Culture Change Resources of 

The Human Resources Institute, LLC

Welcome!

My name is Judd Allen, Ph.D.. My father, Robert Allen, Ph.D., formed our company in the 1950s to address business and social problems by empowering people to better understand and shape their cultures. Upon his death more than 20 years ago, I reorganized his consulting company into a training and publishing organization. We've continued the tradition of focusing on the creation of supportive cultures. Our work is founded on a basic premise that groups, organizations and communities are much more likely to achieve their health and productivity goals when supportive cultures are created. Norms, shared values, peer support, policies, procedures, social cohesiveness and other cultural influences play critical roles in shaping long term behavior. Unsupportive cultural influences are the primary impediment to individual and organizational success. In contrast, supportive cultures are a vast and largely untapped mechanism for achieving health and productivity. Learn more by viewing the white paper (PDF) Achieving a Culture of Health.

The goal of the Human Resources Institute, LLC is to empower you to create supportive environments. Culture change requires a scientific and systematic approach. We have developed frameworks, principles, programs and materials that make it possible for you to join with others in bringing about lasting and positive change. This site explains our culture change products and services including surveys, training, DVDs, software, books and journal article reprints. You can also read about plans for 2010 initiatives.

Contact Information: Email Info@healthyculture.com, phone at (802) 862-8855 or postal mail at 151 Dunder Road, Burlington, Vermont 05401 USA.  

 

New Book

Bringing Wellness Home: How to Create a Household Subculture that Supports Wellness Lifestyle Goals is for anyone living with others. This unique approach is a big step up from the traditional “go it alone” strategies that are likely to achieve only temporary or partial change. Bringing Wellness Home guides efforts to choose household wellness norms, develop a shared vision of a healthy household subculture, align cultural influences such as traditions and rewards with wellness, offer effective peer support for healthy lifestyle goals, foster healthy household relationships. Copies of the book can be ordered online. Contact us to order the audio book and for information about volume discounts.

New Book and Audio Book

Wellness Leadership: Creating Supportive Environments for Healthier and More Productive Employees empowers managers, wellness committee members and other wellness champions to create a workplace culture that supports healthy lifestyles. Such a wellness culture saves lives, cuts medical costs, enhances productivity, improves morale and adds new vitality to work groups. Wellness Leadership explains how you can share the wellness vision, serve as an effective role model, align cultural influences and monitor/celebrate success. Revealing self-tests, a culture survey, information about legal issues, guidelines for establishing wellness committees, leadership stories and checklists take the guesswork out of creating a culture of health. The book also serves as a text for Wellness Leadership Training. Copies of the book can be ordered online. Contact us to order the audio book and for information about volume discounts.

New Book and Audio Book

Healthy Habits, Helpful Friends: How to Effectively Support Wellness Lifestyle Goals empowers coworkers, family and friends to provide a full range of physical and emotional assistance needed to achieve difficult wellness goals such as losing weight, getting fit, quitting smoking, reducing stress, following medical advice and enjoying the good life. Solid advice, revealing self-tests, a step-by-step approach and checklists take the guesswork out of peer support. The book also serves as a text for Peer Coach and Wellness Mentor Training. Copies of the book can be ordered online. Contact us to order the audio book and for information about volume discounts.   

The Lifegain Health Culture Audit assesses cultural support for healthy and productive lifestyles. The anonymous survey measures: (1) shared wellness values, (2) health behavior norms, (3) peer support for lifestyle improvement, (4) cultural touch points such as modeling, rewards and communication, and (5) climate factors that influence individual and organizational growth (i.e., sense of community, shared vision and positive outlook). Survey responses are used to generate recommendations for lasting and positive culture change. The survey is typically tailored to examine cultural support for specific program goals and to suite the local language preferences. Versions of the survey also include program interest questions and health behavior questions. More info 

Wellness Leadership Training empowers managers to better support health and productivity initiatives. Both the online and classroom training focus on leadership responsibilities within a worksite context and are geared to executives, managers, supervisors, and wellness committees or task forces. Participants learn how to share the wellness vision including the overall business case, the health benefits and how employees can participate. Participants also learn how to become more effective role models for lifestyle improvement. In addition, they develop strategies for aligning formal and informal cultural touch points (such as rewards, communication and training) to create a supportive work environment. The training also helps managers develop a plan for tracking progress and celebrating success. The course includes reading, video testimonials and expert feedback on written assignments.  More info   

Wellness Mentor and Peer Coach Training increase the quantity and quality of peer support for healthy lifestyles. Online training and classroom training formats teach how to assist coworkers, family and friends with behavior change. Participants learn to build trust and to assist with setting goals, identifying role models, eliminating barriers, locating supportive environments, working through relapse and celebrating success. The Wellness Mentor Training teaches how to support lifestyle change. The Peer Coach Training is organized for mutual support. More info  

Work Climate Resources foster a sense of community, a shared vision and a positive outlook. A survey, a video, an online training and a workshop have been developed to foster a social climate that supports individual and organizational growth. An online Work Climate Training at www.healthyworkclimate.com teaches managers and supervisors to assess their work atmosphere and assists in developing an action plan for creating a more cohesive, healthier and more productive work group. Additional resources include the Work Climate Survey which diagnoses current strengths and opportunities for improvement. The Working Well Video features testimonials from work groups that have achieved great work climates.  A Work Climate Seminar features feedback on survey findings and offers practical strategies and group exercises for creating a healthier and more productive work climate. More info 

The Normative Systems Culture Change Process offers a framework for organizing lasting and positive change in organizations and communities. Normative Systems empowers members of the culture to: (1) conduct a cultural analysis; (2) set culture change goals; (3) develop leadership commitment; (4) introduce the change process; (5) integrate change at the individual, group and organizational levels; (6) evaluate progress; and (7) plan for the renewal and extension of the culture change effort. A new online training at www.changeculture.com empowers participants to create healthier and more productive cultural environments.  Training participants receive email guidance and feedback as they develop their own culture change initiative. Culture change consulting and a Culture Change Leadership Seminar are also available to address the most challenging community and organizational goals. Books and journal articles provide case studies and the theory useful for planning a culture change effort.  More info