Finding a Workplace Wellness Program Coordinator
Finding an individual to guide your business in establishing a Workplace Wellness Program
Without a qualified Workplace Wellness Program coordinator to guide and manage your business’s creation of a culture of health, efforts can be scattered and momentum can stall. While it’s vital that the creation of a culture of health be someone’s priority, not all businesss need a full-time coordinator. There are a number of ways to secure 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
• experience working with and understanding aggregate data, preferably Workplace Wellness Program data
• experience managing projects, including developing timelines and facilitating meetings
• experience in strategic planning, including defining goals and related objectives
• ability to understand, and use the findings of, journal articles on effective Workplace Wellness Program Procedures.
What will a Workplace Wellness Program coordinator do?
The Workplace Wellness Program coordinator is accountable for guiding a process that establishes worksite 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 leadership and the Workplace Wellness Program employee advisory workgroup
• interpret health-related data on your Workplace Wellness Program
• establishe and manage work plans and budgets for implementation of selected Workplace Wellness Program Procedures
• facilitate Health and Wellness Committee meetings
• guide your business in setting measurable goals for the Workplace Wellness Program
• recommend effective Workplace Wellness Program Procedures, 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 Procedures and goals.
Where can we find a qualified Workplace Wellness Program coordinator?
Consider 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 business’s Workplace Wellness Program Procedures? 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 business’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 businesss (e.g., health plans, benefit consultants and public health departments) provide Workplace Wellness Program consultation on building a culture of health within a worksite.
An outside Workplace Wellness Program consultant can advise an internal Workplace Wellness Program coordinator and your Health and Wellness Committee on setting priorities and determining Procedures. 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.
