Gaining upper-level management support is vital to the success of a exercise initiative.
Regardless of whether the changes you would like to make involve the work environment, overall policies or specific programs, successfully beginning your ideas depends on senior management support.
Support from executive management is critical for three reasons –
• You will need their agreement to involve personnel in a worksite initiative.
• When executive management pays attention to and supports an initiative, staff members also see the initiative as worthwhile.
• Management has the power to give work time and money to support the health promotion program.
It’s important to keep senior level management involved throughout a exercise program, but at three points you will need support for –
• An overall concept, including a go-ahead to assess what workers want to do within the limitations of your worksite environment.
• A detailed plan (based on the assessment above) coupled with resources to carry out the plan.
• Evaluating the initiative to improve it along the way or to advocate for continuing or expanding the initiative.
Approaching Management
Before approaching executive management to gain initial support for promoting exercise during the workday, do your homework.
• Put together a business case clearly outlining how the business will benefit by promoting exercise during the workday.
• List the individual, social and corporate advantages of physical activity and the advantages of being active during the workday.
• Give some general ideas about what the health promotion program might include.
Expect questions such as the following from upper-level management –
• Just how this help our corporation?
• Precisely how can we motivate staff to participate?
• Precisely how much will it cost to run this wellness program or make this change?
• Exactly how are we going to know a year from now when this was a good use of time and resources?
Ask managers about the range of activities they’d support. Oftentimes managers have ideas of their own they’d like to see acted on to enhance the worksite.
Don’t forget to include middle managers when gaining support for your wellness program. They can be very helpful when you need volunteers to lead teams in corporate exercise challenges.
