The Canadian Healthy Workplace Criteria were developed in the late 1990s by the National Quality Institute (NQI), in collaboration with Health Canada and leading professionals, to create a strategic model that would help organizations set goals and manage their wellness programs.
To see how your organization measures up to the Canadian Healthy Workplace Criteria answer “yes” or “no” to each of the following questions:
1. Do your leaders demonstrate, through comments and action, a commitment to the management of a healthy workplace?
o Yes o No
2. Does your organization acknowledge and value its people within the vision and/or mission statement?
o Yes o No
3. Is there an overall health policy in place stating your organization’s intent to protect and promote the health of all employees by providing as healthy an environment as possible?
o Yes o No
4. Do you have a mechanism in place to review relevant occupational health and safety legislation and are you in compliance with such legislation/regulations?
o Yes o No
5. Do you have a shared leadership structure in regard to healthy workplace issues, for example, through a healthy workplace committee?
o Yes o No
6. Do you have a formal assessment process to determine employee needs, attitudes and preferences in regard to healthy workplace programs?
o Yes o No
7. Are the workplace health assessment results analyzed and are improvement goals set out in a healthy workplace plan?
o Yes o No
8. Are healthy workplace goals incorporated into strategic planning and healthy workplace programs aligned with human resources development strategies?
o Yes o No
9. Have the overall health policy and healthy workplace plan been communicated across the organization?
o Yes o No
10. Do you evaluate implementation of the healthy workplace plan and the programs and services within the plan?
o Yes o No
11. Does the healthy workplace plan lead to improvement of all the key elements of a healthy workplace — the physical environment, health practices, the social environment and personal resources?
o Yes o No
12. Do your workplace health initiatives take into consideration the special features of your workplace?
o Yes o No
13. Do you have methods in place that make it easy for people to provide ongoing input on healthy workplace and organizational issues and to seek assistance?
o Yes o No
14. Is there a process in place to identify and remove barriers that restrict the development and reinforcement of a healthy workplace?
o Yes o No
15. Do you train your people in healthy workplace principles and methods?
o Yes o No
16. Do you identify the contributions of your people and provide appropriate recognition and rewards?
o Yes o No
17. Do you measure employee satisfaction levels and link the feedback to the healthy workplace plan in order to improve the workplace?
o Yes o No
18. Are you experiencing good levels of employee participation in healthy workplace programs and are you realizing any behaviour change as a result of the programs?
o Yes o No
19. Are there good levels and trends in employee satisfaction and morale?
o Yes o No
20. Are there positive trends in key measures of overall accomplishments in meeting or exceeding the objectives for employee health and well-being in the workplace?
o Yes o No
Interpreting your results
•Commitment — Level One: If you answered yes to questions most of questions 1 through 5, you have a good level of commitment. If not, you need to get executive “buy-in” and promote integrating a high regard for employee health into organizational strategy guided by your vision, mission and policies.
•Planning — Level Two: If you answered yes to most of questions 1 through 12, you are building on commitment and have a thorough planning process in place. If not, and you do have commitment; take a planned approach to building on that foundation.
•Implementation — Level Three: If you answered yes to most of questions 1 through 17, keep up the good work as you implement programs, strategies and processes that make a difference to the workplace environment and the health and safety of your people. If not, once the commitment and planning phases are in place, turn planning into action and reap the benefits.
•Sustainability — Level Four: Congratulations if you answered yes to most questions from 1 through 20. You are well on your way to a healthy workplace. Consider national recognition for your healthy workplace journey — contact NQI for information about the Canada Award for Excellence: Healthy Workplace Award.
The Canadian Healthy Workplace Criteria are used by the NQI to adjudicate the healthy workplace category of the Canada Awards for Excellence. For more information contact NQI at (416) 251-7600, 1-800-263-9648 or visit www.nqi.ca.
To see how your organization measures up to the Canadian Healthy Workplace Criteria answer “yes” or “no” to each of the following questions:
1. Do your leaders demonstrate, through comments and action, a commitment to the management of a healthy workplace?
o Yes o No
2. Does your organization acknowledge and value its people within the vision and/or mission statement?
o Yes o No
3. Is there an overall health policy in place stating your organization’s intent to protect and promote the health of all employees by providing as healthy an environment as possible?
o Yes o No
4. Do you have a mechanism in place to review relevant occupational health and safety legislation and are you in compliance with such legislation/regulations?
o Yes o No
5. Do you have a shared leadership structure in regard to healthy workplace issues, for example, through a healthy workplace committee?
o Yes o No
6. Do you have a formal assessment process to determine employee needs, attitudes and preferences in regard to healthy workplace programs?
o Yes o No
7. Are the workplace health assessment results analyzed and are improvement goals set out in a healthy workplace plan?
o Yes o No
8. Are healthy workplace goals incorporated into strategic planning and healthy workplace programs aligned with human resources development strategies?
o Yes o No
9. Have the overall health policy and healthy workplace plan been communicated across the organization?
o Yes o No
10. Do you evaluate implementation of the healthy workplace plan and the programs and services within the plan?
o Yes o No
11. Does the healthy workplace plan lead to improvement of all the key elements of a healthy workplace — the physical environment, health practices, the social environment and personal resources?
o Yes o No
12. Do your workplace health initiatives take into consideration the special features of your workplace?
o Yes o No
13. Do you have methods in place that make it easy for people to provide ongoing input on healthy workplace and organizational issues and to seek assistance?
o Yes o No
14. Is there a process in place to identify and remove barriers that restrict the development and reinforcement of a healthy workplace?
o Yes o No
15. Do you train your people in healthy workplace principles and methods?
o Yes o No
16. Do you identify the contributions of your people and provide appropriate recognition and rewards?
o Yes o No
17. Do you measure employee satisfaction levels and link the feedback to the healthy workplace plan in order to improve the workplace?
o Yes o No
18. Are you experiencing good levels of employee participation in healthy workplace programs and are you realizing any behaviour change as a result of the programs?
o Yes o No
19. Are there good levels and trends in employee satisfaction and morale?
o Yes o No
20. Are there positive trends in key measures of overall accomplishments in meeting or exceeding the objectives for employee health and well-being in the workplace?
o Yes o No
Interpreting your results
•Commitment — Level One: If you answered yes to questions most of questions 1 through 5, you have a good level of commitment. If not, you need to get executive “buy-in” and promote integrating a high regard for employee health into organizational strategy guided by your vision, mission and policies.
•Planning — Level Two: If you answered yes to most of questions 1 through 12, you are building on commitment and have a thorough planning process in place. If not, and you do have commitment; take a planned approach to building on that foundation.
•Implementation — Level Three: If you answered yes to most of questions 1 through 17, keep up the good work as you implement programs, strategies and processes that make a difference to the workplace environment and the health and safety of your people. If not, once the commitment and planning phases are in place, turn planning into action and reap the benefits.
•Sustainability — Level Four: Congratulations if you answered yes to most questions from 1 through 20. You are well on your way to a healthy workplace. Consider national recognition for your healthy workplace journey — contact NQI for information about the Canada Award for Excellence: Healthy Workplace Award.
The Canadian Healthy Workplace Criteria are used by the NQI to adjudicate the healthy workplace category of the Canada Awards for Excellence. For more information contact NQI at (416) 251-7600, 1-800-263-9648 or visit www.nqi.ca.
