Establish a Clear Vision and Plan for the Program

establish-a-visionEstablishing a clear vision and plan for your workplace health promotion program will help you develop and guide the program, and will help your employees understand why you are implementing the program.4 To start, it is important to develop a health promotion mission and vision statement. There is a subtle but important difference between a mission statement and a vision statement: a mission statement describes the present and desired level of performance, whereas a vision statement defines where the program wants to be in the future and how to get there.4 Start developing a mission and vision statement by forming an advisory or wellness committee (comprising employees from all parts of the company) to brainstorm ideas regarding (1) why they feel a workplace health promotion program is important, and (2) what they hope the program will accomplish.4 Use the answers to the first question to draft your mission statement, and answers to the second question to draft your vision statement.4 Developing a mission and vision statement specific to the needs and goals of your company can help provide purpose and meaning to the program, give it direction and act as a foundation from which the program can grow.4 Additional online resources, with examples, are available to help you craft a mission and vision statement.5–9