The Small Business Health Model - A Guide to Developing and Implementing the Workplace Health System in Small Business

Section 3 (Continued)

Step 3 Needs Assessment

To gain a better understanding of employee needs, Health and Welfare Canada has developed a comprehensive needs and risk questionnaire based on the Five Guiding Principles and the Three Avenues of Influence. An information package has also been developed for the Coordinating Agency and Small Business Health Committee to use in preparing to carry out the Needs Assessment.

The Needs Assessment package is comprised of a questionnaire; a guide to conducting the questionnaire, called Workplace Health Discovering the Needs; and posters that encourage employees to complete and return the questionnaire.

The Needs Assessment step has three phases:

• Preparing for the Needs Assessment.
• Customizing the employee health questionnaire.
• Conducting the Needs Assessment.

1. Preparing for the Needs Assessment

Employees must be properly oriented and prepared for the questionnaire. The guide on conducting the questionnaire will help you accomplish this. It outlines a step-by-step process for planning the Needs Assessment and includes several suggestions on how to promote the questionnaire to obtain a high response rate. If a thorough orientation is done before the questionnaire is distributed, a strong message will be sent to employees that management, the Coordinating Agency and the Small Business Health Committee are concerned about the needs and preferences of all employees and are committed to respond to identified needs to the best of their ability.

Identifying employee needs through a Needs Assessment allows the Coordinating Agency and the Small Business Health Committee to consider:

• Needs, preferences and attitudes of employees
• Programs and intervention strategies for all employees, regardless of their current level of health
• Interdependency of lifestyle behaviours and health programs
• Environmental issues that could support the creation of a healthier workplace
• Issues important to developing a strong Small Business Health Plan

To ensure maximum employee participation in health programs, employees must take part in achieving their personal health goals. Employees, therefore, must be encouraged to complete the questionnaire so that issues important to them are discovered.

Workforce Overview

A Workforce Overview provides a good general picture of each participating small business and their relationship to the community.

This information will help the Coordinating Agency and Small Business Health Committee to better prepare for the Needs Assessment. The Workplace Overview will also supplement the information obtained through the Needs Assessment and in some areas provide a point of reference with which to compare future findings. An Overview might contain the following kinds of information, which will vary according to the nature and size of the small business involved:

A) About the businesses

Type of business (restaurant, retail clothing, for example)

• Location (and other worksites, if any)
• Job classifications (manager, clerk)
• Type of work (sales, service)
• Shift schedules
• Staff turnover rate
• Accidents and injuries
• Information on sick leave and disability