be better motivation,
support and accountability when employees are part of a team competing to win
the weight loss challenge versus an employee working on their own to lose
weight. However it becomes difficult to decide who comprises the teams. If
employees are left to choose their own teams, the nature of the competition
might encourage them to choose employees for their team who will be more likely
to lose weight and win the competition. Let’s discuss how to determine the
winner and revisit the question of teams vs. individual.
To avoid being brutally honest about employees’ weight, it
is better to use percentages of body weight or BMI to put things on a common
scale to compare. This will allow for greater respect to participants privacy.
In addition to the common scale measures, you should contract a third party to
do the weigh-ins for employees to protect the sensitive information. At an
individual competitor level there should be a male and female winner. This is
fair because it is common for men to have an easier time losing weight than
women. When it comes to teams, if the measure of percentage of total body
weight lost is used, the whole team’s total weight will be used (add all the
member’s weight’s together and determine how much of the whole team’s weight is
lost). Employees might choose unfit team members or who have a higher beginning
body weight because the less-fit employees will be more likely to lose a
greater percentage of their weight than a fit person who will have to work a lot
harder and won’t have as much body weight to lose in the first place. It is the
wellness team or HR’s role to regulate the team decision making, while at the
same time be sensitive to people’s measurements.
A strategy to regulate the team member decisions would be to
require a common beginning weight for the teams. For example, each team needs
to have a beginning weight as close to 600 lbs as possible (all members’
weights added together), no matter how many members this takes. This will allow
teams of a few more fit individuals, a couple unfit, or mixed teams more equal
chances to win the competition. You can also try a combination of teams and
individuals. You can have the competition divided between departments or floors
of a building, or even two separate buildings. Employees of all large teams will
compete individually for a grand prize and then there can be a winning “team”
between the departments, floors, or buildings.
Prizes of the competition will help motivate employees to
participate in the competition. However, you should consider how to KEEP
employees engaged in the competition so that they don’t choose to give up. A
great way to combine motivation for prizes and engagement throughout the
competition without putting a huge dent in your budget is to have employees get
some “skin in the game” by paying into a kitty to participate in the challenge.
Employees can have a buy in to the competition from $5 to $25 would be
appropriate, depending on the duration of the challenge, and then this kitty can
be used as a cash prize for the individual winners (split between the male and
female winners) or to pay for a smaller prize for team participants. With the
money saved in having employees buy in to the grand prize, the wellness team or
HR can buy a smaller prize for the larger team winners, or use the money to
award to incremental winners for sub challenges throughout the competition. An
example of sub challenges might be weekly winners who lost the most weight
since the previous week who would receive a voucher for a free healthy lunch.
Corporate Benefits
When you decide to implement a weight loss challenge it is
important to get input from corporate benefits. They will be able to provide
you with tools and resources from the benefit providers and other contacts that
can make administration on your part easier and provide employees with
information that will help them be successful in the program. Often, health
care providers offer health advocates or health coaches to policy holders in
addition to financial incentives on premiums employees pay when they enroll in
wellness programs. You should start off your weight loss challenge by
presenting these corporate benefits’ resources so that employees know what is
available to them and corporate benefits gets their ‘plug’ in by supporting
your competition.
Works Cited
Karch, Robert. "Physical Activity at the
Workplace in the USA." British Journal of Sports Medicine (2010):
44. http://bjsportmed.com/content/44/Suppl_1/i74.1.abstract.
Sammer, Joanne. "Launching a "Winning"
Wellness Contest." 3 December 2012. SHRM.org.
http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/wellnesscontests.aspx.
28 February 2013.
Swayze, Jason S., Lisa A. Burke, PHD SPHR.
"Employee Wellness Program Outcomes: A Case Study." Journal of
Workplace Behavioral Health (2013): 46-61.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15555240.2013.755448.
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