Employer WellnessEmployer wellness programs and employer wellness consulting services

Finding an individual to guide your employer in creating a Employer Wellness Program

Without a qualified Employer Wellness Program coordinator to guide and manage your employer’s creation of a culture of health, efforts can be scattered and momentum can stall. While it’s essential that the creation of a culture of health be someone’s priority, not all employers need a full-time coordinator.  There are a number of ways to obtain the time of a qualified coordinator.

Be careful not to confuse Employer Wellness Program skills with fitness skills. You are not looking for a personal trainer or a nutritionist to run your Employee Health Promotion Program. The following are good indications that an individual may be qualified to be a Employer Wellness Program coordinator:

• knowledge of community health, population health and worksite Employee Health Promotion Programs
• competent working with and understanding aggregate data, preferably Employer Wellness Program data
• competent managing projects, including developing timelines and facilitating meetings
• competent in strategic planning, including defining goals and related objectives
• ability to understand, and use the findings of, journal articles on effective Employer Wellness Program Procedures.

What will a Employer Wellness Program coordinator do?

The Employer Wellness Program coordinator is accountable for guiding a process that establishes workplace facilities, policies and practices that promote health. The individual may do some of all of the following for your Employee Health Promotion Program:

• act as a liaison between upper management and the Employer Wellness Program employee advisory workgroup
• interpret health-related data on your Employer Wellness Program
• establishe and manage work plans and budgets for implementation of selected Employer Wellness Program Procedures
• facilitate Health Promotion Committee meetings
• guide your employer in establishing measurable goals for the Employer Wellness Program
• recommend effective Employer Wellness Program Procedures, using the evidence in the health behavior literature and national and/or recommended best practices
• document and report short-term and long-term progress on Employer Wellness Program Procedures and goals.

Where can we find a qualified Employer Wellness Program coordinator?

Explore the following when looking for a Employer Wellness Program coordinator:

• Existing staff: Are there individuals on staff who have the background, or are interested in gaining the skills, to support as a Employer Wellness Program coordinator? Is it possible to dedicate a portion of someone’s time (e.g., .5 FTE) to the position of coordinating your employer’s Employer Wellness Program Procedures? If possible, budget enough to cover not only salary but also continued learning, journal subscriptions and membership fees for this Employer Wellness Program position.
• New staff - Can you hire an individual to be your employer’s Employer Wellness Program coordinator? Would it need to be a full-time position, or would part-time be sufficient?
• Employer Wellness Program Consultation - Various employers (e.g., health plans, benefit consultants and public health departments) provide Employer Wellness Program consultation on building a culture of health within a workplace.

An outside Employer Wellness Program consultant can advise an internal Employer Wellness Program coordinator and your Health Promotion Committee on establishing priorities and deciding on Procedures. Or, you can contract with a Employer Wellness Program consultant to be your coordinator. If you select the latter approach, you’ll want to contract with the individual for sufficient hours to carry out all of the responsibilities associated with coordinating an effective strategy.