What We Do ...

Summary

We deliver workplace wellness and personal lifestyle training to prevent addiction, increase organizational effectiveness, and return a great ROI.   

STEPS Business Wellness is a consulting, training, and coaching firm based in Birmingham, Alabama that specializes in wellness and addiction prevention for companies. We are one of the only agencies in the country that delivers workplace effectiveness training specifically tied to preventing addiction for individuals and lessening negative impacts to organizations.   

In a business of 500 people, there are likely over 40 alcoholics, a similar number suffering from depression, over 20 with a prescription pill problem, and many more with other compulsive mental health issues or addictions.

Company management is in a unique position to have a positive impact on these people’s lives and careers by providing a prevention and recovery friendly workplace. This can be done by establishing an open, supportive work environment and offering lifestyle information, training, and coaching to reduce the negative impact of emotional issues.

STEPS Business Wellness offers a suite of offerings to protect employees from moving toward addiction and help them live and work in an effective, resilient manner. This will benefit businesses by helping them gain the trust and loyalty of their employees, and they will earn a significant ROI at the same time.  

Program Content

Our programs include a free introduction plus leadership, management, and employee training that changes lives and improves businesses.

Free Introductory Session

We offer a free 1-hour overview presentation that can be delivered as a breakfast meeting, lunch and learn, or as the introduction to an integrated program. This session provides a summary of what addiction is, how to spot it in the early stages, and what someone can do to prevent it from getting worse. This is an ideal way for management to quickly add value to the lives of their employees and increase their workplace effectiveness at the same time.  

Leadership and Management Training

Here are topics that can be integrated into the training for executives and managers:

  • You can make a difference in the lives of your employees
    • Understanding the risk; realizing the depth and breadth of the problem
    • Building a culture that enhances mental health, safety, and vulnerability
    • ROI of prevention; benefits; the vision of a resilient company
    • How lives are changed; sample usage scenarios; how you can make a difference
  • Overview of addiction and introduction to wholeness
    • Overview of what addiction is and is not; the range and depth of issues; how it works
    • Defining addiction prevention: warning signs; how to prevent it; steps to take
    • Recognize problems, face issues, and build habits to move in the right direction
  • Increasing leadership effectiveness in the company
    • Taking a holistic approach (emotional, personal, spiritual)
    • Strengths of great leaders: judgment, balance, communication, process, service
    • Weaknesses of toxic leaders: control, pride, disempowering, perfectionist, self-serving
    • Leaders are people too, and they have issues; addressing brokenness and shame
  • Designing a Business Addiction Prevention Program for your company
    • Establishing a recovery friendly workplace; setting policies with appropriate boundaries
    • Creating a company culture of openness, empathy, and trust; how executives can model the way
    • Description of offerings; tailoring the curriculum for the company; setting a testing plan
    • Gaining agreement to proceed; confirming next steps

Employee Training

Here are topics used in training for employees, either in a company-wide event or by departments:

  • Understanding why it is important to focus on wellness and prevention
    • Benefits of the program; what each person will learn; how it is delivered
    • Stories and testimonials we can all learn from
  • Introduction – understanding what addiction is; how it works
    • It’s okay, we all have issues; depth and breadth of the problem
    • One step at a time; don’t travel alone; there is always hope
  • How to prevent addiction – warning signs; prevention techniques; steps to take
  • Operating in a company culture of openness, empathy, and trust
    • Setting appropriate boundaries; it’s everybody’s role to create a safe environment
    • The positive characteristics of great employees
  • Becoming a whole person: emotional well-being, spiritual wisdom, personal excellence
    • Moving from emotional intelligence to emotional well-being to resilience
    • Developing an effective life plan and maximizing workplace effectiveness
    • Finding a personal path to spirituality

Integrated Program

For maximum effectiveness, we recommend an integrated, multi-level program which can be specifically tailored to meet the needs of your company.

Phase 1 – Leadership Awareness and Involvement 

  • Goal: The executive team acquires awareness of the issues and supports the wholeness and prevention plan for their company with training for their management team.
  • Leadership training and planning and management training

Phase 2 – Employee Awareness

  • Goal: Everyone becomes aware of the program, understands the expected outcomes, gets a preview of what’s coming, and becomes a willing and expectant participant.
  • Anonymous digital survey, company-wide presentation, digital outreach to every employee

Phase 3 – Employee Involvement

  • Goal: Everyone realizes how addiction applies to them or someone they know, they understand there is hope and that they can make progress, and they want to learn more.
  • Employee training delivered in a team-based approach by department

Phase 4 – Education on Prevention and Related Topics

  • Goal: Each person has the opportunity to access modules on topics relevant to them and learn what they can do to prevent addiction and other significant issues.
  • Online curriculum with modules for additional leadership and employee training

Phase 5 – Taking Action and Getting Help

  • Goal: The people who need and want help know what they can do to move forward. If they are willing, they have the opportunity to take steps to get better.
  • Individual anonymous counseling and coaching, anonymous digital survey, digital closing outreach to every employee

Individual Offerings

A wide range of seminars, consulting, and coaching services are available and can be acquired individually in a flexible, modular fashion.  

  • Consulting – Steve Ward is experienced in consulting on strategy, business and marketing planning, management systems, workplace culture, and management.
  • Coaching – Individual anonymous sessions for executives, managers, and employees to talk about their personal situation with someone who understands where they are.
  • Small groups – We will pursue starting a group to provide a vulnerable sharing environment combining characteristics of a business roundtable and a recovery group.
  • Optional topics for online curriculum modules and additional training
    • Prevention of addiction – A vaccine for addiction; dealing with alcoholism; what is addiction; we are all addicted to something; moving toward safety; facing the opiod epidemic
    • Being real at work – Emotional wellness; authenticity; serving others; faith and the workplace
    • Brokenness and resilience – How to escape living in shame; how to avoid a crash; facing and dealing with crisis; understanding why people do what they do
    • Intentionality – Personal assessment and improvement; living one day at a time
    • Parenting – How to protect our kids from addiction; becoming a proactive parent
    • Maximizing work effectiveness – Becoming the best employee you can be; being both effective and balanced in the workplace
    • When someone you care about is at risk – Effective parenting and protecting your kids from addiction; preventing addiction and recovery for someone you know
    • Achieving emotional well-being – Trials, brokenness, and resilience in a modern world; building a personal plan for wholeness and wellness
    • Striving for personal excellence – Developing and applying a life plan; being intentional and effective
    • Pursuing spiritual wisdom – Integrating faith and work; God, addiction, and recovery