Article about Wellness Mentoring

Rebuilding the Corporate Culture through Wellness Mentoring

Developing wellness mentors is an important strategy for creating a healthy corporate culture. Mentors are skilled at offering effective peer support for personal and professional growth. Mentoring has a long and positive history. The approach can take root in a culture that is focused on individual initiative.

The mentoring process begins with an extensive examination of quality of life and personal performance, including financial, social, emotional and physical wellness. Armed with knowledge about the lifestyle change process and how to provide effective peer support, mentors create safe and caring relationships with coworkers. Mentors ask questions that are useful for planning lifestyle change. They also seek out resources needed to achieve lifestyle goals.

Notice the difference between mentoring and the traditional model of providing health information (see table 1). A mentor is engaged in mutual learning throughout the process of successful lifestyle improvement. The process is dynamic because an individual's goals and life circumstances are constantly changing. The mentor does not offer a single path to success or even suggest the most appropriate lifestyle goals. Instead, the mentor offers to help research alternatives and the mentor embraces the goals and methods chosen by his or her coworkers.

TABLE 1 Similarities and Differences between Mentoring and Other
Traditional Roles	Primary Similarities to the Mentor Role	Primary Differences with the Mentor Role
Health Educators and Teachers	Both promote healthy lifestyles and are likely to promote James Prochaska's "Stages of Change" approach to lifestyle improvement.	Mentors frequently do not have any specific background or knowledge about health goals such as exercise. Mentors research health topics with their coworkers as needed.
Wellness Program Manager	Both promote healthy lifestyles.	Wellness program managers tend to have professional training in multi-component program planning and evaluation. In contrast, mentors tend to be employee-volunteers who offer one-to-one peer support.
Therapists and Counselors	Both offer one-to-one support.	Therapists offer professional assistance with "subconscious" influences. Mentors offer peer support that focuses on conscious choices and environmental influences.
Friend	Both offer one-to-one support. Mentors and friends can be involved in mutual support.	Unlike friendships, mentors establish semi-formal relationships with scheduled meeting times and well defined lifestyle change goals. In addition, mentors use a framework to organize their support.

Most Employees Can Become Effective Mentors
The foundation of a good mentoring program is a coherent framework for understanding lifestyle change and peer support. A clear understanding of mentoring responsibilities increases the likelihood that employees will develop effective mentoring skills. Such a mentoring framework also increases the likelihood that the mentor will make appropriate referrals to professional resources. Six core peer support skills form the basis for effective mentoring2.

Goal Setting

The mentor assists with goal setting by describing a vision of wellness and by facilitating a discussion of outstanding performance. The wellness vision can also be shared through self-assessment questionnaires. The mentor examines existing lifestyle strengths and explores ways those strengths can be used to achieve a better quality of life.

Once a vision of wellness is shared and initial lifestyle goals are set, the mentor helps the coworker to plan his or her lifestyle change process. For example, the mentor could explain the "Stages of Change" framework developed by Dr. James Prochaska and his colleagues.3 Prochaska studied health goals and identified six stages of lifestyle change. Each stage has its own incremental goal that builds toward sustained lifestyle change. The mentor helps the coworker recognize how the six stages of change may be at work in his or her own change effort.

TABLE 2 Stages of Lifestyle Change
	Stage of Change	Appropriate Change Goal
1.	Gaining Commitment: The person is not truly convinced about the importance of the lifestyle goal.	Get more information about the value of the lifestyle change goal.
2.	Contemplation: The person has no definite plan for when to begin, but would like to change.	Set a date for making the change.
3.	Preparation: The person has set a date to begin the new behavior and is planning the best strategy to carry out the change.	Develop a plan and tell others about the change.
4.	Action: The person is engaged in making changes.	Adjust to new lifestyle and manage unexpected emotional and physical reactions.
5.	Maintenance: The person is working to integrate the lifestyle change into normal day-to-day life.	Continue to pay attention to the behavior and work through any relapse. Help others achieve similar lifestyle goals.
6.	Moving On: The person has maintained the change for six months to a year and is ready to move on to other lifestyle interests.	Set new health-enhancing goals. Move on from support systems that are focused exclusively on the prior lifestyle goal.

Identifying Role Models

Another key mentor support function is to encourage coworkers to link up with a role model. The mentor helps the coworker identify characteristics of an appropriate role model. And, the mentor assists the coworker in finding such a person.

TABLE 3 Assessing Role Models
Qualities of an Effective Role Model	Qualities of an Ineffective Role Model
Has achieved similar goals under similar circumstances.	Has achieved very different goals under entirely different circumstances.
Recognizes that great benefits were realized through successful lifestyle change.	Views his or her own change effort as more trouble than it was worth.
Willing to share his or her own story, including the difficult parts.	Shares nothing about personal experience beyond that it was successful.
Willing to take time to tell his or her full story and to establish trust.	Not able to take the time both to share his or her experience and to build trust.
Sees change as a process.	Expects change to be a quick fix.
Not quick to criticize or to judge.	Immediately makes character judgments.
Acknowledges that change can be a challenge.	Says that change is easy.
Gives someone permission to create his or her own path to success.	Recognizes only one way to success, "my way."

Eliminating Barriers to Change

Lack of time, money and other resources often stands in the way of achieving lifestyle goals. The mentor assists coworkers in overcoming physical and psychological barriers. Sometimes such activity takes the form of helping a coworker to determine how best to ask for needed resources. For example, the coworker may be interested in thinking through the best strategy for asking a spouse to prepare healthier foods. The mentor may also identify needed community or organizational resources.

