Contents
- Chronic Disease/Injury Prevention and Built Environment
- Healthy Eating and Food Security
- Injury Prevention
- Physical Activity
- Healthy Environments
- Tobacco Control Program
Ministry of Health
Celebrating Success
Did You Know?
The B.C. Public Service has been recognized as one of B.C.’s Top 50 Employers for 2009.Success Stories
There are many businesses around B.C. that are leading the way and creating healthy workplaces. Here are some of their stories.
The following stories were developed by The Graham Lowe Group Inc. as part of the Health Works Here pilot project evaluation and are used with permission of the businesses featured.
Philosophy of workplace health:
Like many small B.C. workplaces, the IRC has no formally developed policies around workplace and employee health. What it can (and does) offer is the type of flexibility and individual empowerment that are often only found in small and medium-sized enterprisesNumber of employees:
4 fulltime and 2 part-time staffHallway meetings:
The Innovation Resource Centre (IRC) office is physically configured in a way that encourages spontaneous “hallway meetings” At first it was more social in nature, but the impromptu gatherings became formalized when the team realized it could often cover two hours worth of regular agenda items in the span of about 15 minutes. The other interesting thing that evolved in the context of these “hallway meetings” is an increased level of contribution from staff previously too shy to speak up in the more traditionally structured meetings.
The Innovation Resource Centre enables economic growth and diversification based on the commercialization of innovative technology in the Central Interior of BC. The IRC provides support to new and established entrepreneurs through both one-to-one advisory sessions as well as workshops and seminars. IRC organizes network and idea exchange opportunities and pursues an active communications and research program that creates a broader, better understanding of the role of technology in the economy.
Philosophy of workplace health:
When discussing the success of the business, management consistently credits its hard working staff saying “They’re the ones who grow our business.” This sense of respect permeates the management philosophy at the Advance Group. Employees are entrusted to do their job and do it well, which contributes to a psychologically healthy workplace.Number of employees:
15 full-time and 3 part-time staffSharing Travel Points:
The Advance Group provides professional conference organization services. It offers all services required to design, develop, manage, coordinate and stage conferences and meetings of all sizes, domestically and internationally.
Through its regular business activities, the Advance Group collects a significant number of “travel Points.” Some points cover business expenses, but management also distributes points to staff as a gift, enabling each employee to book an international flight. Management says the fair and equitable distribution of these points only makes sense because it’s the front-line employees who are maintaining and building the business on a daily basis.
Philosophy of workplace health:
Management genuinely believes that employees are not a commodity and must be treated with respect. But they also know that having happy staff is also good for business. This can be tracked in two key measures of success: retention and productivity. When faced with a hyper-competitive labour market, attracting good people (and keeping them) is critical.Number of employees:
7 full-time staff including three owners.Grace Days:
The team at Radar Hill works with a wide range of clients to develop customized web services such as Content Management Systems (CMS) that allow clients to update their own websites with an easy-to-use format. At Radar Hill, their goal is to put more hours in the client day’ by developing products and services that add to their bottom line and not add to their workload.
Management values honesty in the workplace and says traditional ‘sick day’ policies can force employees to lie about missed work. So they adopted the idea of a ‘grace day’ which can be taken at the employee’s request with no questions asked. It might be used to go to a concert or to stay home with a sick child. All grace days are paid at 62% of regular pay. If employees don’t use their full allotment of annual grace days, they are paid out, in cash, around Christmas time.
Philosophy of workplace health:
Management at DEC believes strongly that the most important investment it can make in the company is its labour force. This is more than altruism—it’s good business. They didn’t start out with a plan to create a healthy workplace strategy. Rather, the need to reduce turnover motivated initial attempts to strengthen employee health and more broad organizational culture. The result has been a win-win situation.Number of employees:
6 staff includes 2 partners, 2 full-time and 2 part-time employees. in which management, employees and clients all benefit.VanPool Project:
Discovery Economic Consulting has been in operation for 23 years and provides primarily expert testimony to the B.C. Supreme Court around personal injury issues and losses related to personal injury litigation. DEC also offers some resource-based economic studies.
Management believes that long commutes to and from work are neither healthy nor sustainable. That’s why Discovery Economic Consulting (DEC) supports the VanPool Project. This is a society that organizes groups of eight people with similar commuting patterns.
Bike to Work Week: DEC has also been very involved in the annual Bike to Work Week competition. Participating organizations each enter a team and winners are selected based on the distance accumulated by the end of the week. Staff at DEC has participated every year since 1996.
Philosophy of workplace health:
The promotion of healthy development is part of their mission statement. As community role-models it is particularly important that staff ‘walk the talk’ and demonstrate a genuine commitment to workplace health and lifestyle balance.Number of employees:
45 full-time staff and another 15 to 20 in part-time positionsRunning Groups:
Over the last few years, staff at the North Okanagan Youth & Family Service Society (NOYFSS) have formed a number of informal sports groups, including a running team that has trained together for half-marathon races in both Vancouver and San Francisco. Not only have these events contributed to the physical health of participants but also to their workplace relationships and social bonding. Management says that “This new focus on physical activity has indirectly contributed to a 50% drop in smoking rates amongst employees”.
NOYFSS has been in operation since 1074. Their primary focus is on keeping families together—providing support for and skills to deal with the challenges that they face. This may include counseling, parent education/coaching, and the provision of residential services as required. In all cases, the children are not treated in isolation but rather as a family unit. This is a non-profit, charitable organization that is funded by the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development and other community partners including Interior Health Authority, the Ministry of Education, School District 22 and BC Gaming.
Philosophy of workplace health:
At QAHSP there is an understanding that employees are more than just workers—they are whole beings valued as sacred gifts. Employees are important role models of healthy living in the community. A healthy lifestyle centres on the traditional Aboriginal concept of the medicine wheel and a healthy workplace must incorporate physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being to be complete.
Number of employees:
11 full-time including elders, special needs workers, an early childhood educator, a cook and bus driver.
Honour Your Health Challenge:
The Qwallayuw Aboriginal Head Start Program (QAHSP) supports and cares for four and five year olds. QAHSP operates under the umbrella of the Laichwiltach Family Life Society which is a neighbourhood hub where community members from around Campbell River come to learn and socialize. Employees of QAHSP employees participated in the Honour Your Health Challenge (funded by the provincial government). All challenges were individual in nature and included commitments such as smoking cessation, increased daily water intake, improved diet or increased physical activity.
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