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Workplace Wellness Toolkit

With a few thoughtful steps you can create a culture of wellness where employees thrive.

Why Employee Wellness Matters to Your Business

54% of plan members have at least one chronic disease/condition diagnosis¹

80% of working Canadians report their overall wellbeing would improve if their employer offered a personalized wellness program²

94% of working Canadians are more likely to work for an employer that cares about their overall health and wellbeing²

The best employers know the importance of having programs in place to support the health and well-being of their employees. Not only do employees want and expect their employer to offer wellbeing supports, but evidence suggests that healthier employees are more engaged, have stronger attendance rates, and are more productive. In addition, chronic illness and mental health conditions are on the rise, making it difficult for many employees to bring their best, healthiest selves to work, and challenging employers with increasing claims costs. Providing wellness support is more critical than ever—most importantly for your employees, but also for your business.

Wellness also plays an important role when it comes to attracting and retaining top-level talent. The strongest job candidates have a choice when it comes to finding an employer, and many look for comprehensive wellbeing supports and benefit plans when making a decision. The challenge for employers? Knowing where to start when it comes to creating a compelling workplace wellness strategy. RBC Insurance is here to help.

Let’s begin

RBC Insurance’s Workplace Wellness Toolkit guides you every step of the way. Here’s what you can expect:

• A framework to assess the wellness needs of your workforce
• Tools to help plan and implement initiatives to address those needs
• Ways to monitor progress

By following the step-by-step instructions in this guide, using the ready-made communication templates and tools and leveraging programs included in your RBC Insurance Group Benefits Plan you can create a wellness strategy customized for your company.

Overview: Create a Customized Wellness Program for your Organization

Getting Started

With a few thoughtful steps you can create a culture of wellness where employees thrive. Below is an overview of the key steps.

For detailed guidance on how to implement each step, refer to this Checklist. And remember, no matter what approach you choose for your wellness program—turnkey or something more comprehensive—a range of options are included to help you customize the program to your needs.

Plan Administrator Support and Resources

Your RBC Insurance Client Relationship Specialist is here to support you. Your representative can set up a session to walk you through the checklist and provide an overview of the RBC Insurance Wellness Program, the Employee and Family Assistance program and other services that are available to you. Additional sessions can be arranged to introduce these wellbeing programs to your employees and provide information on how to access them. Contact your representative today to book a time that’s convenient for you.

Implementation Checklist

Use this checklist to guide the implementation of your wellness strategy, utilizing the resources available to you through your RBC Insurance Group Benefits. By creating a strategic plan, you’ll help your employees bring their best selves to work.

Step 1: Engage Leadership

Meet with your leadership team to introduce the concept of workplace wellness and get their support.

Why this is important: A successful workplace wellness program starts with a commitment from company leaders. Continued success depends on on-going support, and employees are more likely to engage in wellness programs that are promoted by leadership.

How to make it happen: Need help introducing your leadership to the concept of workplace wellness? We’ve got you covered. Your RBC Insurance Client Relationship Specialist (CRS) can lead or support the conversation. Call today to arrange a convenient time to meet.

Share this short video with your business leaders on the benefits of workplace wellness and the features of the RBC Insurance Wellness Program as a quick introduction to the topic.

Step 2: Get the Whole Team On Board

Send a clear plan of action with the Employee Communication Template

Why this is important: Getting employees enrolled in the RBC Insurance Wellness Program is essential to the success of your Workplace Wellness Strategy. The RBC Insurance Wellness Program will become an important tool in assessing the needs of your employees and delivering wellness activities and information.

How to make it happen: This communication will be more impactful if it’s sent by a senior leader in your organization. Designate a leader to encourage employees to register so that everyone can participate together. Set a target date for employees to complete registration.

Book an employee information session

Why this is important: Your RBC Insurance Client Relationship Specialist (CRS) can use this opportunity to promote all wellness services available to your employees such as the Wellness Program, Work Life Employee Assistance Program, Teladoc and extended mental health services so that they are aware of all the supports available to them.

