A lot of companies talk about workplace wellness, but despite the challenge of having 3,000 employees spread across 17 different types of businesses and 54 locations, The Regional Municipality of York (York Region) is one employer that really “walks the talk.” And if high participation rates and glowing employee feedback are any indication, the staff is
jogging right alongside.
“We’ve discovered that our employees have a very large appetite for wellness,” says Nancy Paterson, manager of employee services for York Region. Although the public employer had always been committed to health and wellness, an employee satisfaction survey done in 2003 showed the need to implement a comprehensive wellness program. Three years later, Wellness Works was born.
Today, with regular input from employee interest surveys, York Region’s wellness initiative continually grows. It now includes cardiovascular screenings; a Healthy You program to measure cardiovascular health; body composition and aerobic fitness; a smoking cessation program; online challenges; a wellness website; various newsletters and education sessions; and discounts on gym memberships and a range of fitness programs such as yoga, pole walking and zumba dancing.
But just offering a wellness program isn’t enough to get employees to participate. It also takes support from its regional council and a robust communications plan with clear messaging from all levels of the organization—from the chief administrative officer through to the department managers and the employee wellness committee.
With staff so broadly based and employed in such diverse areas, from road maintenance to emergency health services, it takes a range of strategies to reach everyone. This includes wellness staff going into the various workplaces to speak directly to workers, regular emails and newsletters, and “Wellness Wednesday” twice a month when employees get a heads-up on the
current wellness initiatives and have the opportunity to register for upcoming programs. And these programs are well used. A recent offering of yoga sessions filled up within an hour, complete with a waiting list—an increasingly common occurrence.
“Our programs are related to what our employees want, and we usually exceed our capacity. Finding space has become our biggest challenge,” says Brittany Dunlop, corporate wellness specialist, who heads up York Region’s employee wellness program. “We’re always coming up with creative ideas that meet our employees’ needs. In October, we’re introducing a new program to help people recognize stress, and we’re implementing an online nutrition behaviour modification program that people can go through at their own pace.”
Although the wellness program is designed to meet the needs of employees, it’s paramount that it also meets the needs of the organization, Paterson stresses, noting that staff pays for classes in yoga, zumba and pole walking. “We’re very cognizant that this is a public organization—and we have a strategic approach.”
In fact, tracking results and conducting ongoing evaluations of every program are as important as encouraging participation. “We do pre- and post-program surveys and annual data collection to track drug claims, EAP usage, long-term disability, absenteeism and staff turnover,” adds Dunlop, who is currently creating metrics to measure the success of the program from a business perspective. “But it’s tricky to track results from health promotion as we take a preventative approach. It’s doubtful that we will ever quantify the full cost savings. We are fortunate to have support from the regional council and our management team, and we are determined to keep staff interested in wellness.”
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