As the founder of my organization, I see tremendous value in vision. Vision has gotten us where we are today, and our vision will continue to help us navigate toward the endless horizon of our personal and organizational potential.
Great leaders are like explorers. They forge the way toward new horizons that others cannot see or dream possible.
Many managers want to do more to nurture employee wellbeing, but are lost in the daily demands of their job. They are usually disgruntled by how challenging it is to prioritize health – on both an individual and organizational scale.
Seeing your Organization’s Wellness Vision to fruition requires not only the implementation of employee programs and support systems, but the belief that your vision is possible, and the foresight to prioritize its development.
So, let the visioning process begin!
Schedule a meeting with your wellness committee, HR point person, or leadership team to initiate this conversation. Discuss and develop clear answers to the following talking points:
- How does your organization define productivity and/or performance?
- In an ideal scenario, how would productivity and/or performance change in the next year? What would it look like in 5 years? 10 years?
- How do your employees on all levels of your organization add value? (Be specific in terms of departments, managers, leaders, etc.)
- In what ways, does health (or poor health) influence this value? (e.g., customer satisfaction, costs, bottom line, sick days, disability, productivity, morale, etc.)
- If budget and time were not barriers, what would you like to include in your company’s wellness program?
- How could you do a better job of engaging high risk employees in their health? (e.g., personalized health coaching, online wellness challenges with incentives, re-branding materials to be more inclusive)
- What aspects of your wellness program can you manage internally, and what should you outsource to be most effective and remain in compliance with national regulations?
- What performance measures do you currently use to determine the influence of existing wellness initiatives? How would you like these performance measures to change in the next year? In 5 years? 10 years? (e.g., What would you like your wellness program participation rate to be? By what percentage would you like to influence health care costs, sick days, disability claims? How would you like to influence employee satisfaction?)
- Revisit your organization’s core values, mission, and vision: Can you do a better job of building employee health and wellbeing into the value system, mission, and overall vision? Into the culture? (Break down cultural set points and company policies into those that support versus hinder employee health.) And most importantly, how can you communicate to employees that you value their wellbeing and better ensure that your organization’s actions mirror this value?
As you paint the picture of your ideal wellness program and outcomes, ask yourself and your task force the following questions:
- Do we believe that we can realize the vision we’re laying out? How could we change the vision, or extend the timeline, to make it more realistic?
- If we’re still in disbelief, is it possible that if we are clear enough in our vision, our successors will realize this vision, or some variation of it? (Avoid limiting your vision just because you may not be there to see it through, leave a legacy!)
- What steps do we need to take to realize our vision? What can you we do or delegate today, tomorrow, this week, this month, next month, and so on, to bring our organization closer to its Wellness Vision?
Stay tuned for guidance on developing your Personal Wellness Vision for Next Year & Beyond!
About the Author
Allie Andrews is the Founder and Program Director at OmBody Health. She is a Certified Health Coach and self-care advocate and author. Allie and her team have been transforming employee wellbeing since 2014. Learn more.