Road to wellness at work paved with good intentions

Wellness at work has become very popular, with many employers holding wellness challenges in which several employees come together to eat better, exercise and generally try to improve their health. Many employers encourage and sponsor these types of events.

The history of the wellness challenge is hard to pin down, but I don't think it's new at all. There have always been small groups of people who at noon, right as I was cuddling up with a quarter-pounder with cheese, decided to use their lunch hour to go for a walk.

The ranks of these groups have swelled and become the majority. I don't mean to write ominously about them. The goal is a noble one. Working toward a more healthful lifestyle at work is a good thing and can improve team morale, but like everything in life, too much of a good thing can have disastrous results.

I am a believer in moderation and I believe wellness challenges should cater to balanced lifestyles not extreme ones and certainly not unhappy ones. After all, I can't be the only one who was happy when Twinkies made their sweet comeback.

The first thing to consider when forming a wellness challenge is not to be pushy. The challenge absolutely needs to be voluntary. When recruiting people, avoid phrases like "it's good for you" or "you really should think about it."

There are all sorts of reasons some people don't want to participate. They may feel embarrassed, some may just want to focus on work, and some may not buy into the dietary or exercise activities in the challenge. Whatever the reasons, leave these employees be. More likely than not, if people are feeling forced into this, it will go from a wellness challenge to a human resources challenge.

Second, when organizing a wellness challenge give the participants options. Instead of saying, "On Thursdays everyone will walk for one mile," maybe say, "Everyone should try to walk for at least a mile or avoid eating fast food."

Choices are good because sometimes the activity is literally impossible to complete. One of the goals where I work recently was to get an average of seven hours of sleep. I can honestly say with three small kids at home, seven hours of sleep is impossible.

But, if I had been given a choice I would've felt more inclined not to give up so easily. And with choices, skeptics like me can be kept at bay.

When it comes to health, there are doctors and "experts" telling us to do all sorts of things that later on may not have been the best thing to indeed do. Anyone remember the Atkins diet? The point is, if one activity doesn't mesh well then perhaps the alternative will.

Third, the wellness challenge should be very non-competitive. Yes, eventually, someone wins and someone loses. As much as people like to compete, if a group of co-workers is hoping for broader involvement, they may get it if they keep the results private. Until the end, and only at the end, announce the winner.

Participants should be encouraged to keep track of their own points, there should only be one record keeper for everyone and it most certainly shouldn't be advertised in a public space. It isn't exactly the highlight of my day when I plunk down in the breakroom, see the Wellness Challenge chart on the wall and discover I'm in the negative.

A lot of this is based on the honor system anyway, so what's the point in advertising the results? Small results for some people may actually be big gains, but by advertising the results, one suddenly can feel quite little.

It's comforting to know there are so many people who want to take care of themselves and others, but employees would be wise to focus more on the wellness part of the Wellness Challenge. Don't let the challenge overtake the wellness.

Jonathan Virant is a young professional and dean of education at Globe University-Green Bay. He can be reached at jvirant@globeuniversity.edu or you can follow him along with his 50 other followers on Twitter at @jonathanvirant.

Times have changed. He can remember a time when there was a Chicken McNugget Challenge. How many could you eat in an hour? Now, that was a challenge.

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