Walk at Work Day Wrap-Up

Walk at Work Day has been celebrated in Sedgwick County on the third Wednesday in May since 2006. This year the Health & Wellness Coalition of Wichita, along with multiple partner organizations, continued the tradition. On Wednesday, May 18th, 31 worksites encouraged employees to boost their energy with a walk, potentially affecting over 10,000 Sedgwick County employees! Help us celebrate the following successful worksites and learn more about how employers engaged their employees.

Super Small Worksites 0-10 employees and % participation: – Kansas Academy of Family Physicians, 5 employees, 100% – Kansas Legal Services, 6 employees, 100%

Small Worksites 11-249 employees and % participation: – Kansas Health Foundation, 20 employees, 55% – Medova Healthcare Financial Group, 75 employees, 45% – Friends University, 242 employees, 31%

Medium Worksites 250 – 500 employees and % participation: – Mental Health Association of South Central Kansas, 250 employees, 32% – Metal-Fab, Inc., 290 employees, 34% – Cobham, AvComm, 300 employees, 33%

Large Worksites more than 500 employees and % participation: – Johnson Controls1,112 employees, 11.5%

Additional worksites that deserve recognition:
Professional Engineering Consultants
Via Christi Clinic
Wichita Area Technical College
Union Rescue Mission
K·Coe Isom
Fleetcor – CLC Lodging
Medical Society of Sedgwick County
Medical Service Bureau
LK Architecture, Inc
KeyCentrix
City of Andover
City of Goddard
Sedgwick County Dept on Aging/ Central Plains Area Agency on Aging
Cochener Garvey Capital Partners Inc. and NetAbility LLC
Meritrust Credit Union
CNH Industrial
L’Ouverture Career Explorations and Technology Magnet
INTRUST Bank
Westar Energy
InfoSync Services
Woodland Health and Wellness Magnet Elementary

“How did your worksite participate in Walk at Work Day” Survey Responses:
Group walk at break time
Group walk at lunch
Set up two different times for groups to walk for front desk coverage
Staff walked during music recess which is scheduled every day at 3:30pm
Marked a path around out campus that equaled one mile
Gathered small prizes for participants to enter into a drawing for “goodie bags”
Employees that participated were allowed to wear jeans
Provided water (tied with blue ribbons) and stickers when walkers signed in
Weekly Wednesday staff meeting exchanged for a group walk

“How did you communicate Walk at Work Day to your employees” Survey Responses:
Posted a flyer on the agency refrigerator
Discussed the event at the staff meeting
Emailed reminders to staff to walk
Poster on the company wellness facebook page
Reminder message sent day before and day of
Personal invitation to employees

Continue to Walk at Work year round. Resources to help you succeed:
1. How to Conduct a Walking Meeting
2. American Heart Association Workplace Walking Program Kit
3. Why Walk at Work
4. Sample physical activity policies
5. Ideas to promote walk at work day:

• Set up competitions between department in your worksite
• Men vs. Women – based on the percentage of men & women working at the worksite
• Competition by floors on multi-level buildings
• Does your office require front desk coverage? Consider setting up a front desk relay – one at a time, employees walk a set path and then relieve the front desk staff upon return.
• Consider allowing tennis shoe/jeans day

*2016 partner organizations: K-State Research and Extension-Sedgwick Co., Health ICT, Midwest Dairy Council, Child Care Aware of Kansas, Sedgwick County Department on Aging, USD 259, Via Christi/Safe Kids, Child Start, Gallagher Benefit Services, Bike Walk Wichita, Genesis Health Clubs and Wichita State University Campus Recreation