Group Major Assignment: Wellness Rediscovery

Aryan Bansal, Jason Chen, Roshana Lee, Luka Maloku, Jay Parayno

Humber College

BHSW 3002: The Business Case for Wellness 

Professor Christopher Bonnett

Dec. 1, 2020
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Table of Contents

Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………… 3

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………… 3

Needs…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4

Data Sources and Assessment Tools…………………………………………………………... 4-5

Health Strategy………………………………………………………………………………… 5-6

Health Program…………………………………………………………………………………... 7

Implementation Plan………………………………………………………………………….. 7-10

Marketing Plan……………………………………………………………………………... 10 -11

Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………... 11-12

References…………………………………………………………………………………... 13-14

Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………… 15
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Executive Summary: (Jason)

As a group of external consultants, we hope to assist Santan Tech with the high
absenteeism and low productivity compared to fellow competitors in the tech sector. Our goal is
to gather information through surveys and interviews with supervisors to see issues and
opportunities for change to improve the workplace environment. A survey will also be given to
employees to understand the current health practices and the overall health culture of the
workplace. We hope to use resources from Sprout Wellness to help us provide employees with
further counselling if needed. Implementation of this plan will be accomplished with the help of
executives and sessions four times a year. Overall, we hope to help meet the needs and problems
Santan Tech is having currently.

Introduction:(Jason)

Our business case that we are going to be developing will be created for John Mcmahon
who is a business owner of Santan Tech . He currently owns a technology lab that has about 100
workers who help create and develop new devices such as phones, computers, tablets, etc.
Within the company, there are four different departments, software development, model
development, assembly, and testing. Their main focus is to create the best and most easy to
understand technology for the public. As external consultants, we will develop a strategy that
will help lower various health risks within different departments such as stress or strain. For this
case, we are going to be working with the company Sprout Wellness Solutions who will assist us
and provide access to the resources necessary to help John. We will create a strategy that
increases productivity and create an opportunity to help reduce current problems he is having,
such as absenteeism and mental health. This project is going to be sponsored by Quinte Health
Care who will be overseeing the delivery of our strategy and funding the project.

Problem/Opportunity: (Jason)

The current issue that Santan Tech is dealing with is low productivity and increased
absenteeism among the employees of all departments. We decided to propose this investment
due to external drivers such as increased demand and competition within the tech sector for new
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phones and computers. With the increased workload, we see an opportunity to invest into a
health strategy to maintain high overall health and maintain highly skilled employees at the
company. Stress/Mental health is an issue that has been discussed for many years and change is
required to prevent any issues from getting worse. Currently Santan tech has limited services that
target the employees to help reduce absenteeism or to overall manage their health. 

Needs: (Jason)

The current needs of the employer are increasing productivity within each department but
also lowering absenteeism rates without diminishing employee’s overall health. Using interviews
with supervisors or managers as a way to gather data and identify issues employees may be
having while working will be the among one of the first steps to identify specific needs within
each department for the employer. A survey will also be given to employees within every
department to get a sense of any issues and current work culture of the organization. This survey
will ask basic questions like how they are feeling while at work and are they feeling any stress.
Based on sources, mental health can be a contributing factor to productivity, which will be one of
the main focuses of this strategy. Data from Statistics Canada shows that in Ontario, an average
of 9.2 days are lost each year due to absences and has been increasing since 2015 (Statistics
Canada, 2020). This clearly shows that something needs to be done to lower absenteeism and
that the company needs a new strategy to prevent an increase. Currently, there are very few
services provided by the company that addresses the health targets we are going to be looking at.
For example, the company does cover the cost of some health costs which could include seeking
professional help. This may be useful for employees, but they also might now know when to
seek help or where to go to find the information which is why we hope to change that to meet the
needs of the employer. 

Data Sources and Assessment Tools: (Jay)

Santan Tech’s problem is that they have high rates of absenteeism. The cause of
absenteeism can vary. We believe that their employees have high levels of stress. In Canada, the
main sources of employee stress are personal finances (39%), workload (34%), work-life
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balances (32%), and social interaction at work (27%) (Poole &  Frankel, 2020). Employees need
to know how to manage their stress within their workplace because it leads to a healthy lifestyle.
We believe that creating a health and wellness program for Santan Tech can make their
employees manage stress which can decrease the company’s absenteeism. A study has found that
health and wellness programs showed improvement results of healthy employees within one year
(Lowensteyn et al, 2018). Healthy habits that Canadian workers were able to develop are
improving mental health metrics such as having the ability to cope with stress and an increase of
employee engagement from working at their workplace 6 to 9 hours for five days each week
(Lowensteyn et al, 2018). Santan Tech company should invest into health and wellness programs
such as mental health training where 51% of Canadian employers have this type of program for
their employees to engage (Poole &  Frankel, 2020).

