Locating an Employee Health Promotion Program Coordinator

Locating an individual to guide your organization in creating an Employee Health Promotion Program

Without a qualified Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator to guide and manage your organization´s creation of a culture of wellness, efforts can be scattered and momentum can stall. While it´s vital that the creation of a culture of wellness be someone´s priority, not all organizations need a full-time coordinator. There are a number of ways to capture the time of a qualified coordinator.

Be careful not to confuse Employee Health Promotion Program skills with fitness skills. You are not looking for a personal trainer or a nutritionist to run your Employee Health Promotion Program. The following are good indications that an individual may be qualified to be an Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator:

knowledge of community health, population health and worksite Employee Health Promotion Programs

competent working with and understanding aggregate data, preferably Employee Health Promotion Program data

competent managing projects, including developing timelines and facilitating meetings

competent in strategic planning, including defining goals and related objectives

ability to understand, and use the findings of, journal articles on effective Employee Health Promotion Program Procedures.

What will an Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator do?

The Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator is responsible for guiding a process that creates worksite facilities, policies and practices that promote health. The individual may do some of all of the following for your Employee Health Promotion Program:

act as a liaison between upper management and the Employee Health Promotion Program employee advisory workgroup

interpret health-related data on your Employee Health Promotion Program

create and manage work plans and budgets for implementation of selected Employee Health Promotion Program Procedures

facilitate Wellness Committee meetings

guide your organization in establishing measurable goals for the Employee Health Promotion Program

recommend effective Employee Health Promotion Program Procedures, using the evidence in the health behavior literature and national and/or recommended best practices

document and report short-term and long-term progress on Employee Health Promotion Program Procedures and goals.

Where can we find a qualified Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator?

Explore the following when looking for an Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator:

Existing staff: Are there individuals on staff who have the background, or are interested in gaining the skills, to support as an Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator? Is it possible to dedicate a portion of someone´s time (e.g., .5 FTE) to the position of coordinating your organization´s Employee Health Promotion Program Procedures? If possible, budget enough to cover not only salary but also continued learning, journal subscriptions and membership fees for this Employee Health Promotion Program position.

New staff - Can you hire an individual to be your organization´s Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator? Would it need to be a full-time position, or would part-time be sufficient?

Employee Health Promotion Program Consultation - Various organizations (e.g., health plans, benefit consultants and public health departments) provide Employee Health Promotion Program consultation on building a culture of wellness within a worksite.

An outside Employee Health Promotion Program consultant can advise an internal Employee Health Promotion Program coordinator and your Wellness Committee on establishing priorities and deciding on Procedures. Or, you can contract with an Employee Health Promotion Program consultant to be your coordinator.

If you choose the latter approach, you´ll want to contract with the individual for sufficient hours to carry out all of the responsibilities associated with coordinating an effective strategy.