I recently met an executive from a medium size business at a networking event. When I told him about the work of AdvancingWellness, he began to tell me a bit about the things they were offering to the employees of his company. I asked "How did you happen to choose those particular items on which to focus first?" He said, "They sounded like fun things to do, but unfortunately not many employees participated."

While fun is an important element to consider when planning a program, there is a preliminary step before jumping in to offer programs. The first step is to collect data on the employee's needs and interest. This data is used to establish the baseline or starting point. That starting point helps us measure progress over time to determine if the programs offered are having any impact.

Understanding the needs is typically done with a survey instrument such as a health assessment (a.k.a., personal health assessment, personal health inventory, health risk assessment). These standardized tools assess various lifestyle behaviors to identify a number of risk factors. These behaviors may include: eating habits, physical activity, seat belt usage, tobacco and alcohol use. It may also include biometric data such as weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. When reported in aggregate, this information provides a picture of the current status of employee's health.

The health assessment is a useful tool for understanding the current health status of the employee population. It doesn't however; tell us what employees are interested in doing. Surveying the employee population can assess interests. Another technique is to conduct focus groups. When given the opportunity to discuss their attitudes and beliefs about health practices, it is possible to collect information that can never be obtained in a survey alone. As an example, you might find out that smokers just aren't ready to quit smoking, but would be open to help with managing stress. They indicate that they might smoke less if they were less stressed.  

By taking these steps, participation levels are likely to be higher and employees will be more engaged in the program.