We plan on using both quantitative and qualitative approach methods. For a quantitative
approach, we will create an “employee satisfaction” survey for all 100 employees to answer.
This will help us identify employees' mental state from working for the company. The survey
contains a series of questions with the option to choose either yes or no. Questions include
asking if they enjoy coming to work, does the manager or supervisor value their feedback, do
they have a good relationship with their co-workers, do they feel like they are overwhelmed with
workload, and if they can balance their work-life (Appendix A). The quantitative approach
includes scheduling a focus group interview with all four of the managers/supervisors of each
department. This process will ask open-ended questions which can help us identify how to
improve employee’s mental health within the workplace. Questions we will include to this group
interview are asking the culture of the work environment, how productive the employees are, and
what type of emotions they show while working (Appendix B). Additionally, we will improvise
what other related questions we can ask them from their perspective and opinion from their
answers.

Health Strategy (Luka & Jay): 

The mental issues from the employees plays a key factor of having a high absenteeism
and low productivity. Therefore, We plan on offering a health and wellness program to improve
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their mental health within the workplace. Sprout wellness solution company will provide
resources that Santan Tech needs. The health and wellness program decreases absenteeism rates
and increases employee engagement which results in high productivity. A study from sun life
found that health and wellness programs make a positive impact for employers. Evidently,
Canadian absence rates had decreased by 4% in two years (Sunlife Financial, 2016). We plan on
taking the results from the tests we have implemented and using this data to properly apply our
program to the company. We believe this is the best way of having a better understanding of the
issues going on in the company and will allow us to strategize the way we implement our
program.

Absenteeism is a big factor for a company, it costs Canadian employers $16.6 billion
annually and an average of 500,000 employees don’t work weekly due to mental health problems
(How Much Are You Losing to Absenteeism?, n.d.). Santan Tech, a Canadian company
contributes to the cost of absenteeism from their employees. Lowering the rates of absenteeism
can potentially benefit the employer financially because they avoid having to spend money.
Employers don't realize the amount of money lost from absenteeism: 15% of Canadian
organizations track the actual cost of absenteeism (How Much Are You Losing to Absenteeism?,
n.d.). Majority of employers, such as Santan Tech should take measures of absenteeism to secure
their revenue from their services.

Of course, our health strategy is to decrease absence rates and increase productivity of
employees. This will benefit the company because having healthy and productive employees can
potentially make profit. At first, this process comes with having to invest the resources needed to
achieve this goal. Consistently delivering this strategy on a daily basis, profit will appear in 2-
years’ time. Our strategy is to communicate with stakeholders within the Santan Tech, in order to
come to an agreement, we must have discussion on what resources does this company need to
decrease absenteeism. The surveys we created for the company will help us present what mental
state the company stands.
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Health Program (Luka & Jay):

Designing a health program for Santan Tech employees can benefit their knowledge on
what to do when they experience any mental issues within the workplace. The program includes
promoting positive behaviour patterns, reduces absenteeism, and improves overall productivity
(Missing in action: Absenteeism trends in Canadian organizations, 2017). Employees
experiencing mental health issues can contact us to receive guidance on how to cope with their
health conditions. Also, Sprout Wellness Solution can present a workshop for Santan Tech to
educate the workers further about specific topics if needed. The workshop provided could have
lifestyle management tips and counselling if needed for all employees. Our program will be
working closely with the employees and employers in order to achieve our goal of improving the
mental health and absenteeism within the company. One of our goals is to have the workers feel
like they are being supported and thought for. 

