What is this about?

Unfortunately, most employee wellness programs in the U.S. are both under-funded and relatively ineffective.  They also tend to be more tactical in nature with limited strategic or business value.  A recent article in JAMA documented the ineffective nature of the typical employee wellness program using an admittedly elegant research design.¹ The unfortunate reality is that the management of most U.S. companies is not very serious about wellness or wellness programming.  As a field, we need to help them see the strategic potential and strategic importance of employee wellness programming. This is particularly important for the average employee and the average employer.

¹ Song, Z., and Baicker, K., Effect of a Workplace Wellness Program on Employee Health and Economic Outcomes, JAMA, Vol. 321, Number 15, April 16, 2019, 1491-1501.

Why is this important?

This is also important for the future of the field of worksite wellness. This Solution Set document is designed to provide a draft of a brief email for use in polling your senior management team on their perceptions about the strategic value and nature of employee wellness.  The draft email is designed to focus your executive teams’ attention on your current employee wellness efforts and to raise the question of desired results.  It is important because it is intended to get senior management’s attention and provoke them to action.  Without a catalyzing email like this one, they are likely to continue the “same old – same old” approach that has not produced much in the way of meaningful results. The bottom line is – what have we got to lose?

What can you do with this document?

• First, look the document over to get a sense of what it attempts to do.
• Next, review the entire process with your supervisor and get approval to proceed. Don’t forget to brief your “champion” if he/she is not your supervisor.
• Then, decide if any of the draft text in the email should be modified and make the changes.
• Then, determine which managers should receive the email.
• Then, decide when you would like a response. Be sensitive to their work pressures, vacations, travel, etc.
• Then, send the email out.
• Then, monitor the responses around the requested date.
• Then, follow-up with any late respondents and summarize the responses.
• Then determine your next steps.

In summary, this draft email is intended to get senior management’s attention and to catalyze a re-examination of your employee wellness program effort with the potential of upgrading your current programming efforts and helping your organization get more serious about their employee wellness initiative.