Building a Culture of Health for Organizations

It’s vital to build a culture of health in your client organizations as work-related stress levels continue to rise. 

Unfortunately, today’s competitive corporate environment has led to increased levels of stress in the workplace. In fact, according to the American Institute of Stress, 83% of US workers suffer from work-related stress. The rise of work-related stress is, however, not limited to the US. Work-related stress is now a global phenomenon. Mind, a reputable mental health website in the UK, found that work is now the most stressful factor in people’s lives, with 34% of participants saying that their work is very stressful—more stressful than their financial problems or health.

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With employees feeling increasing pressure to perform faster and better, the best thing you can do for your client organizations is to help them establish a culture of health. Below we’ll go through what a culture of health is and the 5 ways you can begin helping your clients build a health-focused culture for their organizations.

What is a Culture of Health?

A culture of health is the workplace environment that encourages healthy behaviors and is committed to improving well-being and health. Creating a health-focused culture brings significant benefits for employers since unwell employees cost US employers $880 billion in healthcare benefits and $530 billion in productivity every year.

 

According to Health Affairs, building a strong culture of health shouldn’t be just another initiative introduced by management to reduce costs, however. Employees need to experience their workplace’s health-focused culture as a way of life. It should integrate Total Worker Health into the organization in ways that support their physical, emotional, financial, social, and spiritual well-being.

1. Begin With the Leaders

To begin building a strong culture of health, executives, upper management, and managers should lead and act as positive role models for the organization. They should live healthy lifestyles and advocate work-life balance.

 

According to Judy Gaman, Director of Business Development at Executive Medicine of Texas, “The most valuable asset to a company is its human capital and healthy companies start with healthy leadership. When an executive is not getting adequate sleep, has a hormone imbalance, or nutritional deficiencies, the decision they make will be less than optimal. When the very people in charge of the health of the company are avoiding their own health, it’s a gamble with unfavorable odds.”

2. Understand Your Clients’ Employees

To genuinely help your clients’ employees, you need to understand their needs, problems, and concerns. While every employee has different requirements depending on where they live, their role, and demographics, you can begin to collect data via large-scale anonymous surveys.

 

Then, hone in on smaller groups and individuals through interviews. If you’re truly committed to helping employees, make sure you also continuously talk to them to see what’s working and what isn’t.

3. Customize Your Wellness Programs

While a customized wellness program may sound time-consuming and expensive, having tailored wellness programs is one of the best ways to boost participation and engagement in the long-run, since low participation rates are often due to mismatched offerings.

 

To create a tailored wellness program, first, identify the barriers to adoption. Understand what your clients’ employees want in a program and the obstacles that are preventing them from participating. Have a mix of different programs that include physical exercise, mental health, and provide healthy and nutritious snacks. You can further personalize these programs by introducing support coaches, digital health programs, online apps, a web portal, and fitness challenges.

4. Effectively Communicate With Your Clients’ Employees

Establishing a strong health culture is only effective if your clients’ employees are aware of it. Unfortunately, a lack of or poor communication often makes it difficult for employees to get involved. According to a well-being wake up report, only 16% of employees were confident when it comes to finding health and well-being resources.

 

To effectively communicate with employees, you can use many different channels to reach a broader audience. When it comes to deploying your clients’ workplace wellness programs, we recommend creating conditions where two-way communication can exist to get feedback on where communication is falling short. Managers should also be encouraged to check-in with their team members about their health and well-being and listen to employees to better understand how communication can be improved.

5. Ensure Upper Management Commitment

Creating a culture of health should not be seen as a one-off initiative or a temporary task. Your clients need to be committed to improving the health of their employees and their organization since a health-focused culture needs to be an integrated part of the company’s leadership, management, and operations. It should also be embedded in the company’s core values, which your programs and communications should make clear from the start.

Summary

Today it’s vital to build a culture of health in your client’s organization. The increase in work-related stress has made the workplace become one of the most stressful environments for individuals. Building a health-focused culture, can, however, allow employees to feel more relaxed, at ease, and comfortable in the workplace, while reducing costs and boosting workplace productivity for employers.

 

To create a culture of health, begin with the leaders. You should strive to understand your clients’ employees, create tailored wellness programs, effectively communicate the wellness programs available, and ensure you have upper management’s commitment to the cause.

 

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If you’re interested in learning more about how you can build a culture of health in your organization or evolve your health and wellness program offerings, contact us now!

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