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Pelletier & Associates can guide you through establishing your Stretch & Flex program from start to finish, or through any portion with which you need assistance. We want the setup and launch of your program to be as simple and successful as possible.
Creating Your Stretch & Flex Program
Your stretch program can be a simple as just creating stretch documents, distributing them, and training your employees… or as involved as integration into a complete wellness, injury prevention, or safety program. The following areas form a reasonable approach for a relatively complex program:
- Understanding the needs for a stretch program, including developing measures of success
- Understanding how a stretch program will integrate into existing wellness or safety programs. This may involve modifying existing program documents.
- Creation of the actual stretch documents
- Creation of a stretch reference guide. Such a guide could be a full accounting of all stretches in your program along with the rationale behind selecting them. Much of the data and information gathered during the Risk-Specific Analysis phase could be used to support this effort.
- Creation of a training module for EH & S or other support staff that will be responsible for rolling out the program
Many of these tasks could be undertaken by your organization, if they are needed at all. Pelletier & Associates can assist you with any of these items. In particular, you will find us well suited to items 3, 4, and 5. Items 3 and 5 would be the minimum to establish an effective stretch program.
Rolling Out Your Stretch & Flex Program
Once your stretch documents have been created, you will need to roll out the program to your employees. Given that some level of job observation and documentation of the workplace will have already occurred, your employees will probably be aware that a program launch is imminent. Given that the stretch documents will reflect elements of your employee’s job, work environment, and organization, you can expect the program to be well received.
Rolling out your Stretch & Flex program should be relatively simple at this point:
- Orient your employees – create and distribute a simple document explaining the program’s purpose and rationale. Explain to them that the program’s intent is to increase comfort in the workplace.
- Distribute the stretch documents – Hand out whatever stretch documents you have created and post any department stretch posters. This will solidify the buzz about your program.
- Train your employees – In short order, put your employees through a thirty to sixty minute training. The training should be as job-relevant as possible and include demonstrations of the stretches and group participation. Ideally, such training could occur at or around the employee’s workstation. This will help to break the ice and familiarize the employees with actually performing the stretches during their shift.
- Monitor the program – In regularly performing stretches, your employees will be forming a new habit. Designate program champions that can assist or coach employees where needed. Such a person can also be responsible for feeding back and fine tuning the program as necessary.
 Pelletier & Associates offers training that is proven to be effective in getting your employees on-board with your stretch program.
We have seen that stretch programs are well received and highly effective when properly matched with the tasks that are normally encountered during the work day. Once adopted and in place, a stretch program will serve to increase both productivity and employee comfort.
Related Products and Services:
Stretch Programs
Risk-Specific Analysis
Program Setup & Launch
Stretch and Flex Collaterals
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