TOOL Successfully Communicating Your Wellness Program to Employees

For companies seeking to inspire employees to improve their health or stay well, Sibson Consulting offers “Reaching Employees in the Right Place at the Right Time: Four Steps to Successfully Communicating Your Organization’s Wellness Program.” The article in the company’s October 2008 newsletter, Perspectives, walks managers through four steps, which begin with communication:

• Conduct a communications assessment.

  
  

• Develop a communications strategy.

  
  

• Build employee awareness and create demand.

  
  
• Keep it up with ongoing campaigns.
  
  

  And the writers of the article, Erin Hodges and Randolph Carter, conclude with the opinion that communication is the key: “To facilitate behavior change, organizations need to review how their wellness program is communicated to employees. Without effective communications the best wellness program in the world is not going to succeed.”