Global economic competition has created a demand for a healthy and effective workforce. Companies and organizations started the first health and well-being programs between 2000 to 2008. They incorporated programs such as health days and fairs, EAP programs, and check-ups for employees. Demographic problems (increasing mortality) gained attention from government and officials in 2018-2019. The Russian Ministry of Health Care founded the first program to combat this. The program aimed to systemize different practices in workplace wellness. The result was a practice-oriented guide.
Systematic Workplace Health and Well-Being Practice
The main parts of this document include:
- Rules for creating and developing health and well-being programs for the workplace
- Smoking cessation programs
- Prevention of excessive alcohol consumption
- Healthy eating in the workplace
- Physical activity in the workplace
- Stress prevention
This document contains popular components like health days/weeks according to the methods used by Marsh & Mercer 2018, which is one of the most popular components of well-being programs (more than 40% of companies use this), health and well-being politics, online and onsite training, and leadership programs.
The rules for creating and developing health and well-being programs for the workplace
The first part of the standard analyses the experience of companies such as Kamaz, Rosneft, Sakhalin Energy, Gazpromneft and uses these companies as examples.
One of the first steps required is to create health and well-being politics in the workplace, a health and well-being committee, and health leadership.
The Process Includes Four Main Stages
- Planning (analyze, create an operative plan, find resources, creating KPIs, risk hazards, level of risk factors in the employee population. )
- Implementing five types of health and well-being programs (physical activity, stress, health habits, smoking and alcohol consumption)
- Monitoring (checking KPIs for every program period, such as participation and engagement, levels of behavioral change)
- Evaluation (new ways to improve health and well-being programs)
Well-being in the workplace is a growing market in Russia. This is due to changing demographics, increased global economic competition, need for a productive workforce, and the desire to improve the quality of health and fitness in employees. It is important to promote health and well-being in the workforce to increase performance and productivity and to lower healthcare costs. However, there are still prevailing areas for development that include implementation of holistic approaches for workplace wellness and well-being, integration of wellness it-platforms, and preparation of wellness leaders and ambassadors.
Ivan Rybakov, MD, MBA is a workplace wellness and well-being expert, and researcher at Moscow’s Academy of Health Industry Professionals, and is the editor of the magazines “Health Coach” and “Perks and Benefit”. Dr. Rybakov is the author of “Corporate Health and Well-being”, and has written more than 50 articles on the subject.