How to make it happen: Contact your CRS to book a convenient time for your team to receive a demo. Your representative will facilitate a presentation for employees to ensure they’re ready to begin benefiting from all programs and services.

Go the extra mile when it comes to introducing the programs and services to your employees

• Share this Wellness Program promotional video with employees.
• Post these brochures in your workplace lunch room, other common areas or distribute them to each employee electronically:
  • Wellness Program
  • Employee and Family Assistance Program
  • Teladoc
  • Mental Health Support Services
• Introduce these wellbeing supports at your next employee meeting.
• Plan a Wellness Program launch party to coincide with the employee meeting. If budget permits, include healthy snacks and bottled water or hold a raffle for a chance to win a Fitbit, a gym membership, a gift card (which you can purchase at a discount on the wellness platform!) or any other wellness related give-away you think would appeal to your team.

Step 3: Establish a Baseline

Promote the Total Wellness Assessment (TWA) within the Wellness Platform to your employees.

Why this is important: Completing this assessment will empower your employees to take action by providing them with personal health risk information. You’ll receive valuable, consolidated data about the needs of your employees and their “readiness” to improve their health (for clients with more than 50 employees registered). Note: To maintain employee confidentiality, individual employee data is not visible to the employer.

How to make it happen: With only a few clicks you can send a templated communication to all employees, promoting the Total Wellness Assessment. Refer to the “Promoting Health Assessments” section of the Wellness Program Plan Administrator Guide for more information.

Review your Benefits Plan claims data

Why this is important: Reviewing your Benefits Plan claims data may uncover areas of risk specific to your employee population that can help you target wellness activities to meet the needs of your employees and monitor progress over time.

How to make it happen: Accessing this information is simple:

• Login to the Group Benefit Solutions Online Administration website.
• Click on “Web ShieldStats” on the left menu bar under “Reporting”.
• Select “Reports”, then “Claims” and then “Analysis of Claims by Category”.
• For more information on navigating Web ShieldStats refer to the Web ShieldStats Quick Reference Guide housed on the Group Benefit Solutions Online Administration website

Note: Some reports are only available to employers with more than five employees. If you need help with analysis of the report data, contact your RBC Insurance Client Relationship Specialist.

Complete the Healthy Workplace Assessment

Why this is important: Measuring the current health status of your organizational environment and practices, which are important contributors to employee health, will serve as a baseline for assessing progress over time.

How to make it happen: Complete the Healthy Workplace Assessment template at launch and repeat it at regular intervals (recommended annually) to identify areas of progress and areas that your company may choose to focus on going forward.

Distribute the Wellness Interest Survey to Your Employees

Why this is important: This survey will help you understand what types of wellness programs your employees are interested in and how they prefer to participate. This feedback together with the data collected above are important to the creation of a wellness strategy that is customized to the needs and wants of your employee population. This customization will increase the effectiveness of your efforts to support employee wellbeing.

How to make it happen: Send the Wellness Interest Survey to employees and repeat it at regular intervals (recommended annually). We recommend copying the questions into an automated survey tool, such as Survey Monkey, to protect anonymity and simplify consolidation of feedback. Feel free to customize the survey by adding questions that may be of interest to your organization.

Step 4: Identify Workplace Wellness Goals

Identify one or more workplace wellness goals

Why this is important: Establishing clear goals will help you focus your efforts and provide a baseline for measuring the progress of your workplace wellness program over time.

How to make it happen: These are intended to be high level. The detailed action plan in Step 6 will include more specific tactics for achieving these goes. Below are some examples of goals:

• Increase employee awareness of existing mental health support programs
• Increase manager knowledge of mental health in the workplace
• Enhance work environment to support physical health
• Provide support for healthy eating

Refer to the Healthy Workplace Assessment for additional suggestions. Results achieved in your first year can provide a benchmark for setting future goals. Once employees are engaged in the program, more targeted goals can be set according to the needs of your employees. For example, goals for year two of the program can be focused on the specific health conditions that contribute to the highest proportion of claims costs and/or the health risks that are most prominent in the employee population according to the Total Wellness Assessment results.

