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The Business Group has structured a six step approach to help employers create comprehensive tobacco cessation benefits, programs, and policies:
- Getting Started
- Building a Corporate Culture of Health
- Selecting Benefits
- Establishing Workplace Policies
- Communicating with Employees
- Evaluating Effectiveness
In addition, the following quick tips can aid employers:
- Secure support from the C-Suite. It is essential to get early buy-in from senior leadership. It's a lot easier to recruit staff and volunteers within the company when the CEO is on board. Employees may also be more receptive to information that is supported by both senior and mid-level managers.
- Present the Business Case. The most effective way to involve leadership is to present a compelling business case for tobacco cessation programs. Create business case presentations with potential return on investment calculations. Find the smoking prevalence within the company, and then use a return on investment calculator to see how much money could be saved if every employee stopped smoking.
- If possible, allow plenty of time. Six months is good; a year or more is better, especially when rolling out a new tobacco-free policy along with cessation program(s). A full year is recommended to allow enough time to come up with a solid strategy and adequately communicate with employees.
- Build a dream team. Recruit representatives from departments and entities within the company who can help achieve program implementation goals. Find individuals who are passionate about the work and who will be positive agents for change throughout the process. Suggested departments include HR, operations, marketing, and corporate communications.
- Gather information with a health risk assessment (HRA). If the company is not administering a HRA to employees already, provide one. If the company does not already offer incentives to employees who take a HRA, consider doing so. Incentives may increase participation. The results from a HRA will help gauge the percentage of employees that use tobacco. If employees take a HRA each year, the resulting data may be used to determine if employee health is improving and if tobacco cessation efforts are effective.
- Have a plan. Once a support team is in place, create a master timeline, complete with actionable goals and assigned roles. Hold regular meetings to keep team members accountable and engaged. Be sure to incorporate key communications goals into strategy.
- Be creative. Develop creative ways to reach employees about tobacco cessation benefits, policies, and programs. This may increase participation. Don't be afraid to come up with new ideas or unorthodox methods of getting the attention of employees.
- Simplify, simplify, simplify. Make a list of all vendors and programs currently available to employees. Be sure messaging is clear and consistent, not a conglomeration of messages from various entities. Try to make sure the resources available to employees are effective. Identify programs or vendors that are ineffective, and prepare to eliminate them.
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