Effective communication is an important pillar of being a good leader. Those who can communicate with purpose are successful at building trust, creating change, and moving their company in a positive direction. With several channels of communication available, it’s easy to misinterpret intent, especially when it comes to speaking about physical and mental health when curating a culture of worksite wellness. The words matter, the delivery matters, and the speaker matters.
At Corporate Health Partners, we understand that employees look towards leadership for guidance. When support comes from those in charge, it creates a stronger foundation on which the success of a wellness program is built. The way that employees become excited about the program, get engaged in the activities, and welcome in a new culture of worksite wellness is based on communication and the modeling they see from management. Leadership sets the tone and pace for change, especially when it comes to employee health and wellness.
So, how do we build a solid foundation and cultivate a culture of worksite wellness?
Let’s break down five tips on how to become a more effective communicator.
Tips for Improving Communications to Promote Worksite Wellness
Tip #1
Answer Questions
Both Asked and Unasked
Why is the worksite wellness program important to you? What value do you think the program brings to employees and the company as a whole? What are your expectations of those who participate in the program?
All of these are important questions for you to answer and express so that employees gain a better sense of what the program is and their involvement in it. When your employees don’t receive answers to fundamental questions such as these, the worksite wellness program participation and engagement may flop.
Tip #2
Share Information
About the Worksite Wellness Program Regularly and Often
Sprinkling communication throughout the entire program year rather than bombarding your people with too much information at once is also essential. Keep it short and to the point to catch their attention.
Create a plan to communicate frequently, clearly, and openly to everyone at your company, which creates a clear path of communication and understanding between you and your employees to make sure everyone is on the same page. Taking the time to talk with your employees speaks volumes and allows you to become more approachable for building relationships to progress the company.
Tip #3
Be a Role Model
In Word and in Action
Effective leaders know how to use language to communicate their thoughts, but skilled leaders know that effective communication is more than words alone. Your behaviors speak louder than your words, so promote positive examples of wellness with your actions.
Celebrate what you want to see in the worksite wellness program. Maybe this means communicating support for your Wellness Warriors that are doing a great job. Or this could mean personally participating in Healthy Breaks, Wellness Challenges, and other related events to encourage support and engagement in the program.
Your employees need to see you model the behaviors that you want them to mimic to build a better culture of wellness. Think about who you looked up to as a mentor and use that as an example of how to best model your actions and behaviors. You must play an active role in the worksite wellness program to drive its success.
Tip #4
Make Wellness a Priority
For You, Your Team and Your Organization
In a leadership position, you must communicate your support for wellness initiatives to the management team. This ensures everyone is on the same page and effectively encourages employee engagement. If employees experience resistance when trying to participate in the worksite wellness program, they can feel like the program isn’t worth the hassle. For example:
At Corporate Health Partners, we recently spoke to one participant who mentioned that their supervisor was getting annoyed with them taking the time to attend health coaching sessions. The participant informed us of this issue and stated that they may not participate in the worksite wellness program next year because they didn’t want to get written up. This individual was going to give up all the progress they had been making in the program simply because the line of communication was broken or not being expressed correctly.
Tip #5
Creating Time and Space
For a Culture of Wellness at Work to Grow
Ask yourself – am I allowing participants to attend health coaching sessions at their scheduled times? Do I let the management staff know where I stand on employee participation in the worksite wellness program during company time? Do I regularly voice my encouragement for employees to attend Healthy Breaks and participate in Challenges?
Think about smaller details that can create big change – do you have refrigerators available in breakrooms or on the job sites to allow employees to bring their lunch? If there are work lunch meetings, do you provide healthier choices? Little things like this make a big difference when it comes to building your worksite wellness culture. Provide your employees with the tools they need to feel supported in their participation.
Invest in Worksite Wellness with the Help of Engagement Health Group
The worksite wellness programs provided by Corporate Health Partners are set up to provide your employees with opportunities to learn, set goals, and better themselves, so don’t allow it to fall short of its potential due to poor communication. It is a simple fix with big benefits, so get to talking!
Contact us today to learn more about our worksite wellness programs and initiatives.