Finding a Corporate Health Promotion Program Coordinator
Finding an individual to guide your corporation in establishing a Corporate Health Promotion Program
Without a qualified Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator to guide and manage your corporation’s creation of a culture of health, efforts can be scattered and momentum can stall. While it’s essential that the creation of a culture of health be someone’s priority, not all corporations need a full-time coordinator. There are a number of ways to gain the time of a qualified coordinator.
Be careful not to confuse Corporate Health Promotion Program skills with fitness skills. You are not looking for a personal trainer or a nutritionist to run your Corporate Health Promotion Program. The following are good indications that an individual may be qualified to be a Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator:
• knowledge of community health, population health and worksite Corporate Health Promotion Programs
• experience working with and understanding aggregate data, preferably Corporate Health Promotion Program data
• experience managing projects, including developing timelines and facilitating meetings
• experience in strategic planning, including defining goals and related objectives
• ability to understand, and use the findings of, journal articles on effective Corporate Health Promotion Program Procedures.
What will a Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator do?
The Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator is responsible for guiding a process that establishes workplace facilities, policies and practices that promote health. The individual may do some of all of the following for your Corporate Health Promotion Program:
• act as a liaison between upper management and the Corporate Health Promotion Program employee advisory workgroup
• interpret health-related data on your Corporate Health Promotion Program
• establishe and manage work plans and budgets for implementation of selected Corporate Health Promotion Program Procedures
• facilitate Health Promotion Committee meetings
• guide your corporation in setting measurable goals for the Corporate Health Promotion Program
• recommend effective Corporate Health Promotion Program Procedures, using the evidence in the health behavior literature and national and/or recommended best practices
• document and report short-term and long-term progress on Corporate Health Promotion Program Procedures and goals.
Where can we find a qualified Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator?
Explore the following when looking for a Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator:
• Existing staff: Are there individuals on staff who have the background, or are interested in gaining the skills, to support as a Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator? Is it possible to dedicate a portion of someone’s time (e.g., .5 FTE) to the position of coordinating your corporation’s Corporate Health Promotion Program Procedures? If possible, budget enough to cover not only salary but also continued learning, journal subscriptions and membership fees for this Corporate Health Promotion Program position.
• New staff – Can you hire an individual to be your corporation’s Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator? Would it need to be a full-time position, or would part-time be sufficient?
• Corporate Health Promotion Program Consultation – Various corporations (e.g., health plans, benefit consultants and public health departments) provide Corporate Health Promotion Program consultation on building a culture of health within a workplace.
An outside Corporate Health Promotion Program consultant can advise an internal Corporate Health Promotion Program coordinator and your Health Promotion Committee on setting priorities and selecting Procedures. Or, you can contract with a Corporate Health Promotion Program consultant to be your coordinator. If you go with the latter approach, you’ll want to contract with the individual for sufficient hours to carry out all of the responsibilities associated with coordinating an effective strategy.