In order to ensure that the participation of employees in the wellness program is maintained, use shall be made of participative leadership style. This is because this form of leadership style is known to bring harmony in a team (Dubrin 2011, 466). Not only is it a motivator to the participants, but it also enhances personal relationships.
Participative leadership manifests the caring nature of others. This particular leadership style is especially suitable in when the commitment of other individuals is crucial. In a wellness program, the idea is to ensure that all the individual members of the team realize their goal of improving health and wellbeing.
Inasmuch as one would want to ensure that the program goes on well, nonetheless, it is also important to ensure that a conflict does not arise. At the same time, the team leader needs to somewhat play an active role in making important decisions that affects members of his team. A participative leader shuns autocratic decisions and instead ensures that the rest of the team is actively involved in the activity at hand. Decisions of the wellness program are arrived at jointly by the team leader and the rest of the members.
One of the techniques for motivating employees in a wellness program involves encouraging team building. Consequently, it becomes easier to enhance positive attitudes amongst the workforce.
For example, when members of a wellness program take part in such a joint activity as jogging or walking to work, they are can also encourage one another and in the process, it becomes easier for individuals within the team to realize their objectives, as opposed to when they are alone. There are also a number of incentives that would be valuable in motivating employees to take part in the wellness program:
Wellness dollars: participants in the different wellness activities can be awarded wellness dollars that they can in turn use to purchase workout clothing or health-related products in health stores.
Contests: contests can be used as a form of motivating employees to participate in a wellness program. Some of the competitions that could be included in the contest include a jogging challenge. Members who successfully complete the challenge can then participate in a draw that would make them members of a health club.
Achievement awards: offering an employee a certificate of participation in a wellness program and realizing his/her health-related goal is also a very powerful motivation technique.
Time off: employees who performs exceptionally well in a given wellness program can also be given a day off for accomplishing the set goal.
In order to monitor the progress of the team activity, use shall be made of a journal entry whereby members taking part in a group activity record their attendance, and the time that they took to complete such an activity. This way, it becomes easier to tell the track the progress made by individual members of a team.
A member who is deteriorating in his/her performance can also be assisted by the rest of the members to get back on track. A roll call of the team members shall also be taken when members commence a given task, and a follow up roll call taken upon the completion of the task. However, for those members who are not able to participate in group activities, they shall be required to record the time when they started the activity and the time of completion.
Bibliography
Andrew, DuBrin, Essentials of management. Stamford, Mass: Cengage Learning, 2006.