Implementation Plan: (Roshana)

While building a successful path for the company and the employees, a plan must be put
in place in order to reduce stress, mental health issues and absenteeism. In addition, increase the
level of productivity and support overall health of the employees and employers. In the process
of meeting our company goals and developing a better workplace environment, the company will
feature Sprout Wellness Solutions into our plan in order to assist with the company business
case. First steps of the business plan are to determine the best time to implement and promote the
program for the employees. The basic budget to build of this wellness program for the Santan
Tech company is about 8,000 for the year. In which will include supplies from an external
company Sprout Wellness Solutions, training for owner and managers to assist lead the program.
As well as, hourly time (one day session), amount of people (100 employees) and four total
sessions for the year (Closing the Gap, 2019).
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DATES TASKS ACCOUNTABILITY

NOV 10 Group discussion with organizers o   Owner

o   Budget
o   HR rep
o   Location
o   Goal achievement strategies o   Supervisors
o   Dates

NOV 15 Observation: department managers collecting data for Department manager

the wellness program

NOV 17 o   Contact Sprout Wellness Solutions for supplies o   Sprout Wellness

(products) Solutions
o   Organizers create files with decision, ideas, o   Owner
feedback   o   Department managers
o   HR rep

NOV 24 Promotion of the wellness program o   Department managers

o   Emails o   HR Rep
o   Posters
o   Word of mouth

DEC 7 Day one of wellness training (full day session) o   Owner

o   HR Rep
o   Managers
o   Employees

DEC 7- Record information of the wellness program o   Owner

8 Identify strengths and weaknesses o   Department managers

 
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1. During this beginning process, the organizers of the wellness programs will include the
human resources representative and owner John with the assistance of the department
managers. The owner and human resources representative will be responsible for the
planning, organizing, budget, goals for the Santan Tech company and its future. The
owner will contact Sprout Wellness Solutions company to determine which product
supplies are to be implemented to receive better outcomes for the program plan.
Furthermore, the budget of the programs, number of employees attending , dates, timeline
and location.
 
2. The human resource representative, owner and department managers will determine
which type of program will meet the goals of the Santan Tech organization. The
programs will help increase productivity, reduce absenteeism and help employees reduce
their stress levels and mental health issues. In this step the organizers will monitor and
report data by observing the performance of the employees and communicating with the
employees to explore their interests. The employees will provide comments to the
department managers to determine the ongoing performance of the workplace.
 
3. After monitoring the employees’ feedback and performance, the managers will report the
information back to the other organizers. A written file will be created in order to
document decisions and ideas of the wellness program. Therefore, actions will be made
in the workplace to meet the achievement of the company goals and find results. During
this time, Sprout Wellness Solutions will be contacted for the supplies for the wellness
program for the employees of the Santan Tech company.  
 
4. The company will start promoting the up-and-coming wellness program to the company
for the employees. The promotion will be delivered via emails, posters throughout the
organization and word of mouth prior to the events of the wellness program. In which,
the department managers will be in charge of promotion in the workplace. The human
resource representative will assist with promotion through emails  
 
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5. After the full marketing process of the wellness programs for the organization, the
organizers will begin to put the program in motion. The program will be led by the owner
along with the department managers to ensure the program is going to plan. The
employees will be encouraged to participate in the wellness programs and will have a full
day session (approximately around eight–ten hours of training). The human resources
representative will gain knowledge during the session and record all findings.  

Marketing Plan (Aryan):

In order to market our wellness program to the employees of Santan Tech, we will use
multiple sources to spread information about the wellness program. One route we will take
involves the distribution of  newsletters containing information on the wellness program to help
employees have a better understanding of what exactly it is we offer and how it can benefit them.
Along with this, we will hang posters throughout the office and email educational packages to
the employees. These marketing tools will explain the ins and outs of the program and highlight
the value of a healthy lifestyle (Health Dialog Connections, 2017). In addition, it will include
information, such as how to get involved. By involving the CEO, president, or department
managers to participate in the wellness program and to work with our company will help boost
participation among the employees of Santan Tech. An example of how high-level managers can
get involved is by having them write an email to all employees which outlines the value of the
program and includes reasons to get involved (Health Dialog Connections, 2017). Another
marketing tool that we will implement is hosting a live event that gives employees of Santan
Tech an opportunity to have any questions answered right away by a representative of our
company (10 Ideas for Marketing Your Next Wellness Program, 2019). We will send a wellness
team member to talk to employees in a lounge or common area within Santan Tech to discuss the
new wellness program with employees and hopefully have them sign up. In addition to this, our
company will have a kiosk with a laptop or tablet that allows people to sign up as they walk by.
This allows employees to privately sign up if they wish to do so (10 Ideas for Marketing Your
Next Wellness Program, 2019).

