Posted by admin | Posted in Employee Wellness, wellness program | Posted on 20-07-2010
To succeed in encouraging exercise during the workday, you have to find out what workforce need and want. They’re the individuals whose behaviour you’re attempting to influence, so it’s crucial to understand their needs and gain their support.
The Employee Interest Survey
Ask workers questions that allow you to assess such key characteristics as age, gender, social relationships, family responsibilities and current exercise participation.
It is vital that you know this information so that your physical activity initiative meets employees’ needs. Staff Members aren’t going to take part in something they’re not interested in.
Ask staff what they want, and then implement changes that fit with their needs and working conditions. for example, staff might not want to do activities that make them sweat, because they don’t want to shower at work.
Ask employees what the company could do to make it easier for them to be more physically active during the workday. If there’s a common trend throughout your company, a single change could affect a lot of individuals .
For instance, suppose a large group shows interest in bicycling to work. They could want to shower and change after their commute. You could give priority to installing worksite showers and changing facilities. Secure bicycle storage could be important as well.
If you are launching a wellness program that requires going outside, begin in the spring. By the time winter comes around, participation is already a habit.
Involving workforce is key to increasing exercise participation rates. Individuals are more willing to take part in and support exercise programs when they’re involved in decision making.
The following tips will help you produce your own employee interest survey –
• Keep it short (no longer than 10 minutes to complete).
• Let staff know why you are doing the survey.
• Rather than using all open-ended questions, which can be long and difficult to analyze, ask people to choose from a drop-down list of possible responses.
• Ask for comments and suggestions in one open-ended question at the end.
• Make it confidential and anonymous. Don’t request information that may identify a person.
• When you are including a list of potential health promotion programs or environmental changes, make certain your workplace has the facilities and resources to offer them.