Walking Health Promotion Programs are some of the most popular Employee Health Promotion Initiatives. They set the bar for entry fairly low – most anyone can walk around the block or their building – and walking health promotion programs also offers workers with a good way to break up the afternoon doldrums and interact in a casual, more social environment with other workers. Just leaving your desk for a few minutes every day for a little sunshine can be a big stress reliever – and stress is the #2 leading cause of absenteeism, according to Employee Health Promotion statistics.

As a first step to beginning your Employee Health Promotion Program, we recommend that you have a designer draw up an attractive map of your corporate campus or vicinity. Plan out and test a few short walks of varying distances, and using a pedometer and watch, figure out how long each walk is in time and distance. Have a little fun with your walking Employee Health Promotion Program by equating each walk with a common office activity of the same duration, like a writing a one-page status report or filling out a common form. Post the map in the workplace and make sure people know about walking health promotion programs by using your office communication channels – newsletters, announcements, corporation meetings. Keep it fun by building weight-loss teams, setting up races or organizing healthy picnics and athletic activities around the walking health promotion programs route.

Here are some other walking health promotion programs tips from Tom Weede, author of The Entrepreneur Diet: The On-the-Go Plan for Fitness, Weight Loss, and Healthy Living:

Make sure to link the walking wellness program to work objectives. Employees need to be reassured that these walks are part of their responsibility to be healthy and productive. They’re not personal errands that need to be compensated for by longer days at the office.
Keep healthy snacks in the workplace.
Reinforce the walking wellness program message by regularly mentioning it during staff member meetings
Set up a health-related benefit that walking health promotion programs participants can use for health-related expenses.