Workplace health promotion (WHP) is one of the areas covered by workplace health management (WHM) and encompasses a wide range of voluntary measures that employers and employees can implement to promote employees’ health, motivation and wellbeing. The following sections explain why workplace health promotion contributes to business success and which health promotion measures you can take.
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Workplace health promotion: what are the benefits?
A company’s success depends on its employees. They have a decisive influence on the company’s quality and competitiveness. In turn, employees’ ability and willingness to perform depend to a considerable extent on each individual’s physical, social and mental wellbeing. This is where workplace health promotion comes in.
Given that healthy, motivated and qualified employees are essential to business success, workplace health promotion aims to improve working conditions with regard to employee satisfaction and health, while also encouraging employee participation and empowerment. Companies that have already recognised the importance of this issue and implemented workplace health promotion report numerous benefits for employees and employers alike.
For example, higher employee satisfaction often goes hand in hand with a stronger attachment to the company and lower staff turnover. Other effects of sustainable workplace health promotion may include strengthening the company’s image, increasing productivity and reducing sickness absence.
Four phases of workplace health promotion
Workplace health promotion is implemented in several phases. The project should be communicated transparently throughout, and employees should be involved as actively as possible.
1. Analyse the current situation and identify needs
- Evaluate existing data (sickness rates, staff turnover, absences, applicant numbers, error rates, accident statistics, etc.) to identify areas requiring action
- Conduct a needs analysis using a WHP questionnaire or carry out an initial short pulse survey
Tip: Short, concise surveys are a good way to gain an initial impression of the workplace climate. Use a pulse survey to assess it easily.
2. Plan workplace health promotion
- Set priorities and define objectives (e.g. reduce sickness rates, improve wellbeing, increase employee satisfaction and strengthen the employer brand)
- Inform employees about WHP and involve them in the process (participation)
- Conduct an employee survey on workplace health promotion (WHP)
- Identify suitable measures and develop recommendations
- Define responsibilities and a time frame
Tip: Regardless of the legal position, it is in your interests as an employer to involve the works council in the internal survey project. A joint approach increases acceptance and employees’ willingness to participate.
3. Implement WHP measures
- Implement suitable measures focused on working conditions and/or employee behaviour (e.g. ergonomic workplace design, a quiet room, employee training on health, nutrition courses, free drinks or fruit, healthy canteen meals, flexible working hours, sports and relaxation courses, active breaks, exercise workshops and the right to disconnect outside working hours)
- Provide opportunities for feedback
- Document the measures
Info: Measures focused on working conditions aim to create health-promoting structures and working conditions, while behaviour-focused measures encourage healthy lifestyles and behaviours. A combination of the two approaches has generally proved effective.
4. Evaluation and monitoring
- Conduct a follow-up employee survey a few months after introducing the relevant measure or measures
- Evaluate the project results against the defined objective or objectives (Are the measures being used? What short-, medium- and long-term effects can be identified? Are medium-term changes in sickness rates, staff turnover, etc. apparent?)
- Conduct regular employee surveys and/or pulse surveys
Workplace health promotion: questionnaire templates
A needs analysis for workplace health promotion can be conducted using employee surveys. Employees’ self-assessments of their workload and psychological demands at work can help identify weaknesses and disruptive factors so that recommendations can be developed. When creating a WHP questionnaire, you can use our questionnaire templates as a guide. Copy them to your LamaPoll account with one click and customise them as required.
Tips for employee surveys as part of workplace health promotion
Employee surveys are recommended to establish the status quo before implementation and to develop further recommendations. It is important to involve employees as well as managers, who can act as advocates. Transparency and openness around the survey can help increase participation. Explain to employees what you want to achieve with the survey and how the results will feed back into organisational structures, and communicate the findings at the end of the survey. The following article explains how to set up successful employee surveys with LamaPoll: Employee surveys: first steps in planning
LamaPoll has made it much easier for us to run our patient surveys while remaining fully GDPR compliant.