Locating Supportive Environments

Both physical and social environments play an important role in successful lifestyle change. The coworker needs to surround him- or herself with environments that support his or her chosen lifestyle. The mentor offers assistance in diagnosing current environments. For example, the mentor could examine household and workplace cultural norms. The mentor may help develop strategies for reducing daily exposure to environments that fail to support desired goals. When existing settings do not support wellness, the mentor offers assistance in finding new places and groups.

Working through Relapse

The path to lifestyle change tends to include detours. Before relapse occurs, the mentor makes it clear that he or she will be available for immediate consultation. The mentor assures the coworker that he or she does not view relapse as a personal moral failing.
Relapse is treated as an opportunity for learning and growth. The mentor helps the coworker assess the relapse. For example, the mentor might ask:

	What circumstances triggered the relapse?
	What can be learned from the relapse about lifestyle change or about the coworker's goal?
	Have the reasons for seeking out the goal changed?
	Does the coworker wish to continue with his or her lifestyle goal? And, if the answer is "yes," what is the best strategy for getting back on track?
	How can the thinking or environments that triggered the relapse be avoided in the future?

Celebrating Success

People rarely take time to celebrate success. Rewarding and recognizing healthy lifestyle choices fosters lasting change. The mentor seeks opportunities to celebrate throughout the lifestyle change process. For example, the mentor may honor transitions that correspond to Prochaska's six stages of lifestyle change. The mentor will also help the coworker identify healthful ways to celebrate. When possible, the time and money saved by eliminating unhealthy behavior should be used to reward change.

Introducing Mentoring at Your Workplace

Employees seeking to become effective mentors will need a minimum of six hour for the initial training as well as two hours a week for their mentoring activities. Mentors should receive follow-up training, updates on available health promotion resources, as well as regular opportunities to network with other mentors. Ideally, coworkers should be given release time for meeting with their mentors. Where possible, mentors should have funds available for celebrating success and for helping to reduce barriers.

There may already be a tradition of mentoring at your workplace. If not, it will be necessary to define the term wellness and the mentoring concept. Try to share a vision that inspires both employees and management. Consider featuring the following benefits.

	Mentoring Reinvigorates the Corporate Culture. Mentoring rebuilds the sense of community at the workplace. Helping others is an important form of community building. Mentoring provides opportunities for people to show that they care. Furthermore, mentors develop skills for creating trust and openness. For example, mentors learn how to share their special interests and history in a way that is appropriate for the workplace.
	Mentoring Reduces Program Burnout. Everyone is tired of giving or getting health advice without adequate follow-up. Burnout is evident among health promotion professionals and customers alike. Yo-yo diets and empty fitness facilities provide the impetus for addressing lifestyle change in a more systematic and a more comprehensive fashion. Wellness mentoring provides a practical framework for offering long-term follow-up.
	Mentoring Makes Follow-up Affordable. Without wellness mentoring, few companies could afford the individual attention and the support needed to help employees achieve lasting and positive lifestyle change. In our culture, people expect individual assistance with their health and lifestyle concerns. Coworkers are in a better position to offer frequent individual support. Furthermore, coworkers are more likely to be available in times of need and are more familiar with the physical and social conditions of those attempting lifestyle change. And, since lifestyle change support should be provided for at least six months (the minimum time needed to establish a new lifestyle practice), peer support is the most cost-effective alternative.
	Mentoring Builds Grass-Roots Support for Health Promotion. Mentors become company-wide health promotion advocates. Training employees to become mentors is a great way to develop health promotion leadership. For example, wellness committee members benefit by gaining knowledge and experience derived from working directly with coworkers on achieving lifestyle change goals. Mentoring helps wellness committee members to articulate a results-oriented vision of wellness that is rooted in actual employee experiences.
	Mentoring Teaches Skills that Last a Lifetime. Mentors learn how to understand lifestyle change processes and how to provide effective peer support. The same skills that are useful in achieving one lifestyle change goal can be readily applied to other goals. Furthermore, mentoring skills are useful in becoming an effective manager, team member, parent and civic leader.
	The Act of Mentoring Has Important Health Benefits. The act of helping others is probably among the most gratifying and healthful lifestyle practices. Mentoring is a public commitment to wellness. Such public statements positively influence personal practices. Furthermore, mentoring provides opportunities to review the skills needed for successful lifestyle change. Mentoring increases the mentor's sense of self-worth and adds a new source of meaning and purpose to his or her life. Mentoring also serves to create a more supportive workplace culture.

As can be seen in this list, mentoring can bring needed vitality to wellness programming. This new health promotion strategy expands our ability to reach people who are reluctant to participate in group, seminar and self-help programs. It is also a strategy that combats a depersonalized corporate view of employees as expenses. By developing mentoring initiatives, health promotion practitioners can foster a corporate culture that supports personal and professional growth. Perhaps most importantly, mentoring increases our capacity to care for one another. Such acts of thoughtful kindness empower all participants to achieve their full potential.

References

1. Based on a sample of Lifegain Health Culture Audit survey responses conducted at 50 U.S. companies in the 1990s.

2. These six support strategies are featured in With a Little Help From My Friends; Peer Support Video, available from the Human Resources Institute, 151 Dunder Road, Burlington, Vermont 05401, Phone (802) 862-8855.

3. Prochaska, J.O., Norcross, J.C. & DiClemente, C.C. (1994). Changing for Good. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.

Wellness Mentoring Can Rebuild the Corporate Culture