Creating a Culture of Wellness

Americans spend an average of 2,000 hours a year at work, it's easy to see how the work environment can affect our mindset, health behaviors, and subsequently, our health risks.
In fact, data collected from the Well-Being Index, co-created by Gallup and Healthways Inc. released in April 2008, showed employees with a negative work environment stayed home 1.25 more days each month, adding up to 15 days a year. Your work culture directly affects productivity, worker engagement, and absenteeism.

People that work in a healthy environment and culture are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors. To be truly successful in changing your culture, your organization's commitment must remain solid through thick and thin. Below are a few tips for improving your work culture:

Involve management: Leadership needs to 'walk the talk,' by demonstrating healthy choices and visibly show strong support for wellness programs.
Integrate healthy workplace strategies into your organization's vision.
Change the physical work environment: Offer healthy menu choices in the cafeteria, feature healthy vending machine options, add relaxation rooms, establish walking paths, onsite exercise classes, post signage by stairwells to encourage walking, and post signs in the parking lot to encourage your employees to wear their seat belt.
Offer wellness programs: wellness programs are a key component to a healthy culture, these include health screenings, awareness campaigns, and wellness workshops.

To assist you in designing a healthier workplace, Michigan Steps Up has an online assessment, Designing Healthy Environments at Work, that will help identify strengths to build on and identify target areas and provide possible actions for positive change. When employees feel good, they are more energetic, creative, innovative and productive - qualities that are essential to an organization's competitive advantage and overall health.