Step 4 – Develop Action Plan

Each workplace has a unique environment and employee culture. Programs must recognize this and be customized to fit the workplace. Make programs as flexible as possible. It is also important to remember that when it comes to making lifestyle changes, employees will all be at various stages of readiness.  Successful programs recognize that change is a process that takes time and that there needs to be a good match between the activity and the stage of readiness for change

Strategies

Review your report and identify common themes. It is now time to use the information you have collected and create a plan or blueprint for the development of workplace health strategies. First you need to identify key issues or findings based on the information collected. You may wish to have individuals from the workplace health committee review the information separately and then share their findings with the group to see if other people draw similar conclusions. Findings should be kept confidential until approved by the committee and other key stakeholders

Rate the themes according to importance or priority. Once you have identified issues, you will need to determine priorities and resources. You will need to strike a balance between what the employee and employer can do. Think about how addressing this issue will bring you closer to your vision. Develop a list of issues from most important to least important.

Create an action plan. After listing and prioritizing key issues you will need to determine goals, activities and timelines. Goals tend to be broad purpose statements (e.g., to increase knowledge or change behavior) and the activities will help accomplish these goals (e.g. presentations, safety training and policy development). When creating your action plan, make sure that it is short and easy to read perhaps in a chart format as in Sample Action Plan Worksheet (MS Word / PDF).

• Awareness Raising - This involves activities aimed at raising employee awareness about a particular topic. It is important for employees to have accurate information in order to make informed choices. Examples of these types of activities may include: information posters and pamphlets; workplace health newsletter or email tips; activities that tie into special events such as “Weedless Wednesday”, Health and Safety Week, Cancer Month; and lunch and learns on topics such as physical activity or stress.

• Skill Building - Educating people does not always mean they will be able to adopt a new behavior. Providing skill building activities that encourage individuals to change their behavior are also very important. Examples of these types of activities include: ongoing training in the safe use of equipment; increasing employees’ participation in decisions affecting their jobs; providing seminars on conflict resolution, financial planning and time management; rotating employees through different jobs to learn new skills; offering “heart healthy” cooking classes; and offering company wide challenges (e.g. physical activity challenge, quit smoking contest, tobacco product cessation workshop).

• Building Supportive Work Environments and Policies - Supportive environments reinforce and encourage employees to develop skills and practice healthy behaviors. An employer who develops workplace health policies and strategies shows their commitment to employees’ health and well-being. Supportive work environment initiatives include: providing preventative safety equipment (e.g., ergonomic chairs and computer stations, fatigue mats, weight-lifting belts); reorganizing the workplace to make maximum use of windows and air flow; giving regular feedback on job performance; developing policies that encourage open communication; encouraging employee involvement in decision making, creating incentives for employees to become involved in on-site or off-site fitness clubs; establishing flexible work hours and other family- friendly work policies; providing healthy choices in cafeterias or vending machines; creating a 100% smoke free property.

Checklist

• Did the committee summarize the survey results into a report for all staff to see?
• Did the committee review the results and determine priority employee health and wellness needs?
• Is the action plan based on the results of the survey and other information collected?
• Does the plan include recommendations that will be acted on right away and ones that will be implemented over a longer period of time?  Are the recommendations appropriate and achievable?
• Is the plan balanced, addressing both major and minor issues that were identified?
• Does the plan include the three types of activities: awareness/education; skill building; supportive environments/policies?
• Has the management approved the plan and have they committed time and resources to see it implemented?  Do you have visible commitment from senior management?
• How will the committee communicate and promote the programs to the employees?  How often?
• Has the committee considered methods to evaluate activities?
• Does the committee plan to collect this type of information at regular intervals over time?

Links and Resources

Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week
Health Promotion
Organizational Culture
Health & Safety & the Environment
Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Program Effectiveness

Canada's Healthy Workplace Week

Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week
Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week is a yearly celebration in October of workplace health in Canadian organizations and is intended to promote a comprehensive and integrated approach to workplace health. A specific week is set aside each year to increase awareness about the importance of workplace health to personal and organizational performance.

Health Promotion  

What is health promotion in the workplace? 
Lists the principles of a workplace health program. Describes the benefits of this type of program to both employers and employees. Identifies the components for developing a workplace health program. Prepared by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.

Public Health Agency of Canada - Canadian Health Information Network
The Canadian Health Network is a wealth of information to help you prevent disease and make healthy choices for yourself and your community.  Available on this website is trustworthy information on health promotion and disease and injury prevention through a network of expert organizations.

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit – Health Promotion Calendar
A listing of provincial and national health campaigns (e.g. recognized theme days and months throughout the year).

Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit Health Facts
Information is available on the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit website for a variety of health related topics.

Organizational Culture

The Health Communication Unit Workplace Organizational info pack 
The organizational environment of a workplace can be defined as all the organizational and job factors that affect the interaction between people, their work and the organization. The organizational environment has a major impact on employee health and productivity and is influenced by many factors including leadership style, management practices, social support and pervading culture.

Government of Canada – Managers Tools
Management culture tools which include: communication, change management, staff retention, team building, leaderships etc.

Government of Canada - Work-life Balance in Canadian Workplaces
This website has been created to help organizations design and implement supportive programs and policies facilitating work-life balance. By reducing work-life struggles, individuals can enjoy a healthier lifestyle while improving productivity at work. A first section allows employers, unions, managers and human resources practitioners to access the latest information and examples of best practices that enhance work-life balance for their employees.

