by Yvonne Morris

Created on: November 29, 2008

Introduce Holistic Wellness Programs

As a Certified Holistic Wellness Coach (and some may be wondering what on earth this is!) one of my missions is to broaden the scope of "corporate wellness programs". As some of the writers here have noted, corporate wellness programs, though well intended, very often do not meet their goals. For various reasons employees either do not take advantage of the programs, or are not adequately recognized when they do. Try as corporations may, not everyone will be convinced to eat right and exercise. But what if there was another way of looking at "wellness"? What if wellness was offered in a holistic way. By this I mean that rather than concentrating on just the physical aspects of wellness, corporations might want to start looking at the "whole" employee: Spirit, Mind and Body.

If corporations provide all the physical amenities - gyms, nutrition programs, smoking cessation programs and the like, but do not find ways to nurture the employee's Spirit and Mind, their efforts may fall short. Introducing programs that focus on the employee's Spiritual and Mental wellbeing, means that value is put on people's gifts, talents, passions, interests and abilities. When employees know that they are valued, heard, and encouraged to be creative and innovative, they are more likely to be loyal, committed and productive. All of these attributes contribute to having a healthy employee and and healthy bottom-line for the organization - which was the goal in the first place - right?

Introducing holistic wellness programs in the organization can be unbelievably simple and at very low cost. We all know that setting up a corporate gym or contracting medical personnel to administer tests can be costly. The holistic wellness programs that I introduce to corporations need no expensive equipment. In fact most of the investment include the corporations' willingness and openness to something different - a paradigm shift if you will, and the same on the part of the employee who may never have been introduced to these concepts before. But I can say this, once they understand that the program deals with wellness from the inside out, they are usually willing to try. So what might a holistic wellness program entail? Some of the simple techniques include: RELAXATION, to reduce stress which is a big factor is absenteeism and turnover; MEDITATION, which is not about religion but rather about teaching the employee to tap into her/his own inner strengths; VISUALIZATION/IMAGERY, which empowers the employee to be creative; BREATHING, which costs nothing but is absolutely life-giving. The biggest cost to the organization would be the cost of having a holistic wellness coach design and possibly monitor the programs. How might that compare to the other costly alternatives?

As a Human Resource executive who spent over 20 years in the corporate world, I know first hand the results of workplace stress, or having employees who are not empowered to be creative and innovative. I honestly believe that when corporations begin to look at the "whole" employee, corporate wholeness is a guarantee.

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