TOOL: A Workplace Wellness Checklist

A list of questions to ask yourself about the effectiveness of your wellness program. It includes measuring how comprehensively you evaluate the program; looking at how much support you get from the CEO; and how well you inform your workforce about the program.
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ere is a checklist that WELCOA uses evaluate the strength of worksite wellness programs. Using it may help you think about ways to improve your program.

1. Overall, how have participation rates in your wellness program changed over the past two years?

Remained about the same
Increased modestly
Increased substantially
Declined modestly
Declined substantially
Doesn’t apply, we are just getting started

2. What department is your wellness program located in?

Human Resources
Marketing
Medical/Occupational Health
Health Promotion
Safety
Other (please explain)

3. How many employees does your organization have?

Under 50
50-100
101-500
501-1,000
1,000-4,999
5,000+

4. What type of industry best classifies your organization?

Manufacturing
Wholesale/Retail
Services
Transportation
Communication
Utilities
Agricultural
Mining
Construction
Other (please list)

5. What is the approximate annual budget of your current wellness initiative?

6. Which statement(s) best describes the reason why your organization started a wellness initiative? (Check all that apply)

To improve teamwork/morale
To enhance productivity
To meet our employees’ requests
To improve the health and well-being of our employees
To contain costs
To improve recruitment/retention
To reduce absenteeism
Other (please explain)

7. Support for our organization’s wellness initiative is demonstrated by the fact that: (please answer yes or no)

Our CEO genuinely believes in the value of worksite wellness.
A statement concerning employee health and well-being has been incorporated into the company’s vision/mission statement.
Our CEO has communicated the importance of wellness to all employees (e.g. formal written memo, incorporated into orientation, public addresses, etc.).
The company has formally appointed an individual(s) and/or a committee to lead the wellness initiative.
Senior level management allocates the necessary resources for the wellness program (e.g. budget, materials, people, space, etc.).
Our CEO and senior level executives regularly take part in the activities offered.
Middle level management supports the wellness program
Middle level management regularly participates in wellness activities

8. Integration of the health promotion program is demonstrated by the fact that: (please answer yes or no )

A representative wellness committee involving the organizations’ key employees/constituents has been established (e.g. human resource/benefits, occupational health, MIS, etc.).
The wellness committee has developed a compelling vision, established strategic priorities, and defined individual roles and responsibilities.
The wellness committee has a strong and effective leader.
The wellness committee functions cohesively and effectively.
The wellness committee meets regularly throughout the year.
The proceedings of the meetings are consistently communicated to senior level executives.

9. In order to make strategic decisions, the following sources of data have been collected and analyzed within the last: (please check the appropriate response)

	Number of months				Have not collected
Health risk appraisal	12	24	36	48
Health Screening (e.g. height, weight, blood profile, etc.)
Employee health interest surveys
Health needs/interests of dependents and/or retirees
Physical fitness assessments
Work/family needs assessment
Ergonomic/work station analysis
Facility assessment
Demographic information of employees/dependents
Health care claims and utilization
Absenteeism records
Disability claims
Worker compensation claims
Injury records
Corporate culture audit
Union support
Policy assessment

10. In order to provide clarity and focus to our wellness initiative, we have: (please check the appropriate response)

Carefully developed an operating plan that addresses our employee’s health needs and interests.
Established clear, concise, and measurable goals and objectives that are linked to and supported by data.
Linked our wellness goals and objectives to the organizations’ strategic priorities and outcomes.
Incorporated specific timelines within the operating plan indicating when activities/tasks are to be completed.
Assigned specific responsibilities to an individual or group for the completion of important tasks.
Allocated an itemized budget sufficient to carry out the plan.
Incorporated appropriate marketing strategies to effectively promote and communicate our programs to the employees and their dependents.
A plan has been developed to evaluate the stated goals and objectives

11. To address the health needs and interests of our employees and their dependents, our organization has offered the following programs in the last 24 months:

Program Formats:
Programs Offered:	Health Information	Group Education	Self Study	Computer Based/Inter/Intranet	Personal Counseling/At Risk	Ongoing Behavior Change
Physical activity
Smoking cessation
Nutrition/ weight management
Responsible alcohol use
Stress management
Medical self-care
Work & Family
Personal financial management
Safety/health protection
Ergonomics
Mental health/Depression
Disease management
Other

12. Are any of the above programs: offered to employees' families? (please answer yes or no)

13. Does the organization regularly participate in community health promotion or social service activities? (i.e blood drives, run/walk-a-thon, clothing/food drives). (please answer yes or no)

14. Our organization is committed to evaluating our wellness program in the following ways: (please answer yes or no)

Regularly tracking participation.
Monitoring participant satisfaction.
Documenting improvements in knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors.
Assessing changes in biometric measures (e.g., body weight, strength, flexibility, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, etc.).
Assessing and monitoring the health status of "at-risk" employees.
Measuring changes in both the physical and cultural environment (e.g., policies, benefits, working conditions, etc.).
Monitoring the impact of wellness on key productivity indicators (e.g., absenteeism, turnover, morale, etc.).
Analyzing cost effectiveness, cost savings, and return on investment.

15. To keep all members of the organization informed, we regularly and continuously: (please answer yes or no )

Provide program updates to senior level executives.
Circulate information concerning the availability of community resources (e.g., child care, elder care, parks, etc.).
Communicate changes in policy and benefit options.
Distribute reminders to employees and their families concerning upcoming activities and events.
Encourage ongoing dialogue by providing opportunities for employee input.
Provide timely feedback to individuals that are involved in the company’s programs .
Allow employees to communicate feedback through formal communication channels (e.g. suggestion boxes, e-mail, surveys, etc.).
Communicate program results to all levels of management .

16. In order to provide a supportive organizational environment, we: (please answer yes or no)

Provide our employees with release time so that they can participate in our health promotion activities.
Practice disability prevention and management (e.g. early return to work, restricted duty, etc
Reimburse our employees for health club memberships and/or other wellness program
Provide incentives to our employees to increase participation in our wellness initiatives
Offer our employees peer support groups and mentoring opportunities
Make healthy food options available in our vending machines and cafeteria
Ensure that all workstations are ergonomically sound.
Monitor our facility’s heating, lighting, ventilation, and overall safety.
Maintain an easily accessible wellness library.
Offer assistance to help employees address issues of work/life balance
Recognize and reward successes.
Provide the following benefit options: (check all that apply)

Health insurance
Disability
Life insurance
Sick leave/well days off
Leave of absence
Compensatory time off
Vacation
Flex time
Job sharing
Work at home/telecommuting
Maternal/paternal leave
Family leave
Child care
Dependent care flexible spending accounts
Health promotion program prepayment or reimbursement
Retirement/investment plan
Tuition reimbursement
Job training or reimbursement
EAP
Others (Please list)

17. In order to provide a supportive organizational environment, we provide the following policies (check all that apply):

Smoke free workplace
Tobacco restrictions
Seatbelt/safe driving practices
Alcohol/drugs
Healthy food options
Emergency procedures
Other (Please list)

Reprinted with permission from the Wellness Council of America, a worksite wellness membership organization with over 3,000 members.

Workforce Online, December 2002 -- Register Now!

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TOOL: A Workplace Wellness Checklist