The Canadian Women’s Health Network.  A Call to Action Balancing Work and Non-work Responsibilities: Implications for Women’s Health
Families, friends and communities play an important role in the lives of most individuals: they help forge our identity, they provide us with emotional support and a sense of belonging, and they are where a large portion of everyday social interaction takes place. We all need these relationships: they are part of being human, and are integral to our physical and emotional well being.

Health Canada – Best advise on stress risk management in the workplace
This site portrays stress risk as something that isproduced through human interactions in the workplace. Since production is managed, stress risk can be managed also. But when we talk about stress risk management here, we mean dealing with stress at the point of production — at source, upstream.

Canadian Mental Health Association - Mental Health Works
Mental Health Works helps organizations to manage their duty to accommodate employees experiencing mental disabilities such as depression or anxiety in the workplace. We help employers respond immediately and appropriately when employees experience mental health problems and effectively manage performance and productivity issues. It is founded on the belief that focusing on solutions around mental health issues in the workplace will benefit employers and employees alike.

Laval University – Workplace Stress
This site provides useful resources such as assessing the cost of stress in the workplace, mental health at work, employee recognition, and violence at work.

Government of Canada – Changing Management Culture: Models and Strategies to Make it Happen
Culture is often described as "the way we do things around here." In fact it is more complex. It is also feelings, underlying beliefs, values, history, and assumptions about an organization. Those are rooted in experiences, stories, and behaviour patterns sometimes decades or centuries old. The culture tells people what is and is not okay. Culture is enduring, difficult to develop or reshape.

Government of Canada - Dealing with Harassment: A Guide for Managers
This guide has been designed as a tool to help managers prevent and resolve harassment complaints. It is written as a complement to the Treasury Board Policy on the Prevention and Resolution of Harassment in the Workplace. It provides different tips and approaches but this advice should not be presumed or construed to be complete or exhaustive.

Government of Canada - A Fine Balance: A Manager's Guide to Workplace Well-Being
Presented in the format of a cutting-edge management magazine, this guide provides practical advice and tools for improving workplace well-being. The guide will help managers improve their own well-being, as well as the well-being of their staff. Well-being topics addressed include work-life balance, time and workload management, the physical work environment, alternative office strategies, workplace health, and stress management.

Health, Safety and the Environment

Ontario Workplace Gateway 
Developed by the Ministry of Labour, the Ontario Workplace Gateway provides employers, workers and others with one-stop access to information and services on a wide variety of workplace-related topics. Ranging from rights, responsibilities and resources respecting employment standards and health and safety laws, environmental protection and other legislated standards, the Ontario Workplace Gateway helps you find the information and answers you need to ensure safe, fair and harmonious workplaces.

The Canada Safety Council
The Canada Safety Council is a national, non-government, charitable organization dedicated to safety. Our mission is to lead in the national effort to reduce preventable deaths, injuries and economic loss in public and private places throughout Canada. We serve as a credible, reliable resource for safety information, education and awareness in all aspects of Canadian life - in traffic, at home, at work and at leisure.

Environmental and Workplace Health
This section offers information and advice on some of the most common environmental factors that affect human health: air, noise, soil and water pollution, climate change, environmental contaminants, occupational health and safety, pest control and radiation.

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is a Canadian federal government agency. The Canadian Centre of Excellence for work-related injury and illness prevention initiatives and occupational health and safety information.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Board
The WSIB's vision is to eliminate workplace injuries and illnesses. To help make that vision a reality, we promote the sharing and use of information and resources that help workplaces make their work, safe work. We offer programs that help employers meet their prevention responsibilities to build healthy and safe workplaces. Health and safety promotion through radio, print and television ads is another way we try to reach as many people in Ontario as we can. And we don't work alone. We have many partners in Ontario's Health and Safety Community who can provide you with specific health and safety information and assistance. 

Healthy Lifestyle Choices 

Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit Health Facts
Information is available on the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit website for a variety of health related topics.
  
Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute
The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute conducts research, monitors trends and makes recommendations to increase population levels of physical activity and improve the health of all Canadians.

The Business Case for Active Living @ Work
The Business Case for Active Living at Workis the third major initiative undertaken by Health Canada to improve the physical activity levels of Canadians and has been developed in partnership with the Canadian Council for Health and Active Living at Work.  It suggests the benefits of being active in the workplace, summarizes the research that has been done, provides some information about what works and how to get started, and provides a template for practitioners to use in developing a business case for active living in their own organizations. It also points to what we do not know and provides the foundation for further research.

Centre for Active Living - Bottom Line Benefits of Physical Activity at Work
It’s good for employers.  It’s good for employees. Information is provided for why workplace physical activity is a sound investment.

Go for Green - A Guide to Active Transportation to and from the Workplace
A guide to help workplaces promote active transportation to and from work which in turn will benefit the health of employees and the environment.

Public Health Agency of Canada – Active Living at Work
This Internet resource suggests the benefits of being active in the workplace, summarizes the research that has been done, provides some information about what works and how to get started, as well as provides a template for practitioners to use in developing a business case for active living in their own organizations.

 Also see Step 5 Implementing Balanced Workplace Health 

Program Effectiveness 

The Health Communication Unit Workplace Evaluation Info Pack
Evaluation is the systematic collection, analysis, and reporting of information about a program in a way that enables practitioners and others to learn from their experience. Specifically, program evaluation generates the information needed to guide the development of more effective comprehensive workplace health initiatives.