Colleen Werner is the founder + CEO of lulafita company that transforms office buildings with advice and management in the field of facilities.
Whether you’re in a coworking space or have a dedicated headquarters, creating a wellness committee can help improve employee overall health, satisfaction, productivity, engagement and more. Today it is extra important to think about this given the future of flexible working.
Not every organization is equipped to implement successful wellness initiatives. Creating an authentic culture of wellbeing requires taking the right steps to ensure that employees feel connected and attracted to the initiatives you invest in.
One study found that “48% of employees who use wellness programs report being highly engaged.” And as the founder of a company that transforms the workplace with experiences rooted in wellness, I’ve seen firsthand that companies committed to supporting a welfare committee see a higher level of engagement with their benefits.
To help your organization prioritize employee health and happiness and get the highest ROI from wellness benefits, I recommend following these steps to create a wellness committee that embraces sustainability.
Contents
Step one: Assemble your welfare committee.
The role of a welfare committee is to help guide communication efforts; modeling the adoption of welfare initiatives; develop a feedback loop between employees, people managers and senior leadership; and provide insight into new opportunities to improve the physical, mental and social health of the team.
The first critical step in building a wellness committee is identifying trusted members who will represent a cross-section of the employee population. Then you want to make sure your committee embodies these qualities:
• Ideally composed of a minimum of three committee members, but no more than 12 – enough people to share work and support mixing of ideas
• Able to accurately represent your organization’s diverse demographics
• Represents all departments and leadership levels, including at least one executive or C-suite member
• Include employees at every stage of their wellness journey – not just the “gurus” – who share a personal interest in health
• Welcomes members who can commit to at least one year as a committee member
Step two: Establish a structure.
To work together successfully, your wellness committee needs to have a well-oiled, functional structure. This step is essential to ensure that the committee will work as intended.
I recommend first drafting mission and vision statements from the committee that align with your company values. From there, you’ll want to determine that all-important operating plan and budget and assign commission roles. Examples of roles are:
• Committee Chairman: Ideally, this is someone who has access to executive leadership.
• Note taker: This person is responsible for taking meeting minutes and sending follow-up communications.
• Timekeeper: This person is responsible for keeping the meeting discussions in order and in line with the meeting agendas.
• Planning leader: This person is responsible for scheduling meetings and maintaining the committee calendar.
Creating a committee structure also involves creating agendas with timelines for each topic; setting up a communication framework between the committee, management and employees; and creating a communication channel where employees can provide insight into current and future committee initiatives. Ensure each initiative has a leader, budget, implementation plan and review process to pave the way to success.
Step three: Create best practices.
In addition to the basic committee structure, you’ll want to take the time to develop best practices. This starts with establishing a concise set of goals. These can be things like:
• Building an inclusive environment that promotes the sharing of ideas and genuine discussion
• Designing an extensive wellness programming calendar for employees
• Expand your team’s knowledge of holistic wellness and share available resources
• Improve employee well-being and enable the team to take time for well-being during the working day
• Assess the impact of wellness initiatives and explore future opportunities with regular employee surveys
A thriving wellness committee will adopt best practices that encourage ongoing self-assessment. This includes actions such as quarterly check-ins with the committee by senior leadership. These check-ins provide a unique opportunity to identify achievements and future opportunities; ensuring that the committee optimizes its time, resources and budget; document progress in employee well-being; and four milestones as a group and with your organization as a whole.
Another best practice could be to monitor the committee’s progress. I would recommend the following steps:
• Evaluate employee well-being with a biannual well-being survey. Don’t forget the premiums! Incentives encourage employees to complete the survey and ensure you have a wealth of data.
• View the engagement metrics provided by your wellness benefits provider.
• Examine the participation rates of wellness programs.
• Work with HR to identify impact on retention and satisfaction metrics.
• Evaluate progress toward commission goals.
• Review committee turnover and performance.
Be sure to ask strategic questions during this progress monitoring. Do members feel fulfilled by their contribution? Do members extend their commission term? Are you successfully recruiting new members when needed? These questions will help you determine whether to adjust or hold course.
The workplace has changed and I believe employees will continue to move towards wellness inclusive environments. Adapting to this change means more than just embracing a wellness ethos in your organization. To really reap all the benefits, organizations can take the extra step by establishing a wellness committee and following best practices to help their initiatives thrive.
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