Impact and quality of evidence affect the extent to which the practice achieves the acquired outcome. If a practice isn’t sustainable, then it is going to have little impact on the target population. Best practices encourage individuals to change their behavior. Best practices also examine other organizational factors that influence health behavior. A culture of health that aligns with company goals and backed by senior leadership have been found to be the best practices for the success of workplace wellness programs (Scovill, n.d.). Another important factor of a best practice is that it be replicable and should be able to be transferred to other settings, groups, or target populations. 

Several examples of best practices within workplace wellness include resources from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Wisconsin Worksite Wellness Toolkit, and WELCOA’s 7 Benchmarks. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d). Workplace health program definition and description. Retrieved from  https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/pdf/workplace-health-program-definition-and-description.pdf

Khoury, A. (n.d). The evolution of worksite wellness. Corporate Wellness Magazine. Retrieved     from http://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com/worksite-wellness/the-evolution-of/

Scovill, S. (n.d.) What is best practice? [video]. Retrieved from https://uwsa.instructure.com/courses/244381/pages/video-presentation-best-practices?module_item_id=3614980

1. Mix 1 part company culture, with equal parts leadership support. Add communication, program offerings, greater choice, and compensation until smooth.

2. In a separate room, combine core values and mission, and mix until well blended. Add right people gradually, depending on consistency and size of company. 

3. Add lead by example and work-life balance in equal parts until well blended. More work-life balance may be needed if mixture is runny, lumpy, or not mixing evenly. 

4. Once set, add incentives, wellness goals, greater choice, and compensation. 

According to a 2015 RedBrick Health survey, respondents define employee engagement as “taking responsibility for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, with rewards for participation and improvement” (Optum, 2014). For this assignment, I decided to use the idea of a food label to determine the different “ingredients” of employee engagement. Four major elements- company culture, leadership support, communication, and program offerings make up the majority of the “recipe”. From there, smaller ingredients such as core values, mission and vision, incentives, and wellness goals can be “mixed in to enhance employee engagement. 

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