Why Wellness Champions and Wellness Committees are Essential

Wellness Champions and Wellness Committees

You may have heard of the terms wellness champions and wellness committees, but often times the definition of each is misunderstood or they get confused for one another. Before we go into why each are important, let’s discuss their primary roles.

Wellness Champions: Wellness champions are individuals that are passionate about health and well-being. They ideally fill out an application and are vetted for their specific role of encouraging involvement in wellness activities and fostering a worksite culture that supports anyone’s desire to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Wellness Committees: A wellness committee is comprised of wellness champions. As a general guideline, it is recommended to have 1 wellness champion per 30-50 employees. A wellness committee provides guidance and support throughout various phases of wellness program implementation. From there, they plan, promote, and implement wellness initiatives for employees to improve their mental and physical health.

Why are They Important?

Having a committee of wellness champions can truly be the determining factor in whether your wellness program is successful or not. In our experience, a wellness committee empowers employees. It allows them to feel a sense of ownership over the program, have more of a say in what activities and benefits are offered, and ensure the program appeals to more of the workforce. In addition, a wellness committee is helpful in identifying wellness program incentives that will be the most meaningful to your employees and creates a “by the employees for the employees” mentality that drastically increases participation.

Apart from appealing to employees, wellness committees take a large workload off of the employer. Wellness committees take a bottom to top approach and handle a large majority of the tasks that are required for a successful wellness program. This includes budgeting, planning, coordinating, promotion and communication for wellness activities and events. They also advocate for the program on a daily basis and encourage employee participation by participating in all aspects of the program themselves. In addition, with each meeting, they help generate new ideas, set objectives, and establish wellness program goals for the next quarter to ensure the program stays on track.

It is incredible to see a wellness committee in action and get a first hand look at how much they contribute to a wellness program’s success. At Health Designs, we strongly encourage appointing wellness champions and creating your own wellness committee. If you are not sure how to begin the process, please call 904-285-2019 or use our contact form to set up a consult at your convenience.

For additional information, news, blogs, articles or interviews please contact us at 904-285 2019
“Health Designs has exceeded our expectations, particularly in the personal coaching portion of our wellness program. Employees have met with the same coach since the first day and have formed an important, trusting relationship to help employees determine their goals and achieve results.”
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