Step 5: Assess Resources Available

Identify employee capacity to lead / promote wellness activities

Why this is important: When employees participate in planning and promoting activities, it can be a powerful motivator for co-workers to get involved.

How to make it happen: Consider whether someone has the capacity—as little as one hour per week—to plan additional workplace wellness activities that support your organization’s wellness goals.

Want to do more? Consider polling employees to see if any are interested in volunteering for a Wellness Committee to help plan and execute wellness activities and spread the word about the wellbeing support programs. Having someone from management involved in supporting the committee will improve its effectiveness.

Check the budget: is there room to do more?

Why this is important: The more you can do, the stronger your chances of team engagement. Consider whether funding is available for workplace wellness activities.

How to make it happen: Connect with your human resources or budgeting staff to learn about available funds for prioritizing workplace wellness.

Want to do more? Consider whether your company is interested in providing additional incentives/rewards to employees who complete wellness related activities within the RBC Insurance Wellness Program platform, such as challenges, the Total Wellness Assessment and more. This can be facilitated through the wellness platform. RBC Insurance will take care of fulfillment on your behalf, ensuring employees are rewarded the way you want. Refer to the Wellness Rewards Guide for more information.

Step 6: Create an Action Plan to Support Goals

After you have identified your organizational goals and assessed available resources you can plan specific tactics to achieve those goals. Remember to keep these goals “SMART”: specific, measurable, achievable, reasonable, and time bound. If the program is new to your employees, you may want to start with setting moderate targets for program registration and participation and other activities. For example:

• Increase participation in digital wellness program: within 6 months of launch, 50% of employees will have registered for the wellness program.
• Promote one corporate step challenge and one corporate habit challenge over the calendar year and achieve a minimum of X% participation for each.
• Meet with cafeteria/vending machine vendor to discuss increasing healthy food options
• Implement employee stretch break schedule and provide desk-stretch handouts/video links

Consider starting with the activities below already included in your RBC Insurance Group Benefits coverage. Refer to the Wellness Activities Suggestions list for ideas about other activities that you can plan.

Launch a company challenge to motivate employees

Why this is important: Corporate wellness challenges can motivate employees to participate in health-promoting behaviours. They’re designed for group participation, stirring up friendly competition, fostering a culture of wellness, and enabling a colleague support system.

How to make it happen: To get started, choose one or more challenges from the wellness platform that align with the workplace wellness goals you’ve identified. For step by step instructions refer to the “Corporate Challenges” section of the Wellness Program Plan Administrator Guide.

Want to do more? Plan other wellness activities to support the goals identified in Step 4 and address the needs and wants of your employees. Refer to your completed Healthy Workplace Assessment within this toolkit for other ideas about wellness activities that align with your budget.

Promote wellness resources already included with your RBC Insurance Group Benefit coverage

Why this is important: Save time and money by using existing wellness resources.

How to make it happen: Your Group Benefit plan includes valuable programs to support employee health. We recommend that you create a wellness calendar and schedule specific dates (e.g. quarterly) to remind your employees of the valuable programs available to them.

See the Resource List at the end of this guide.

Share RBC Insurance Wellness Communications with your Employees

Why this is important: To support your promotion of employee health, RBC Insurance plans a variety of activities throughout the year such as perks promotions, wellness webinars and communications. These cover a range of topics across the physical, mental and financial pillars of well being that provide valuable information to your employees and highlight the resources available to them through their benefits plan.

How to make it happen: We’ll provide you with ready-made communications to forward along to your employees. Look out for wellness communications from “RBC Insurance National Office”.

Step 7: Take a Pulse Check Regularly

Access the reporting within the Wellness Program Plan Administrator Panel

Why this is important: Monitoring engagement levels, efficacy, and excitement about your wellness programs will help you respond quickly and make changes as needed.

Revisit the baseline metrics established in Step 3

This should be done at least once per year to see how your organization is progressing against the goals identified in step 4.

Update goals, resources and activities

Determine if your company’s wellness goals should be revised for the coming period, what resources are available and what activities should be planned to support those goals. Revisit steps 3-7 at least once per year.

Resource List

Looking for more information or need a little help? Here are a few helpful websites and tools: