An extensive review of people’s views of their experience of workplace health promotion was undertaken by Brunton and colleagues (2016).
In this section we summarise some of the barriers and facilitators of workplace health interventions, as told by people with direct experience. This information can help you anticipate potential challenges and become aware of helpful supports from the outset.
See the First Steps section, which incorporates these lessons learned into a step-by-step guide to start creating your Healthy Workplace. Our Case Studies section also contains practical examples of how other companies have approached their transition to a Healthy Workplace.
Recommendations to organisations are categorised into themes:
Project Management
- Engage senior management
- Encourage employee involvement in wellbeing strategy development
- Develop Action Plan/Checklist
- Embed programs in organisational strategies Publicise programme
Health Activities
- Provide employee incentives
- Publicise services offered by local health services
- Provide health advice and guidance
- Tailor the support to individual needs
- Refer to specialist services
Evidence and Evaluation
- Evaluate the programme
- Invest in evidence-based interventions
- Measure and report outcomes
- Adjust the programme in light of the evaluation Corporate reporting
Barriers to workplace health promotion are categorised into each stage of initiative development:
Planning
- Lack of senior management engagement
- Lack of business case
- Not integral to the organisation’s vision and strategy
- Lack of employee interest
- Underdeveloped action plan
Implementation
- Lack of resources
- Lack of effective communication
- Unrealistic time frames
- Attempting to implement too many strategies
- Lack of relevant knowledge and experience
Evaluation
- Failure to evaluate adequately
- Difficulties in measurement
Please see the full review by Brunton et al. (2016) called ‘Developing evidence informed, employer-led workplace health’ in the resources below.