5 ways to use workplace champions to support and develop a wellbeing programme

When you’re developing a successful wellbeing programme, it’s important to make full use of your natural allies. Every business has enthusiastic people – the ones who are the first to put up their hands when an event needs organising or there’s a worthwhile cause in need of support. Channelling this enthusiasm is crucial if you’re really going to make wellbeing work.

I’m sometimes asked whether it’s best to concentrate on upskilling managers or appoint wellbeing champions. I’d say the answer is to do both – but using workplace champions wisely is perhaps the single most important factor in transforming your wellbeing strategy from a policy into a culture. Their role is different from, and complementary to, that of the line manager.

So, how do you make it work?
Using wellbeing champions effectively: the five key points

Don’t underestimate the value of peer communication
Think back a while, maybe to an earlier stage in your career. Someone in management has explained why a new policy is a good idea. You may well have taken their comments on board… but at what point did you truly buy into that policy? Chances are it was when an employee in your peer group showed you why they thought it would work. Or maybe you were that employee…

We listen to our peers. If you make sure you’re using staff from varying levels of your organisation you can communicate the value of your wellbeing programme, simply through word of mouth. This is what leads to culture, rather than policy.
Channel natural enthusiasm
We’ve mentioned the fortunate presence of enthusiastic individuals in any business. To support and develop your wellbeing programme, enlist the help of people who are happy to get involved, and maybe already play a role within a communications network.

It’s great to use people who are willing to volunteer – if participation is enforced, or an extension of an existing role, you’re unlikely to benefit from the same level of commitment. The people who step up are likely to have skills of their own to bring to the table… and they may well come up with some brilliant ideas you hadn’t thought of! Keep this in mind and make sure the floor remains open for all.
Keep them involved
Everyone needs to know that health and wellbeing isn’t a one-off initiative: it’s here to stay. To do this, you’ll need to keep your champions closely involved to spread the conversation and make sure the noise level doesn’t drop. They need to be visible, present and consistent within all sites if you are a multi-site organisation – let your champions know that they have an ongoing role to play and welcome their fresh ideas to ensure your promotion stays lively, relevant and in the minds of your employees.
Make sure they bring everyone together
Wellbeing champions across all parts of the business can bring people together and make them feel connected with the wider programme.

As well as communicating with their peers, your champions provide the means to keep feedback from every part of the business flowing freely. They can support you in building an effective network which ensures everyone is kept up to date from a central perspective, while encouraging feedback from their specific areas.

If you have staff in different locations – whether determined by geography or role – they’re likely to have differing work experiences. For your wellbeing programme to work for all of them, it’s helpful to gain an understanding of these diverse perspectives. For example, champions – as well as line managers – could be encouraged to keep in close touch with home workers, so you stay engaged with them.
Give them the tools they need to play their part fully
Once the role of your champions is established and your workplace programme develops further, it’s likely that your champions will have demands placed on them by struggling colleagues.

Think about how you can equip your champions for this situation. Ensure that they are aware of the company policies regarding support and that they know where to look when they need to advise on the available routes. It’s worth devoting some resource to maintaining an easy-access intranet page which they can refer to without having to keep all the knowledge to hand and your other employees can visit for wellbeing information.

Keeping your champions keen
To really make a wellbeing programme work, longevity is crucial – and your champions will be the people whose enthusiasm makes this happen. So, it’s important to nurture that enthusiasm and make sure it doesn’t wane as time goes by.

To ensure longevity:

Give your champions clear guidelines and make them aware of expectations.
Make sure they know where to find support themselves – especially when they need to balance their day-to-day role alongside wellbeing commitments. This means thinking carefully about time allocation.
Put plans in place to recognise the work they’re doing.
To keep up momentum, you could set up regular catch-ups. This will allow you to map what you’re hearing and learn from anything that didn’t land well, so you can hold and build on the initial enthusiasm you will find.

The author is Sophie Money, Group Protection Wellbeing Manager at Aviva.

This article is provided by Aviva.