Recommendation: (Roshana)
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This recommendation for the management team is to maintain a common communication

with the owner, department managers, human resource representative and the other employees.
As well as the sponsor of the wellness programs Sprout Wellness Solutions. By maintaining
communication this can develop the future of the business plan to continue to create new ideas,
help lower budgets toward the company, lower absenteeism in employees and increase
productivity. A level of good communication can bring success and evolve the company for a
brighter future. A risk that can occur is negative feedback can cause problems for the business
plan and can result in others not finding ground. To reduce this risk the organizers can designate
roles for each part of the plan and regroup with new information during meetings. This allows
members to develop better problem-solving, listening and formal communication skills. 

Another recommendation for the management team is to provide alternative ways in the
programs to reach the company goals and help the employees gain higher productivity at work.
For example, activities, group discussions, counseling and others. This will include the
employees in decision making to create their own personal path to growth in the workplace.
While employers and the organizers will be able to have a lower absenteeism rate in the
workplace. The risk of this recommendation is employees not willing or unable to participate in
their options to build productivity. To mitigate this risk the company can provide as much
support and encouragement for the employees. In addition, promote the wellness plan by using
the marketing tools and plan in order to gain better results and achieve business goals (Health
Dialog Connections, 2017).       
 
Data and new knowledge are other recommendations that can be quite beneficial to the
business case for the Santan Tech organization. This is because throughout the years, in hopes
the wellness business case continues successfully, the organizers and department managers can
be able to collect new information from the employees’ feedback and interaction the employees
have during the wellness programs. This method can help the company progress in the future
regarding a greater business case, lower absenteeism rates and the success of the Santan Tech
company as a whole. For example, the organizers analyzing  the feedback from the employees
will be able to take into consideration the new information given and use this knowledge to
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advance the workplace environment. To reduce any chance of risk is to use new information
accordingly to try and evolve the company into a healthier future.                                 

References

Creating a Corporate Wellness Program: Everything You Need to Know. (2019, April 17).

Retrieved from https://www.closingthegap.ca/creating-a-corporate-wellness-program-

everything-you-need-to-know/#:~:text=Education/Wellness
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Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2020, January 10). Work absence of full-time 

employees by geography, annual. Retrieved from

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410019001

How Much Are You Losing to Absenteeism? (n.d.). Retrieved from 

https://www.mercer.ca/en/our-thinking/how-much-are-you-losing-to-absenteeism.html

Missing in action: Absenteeism trends in Canadian organizations. (2017, January 20). Retrieved 

from https://www.morneaushepell.com/ca-en/insights/missing-action-absenteeism-

trends-canadian-organizations

Sunlife Financial. (2016). Sun Life-Ivey Canadian Wellness ROI Study Update. Retrieved from 

https://app.luminpdf.com/viewer/5fb71074bc8af30019e2a881

Papadopoulos, M. (2020, May 18). Importance and Benefits of Health Programs in your 

Workplace. Retrieved from https://www.potential.com/articles/importance-benefits-

health-programs-workplace/

Health Dialog Connections. (2017, December 7). Retrieved November 19, 2020, from 

https://www.healthdialog.com/blog/marketing-your-health-and-wellness-programs-

employees

10 Ideas for Marketing Your Next Wellness Program. (2019, May 17). Retrieved November 19, 

2020, from https://www.lifedojo.com/blog/10-ideas-for-marketing-your-next-wellness-

program/

Lowensteyn, I. , Berberian, V. , Belisle, P. , DaCosta, D. , Joseph, L. & Grover, S. A. (2018).

The 
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Measurable Benefits of a Workplace Wellness Program in Canada. Journal of

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 60(3), 211–216. doi:

10.1097/JOM.0000000000001240.

Poole, M., Frankel, A. (2020). The Sanofi Canada Healthcare Survey. Sanofi. Retrieved from 

https://www.sanofi.ca/-/media/Project/One-Sanofi-Web/Websites/North-America/Sanofi-

CA/Home/en/Products-and-Resources/sanofi-canada-health-survey/sanofi-canada-

healthcare-survey-2020-EN.pdf?

la=en&hash=F1C763AA6B2F32C0BF2E623851FD05FD

Appendix A

Employee Satisfaction Survey

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Questions Yes No

Do you enjoy coming to work?

Does your manager or supervisor value your feedback?

Do you have a good relationship with your co-

workers?

Do you feel overwhelmed with workload?

Are you able to balance work and life?

Appendix B

Focus Group Interview

What culture work Explain your What emotions do the

environment does your employees' workers show when
department have? productivity. they work?

Software
Department

Model
Department

Assembly
Department

Testing
Department