Individual Weight Loss Is Now A Business Cost Issue

.     The fourth step is to educate. If education could achieve weight gain then all of us would be fashion model thin. This education step is actually a collaborative process of discovery and sharing among work associates. It requires a candid assessment by each individual on how their decisions have resulted in sustained weight gain. The end-result is a path for individual work associates to educate themselves on the key reasons they have gained weight. No finger pointing. Just the facts that discovered at the individual level on why they have gained weight. The fifth step is facilitation. There are proven best practices for losing weight. The challenge is individualizing these steps. Management’s goal is not to create a set of top-down company rules like prohibiting soda on company property. The correct goal is to facilitate individual action items, customized to individual needs, to achieve a company wide change in culture regarding weight gain. Achieving this step will require coaching and facilitation at the individual and group levels. The final step is motivation. Research points to motivation as being the real barrier to weight loss success. This does not mean paying for individual performance. Paying individual work associates to reduce their weight can achieve short term weight loss results but often not sustained weight loss once the financial incentives expire. Motivation needs to be sustainable. It needs to align to with what motivates real change by real people. Often this is a sense of commitment to a team. The motivational goal is not to reach a mountain top like standing on a scale and declaring victory. Emerging research points to enabling individual motivation comes from being part of, and committed to, a team. In this case a team seeking to achieve sustained weight loss that enables participants’ live more ambitions and values. The second article in this three part series will be on proven best practices for using teams to enable sustained weight loss. Related articles: The Boomer Generation Diet How Much Money Is Weight-Gain Costing Your Business? Your Health ROI Effects Your Bottom Line