The public health issue: Worksite health has implications for both employees and employers. Employees can benefit from initiatives that help them reduce stress, achieve work/life balance, manage chronic diseases, help quit tobacco use, and improve their mental and physical well-being. Employers can benefit from employees taking fewer sick days, increased employee productivity and satisfaction, and saving money on insurance claims. Many employers, large and small, have worksite wellness programs but struggle to get their employees to participate.
Our contribution to the solution: Our team, in partnership with the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health (GPBCH), developed a survey tool to determine why employees don’t participate in their worksite health program and what factors encourage employee participation. Three large companies in the coalition seeking to be leaders in worksite health programming requested to participate in the pilot project. The survey was designed to discern differences between participants and non-participants and ultimately determine what the organizations could do to engage employees in their worksite health program. The group administered the survey to all employees at the three companies, resulting in findings that included (but are not limited to):
- employees with longer tenure at the organization are more likely to participate in their employer’s worksite health program compared to new employees;
- motivation to participate in programming is largely cost-driven;
- employees who do not participate in initiatives are motivated to participate by having supervisor support.
The tool can be adapted to any company interested in improving their program. Our team benchmarks each organization’s findings with those of other Philadelphia companies and provides personalized reports to each participating employer containing recommendations based on the organization’s unique findings. Funding for the pilot of this project was awarded by the Public Health Fund.
If you would like more information on how the tool can help you engage your employees and colleagues in your worksite health initiatives, contact