Wellness Assessments

Locating an individual to guide your organization in beginning a Workplace Wellness Program 

Without a qualified Workplace Wellness Program coordinator to guide and manage your organization’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 organizations need a full-time coordinator.  There are a number of ways to capture the time of a qualified coordinator. 

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

      • knowledge of community health, population health and worksite Workplace Wellness Programs

      • competent working with and understanding aggregate data, preferably Workplace 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 Workplace Wellness Program Strategies. 

What will a Workplace Wellness Program coordinator do? 

The Workplace Wellness Program coordinator is responsible for guiding a process that creates workplace facilities, policies and practices that promote health. The individual may do some of all of the following for your Workplace Wellness Program: 

      • act as a liaison between upper management and the Workplace Wellness Program employee advisory workgroup

      • interpret health-related data on your Workplace Wellness Program

      • create and manage work plans and budgets for implementation of selected Workplace Wellness Program Strategies

      • facilitate Health Promotion Committee meetings

      • guide your organization in establishing measurable objectives for the Workplace Wellness Program

      • recommend effective Workplace Wellness Program Strategies, 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 Workplace Wellness Program Strategies and objectives. 

Where can we find a qualified Workplace Wellness Program coordinator? 

Explore the following when looking for a Workplace 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 Workplace Wellness Program coordinator? Is it possible to dedicate a portion of someone’s time (e.g., .5 FTE) to the position of coordinating your organization’s Workplace Wellness Program Strategies? If possible, budget enough to cover not only salary but also continued learning, journal subscriptions and membership fees for this Workplace Wellness Program position.

      • New staff – Can you hire an individual to be your organization’s Workplace Wellness Program coordinator? Would it need to be a full-time position, or would part-time be sufficient?

      • Workplace Wellness Program Consultation – Various organizations (e.g., health plans, benefit consultants and public health departments) provide Workplace Wellness Program consultation on building a culture of health within a workplace. 

An outside Workplace Wellness Program consultant can advise an internal Workplace Wellness Program coordinator and your Health Promotion Committee on establishing priorities and selecting Strategies. Or, you can contract with a Workplace 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.