With summer coming to a close, it’s time to begin thinking and planning for what’s ahead — including your workplace well-being efforts for 2018. Yes, that’s right, 2018. You don’t want to put off well-being planning too long, or you might find yourself frantically scurrying around, throwing together less-than-your-best ideas and getting stressed. Who wants that?
So, before the leaves start turning colors and your main staple is pumpkin-spice-anything, take time to plan for your 2018 workplace well-being program.
Brainstorm with your well-being committee (if you have one) or pull together a representative group of employees from various departments.
Review what you did this year. Ask your team, “What worked and what could use some tweaking?”
Poll employees.
Ask team members what they are interested in for next year. You can send out a survey, ask employees to respond with their ideas to an email, and or have physical suggestion boxes, paper and pens in key locations throughout your workplace so employee can jot down ideas.
Look at the calendar.
There are several weekly and monthly national health, wellness and well-being awareness observances throughout the year. For a comprehensive listing, check out the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ website. You’ll find links to associated organizations that have oodles of information and tools that you can use to help with any workplace efforts.
Also, think about what’s happening during different times of the year and how you might incorporate those happenings into your well-being program. People are keyed into certain things at certain times so capitalize on it. March Madness? What about starting a pick-up b-ball program for lunchtime or after work? The start of the Major League Baseball season? Consider signups for a co-ed softball team. Farmers Markets opening up? Have a farmer come in to talk to your team members about selecting, storing and using this vegetable or that fruit.
Once you start to give what’s happening during the year a little thought, combined with what you’ve experienced this year and what your team members tell you, you can come up with all kinds of programming ideas. Will every idea appeal to everyone? No, but having a variety of activities and efforts planned throughout the year will go a long way toward getting and keeping as many employees as possible engaged in your well-being efforts. That’s a good thing.
