Bingo, ski passes and pickleball are all on offer at some of this year’s
The results of wellness initiatives available at several of the honorees might help prove the adage that a healthy employee is a happy employee. A common trait among businesses with positive outcomes is a top-down focus on health, combined with doses of positive reinforcement and an openness to staff ideas.
Those results don’t come about without management that recognizes the value satisfied workers bring to its operations.
“I think that kind of the culture or motto here is ‘We’re going to take care of employees, and then in turn, they’re going to take care of our members,'” said Josh Summerfield, vice president, mortgage sales, about Michigan-based Consumers Credit Union.
At Southfield, Michigan-based Mortgage Center, looking out for staff consists of regular health and finance tips sent through Microsoft Teams on what’s become known as Wellness Wednesdays. But managers at the company are also cognizant of employees’ needs outside the office and make efforts to address them, so they can perform at their best.
“They sit down for a half hour with them every single week. And a portion of that half hour is just a 10-minute section, just checking in on them and making sure that their mental health is good. What sort of resources do they need, just in their personal lives as well?” said Dani Soave, Mortgage Center’s assistant vice president of digital marketing.
A fair share of professionals today
The good news for companies trying to promote employee health is that the effort doesn’t have to involve a huge financial lift. Insurance providers with dedicated wellness credits for the development of such programs drove businesses, including Mann Mortgage — who holds this year’s top ranking — to look for ways it could invest the cash that would otherwise go unused.
“Any of our wellness initiatives are really funded through those wellness dollars that we get in partnership with our providers,” said Tara Tucker, the lender’s director of human resources.
As Mann’s leaders looked to expand efforts, Tucker said they asked themselves, “What are some different things that we can put into place to encourage the behaviors that are going to lead to lower insurance claims?”
An early campaign to encourage workers to regularly hydrate has developed into goal challenges and the addition of an onsite fitness center on Mann’s Kalispell, Montana, campus.
Similarly, Homeowners Financial Group of Scottsdale, Arizona, put its provider credits to design programs that would motivate staff across the country to prioritize their physical and mental well-being with impactful goals.
Even something as basic as getting a regular physical or lowering cholesterol levels could contribute up to hundreds of dollars in gift card rewards for staff and spouses enrolled in Homeowner Financial’s medical insurance program. Mann Mortgage also offers a similar benefit.
“That’s a really good initiative that we try. Obviously, money talks,” said Ashlyn Pinter, Homeowners Financial’s director of human resources.
At the same time, incorporating a gaming aspect adds further fuel to push employees toward more healthy habits.
“One thing that we really liked doing is healthy bingo,” Pinter noted. The cards include squares, with health-minded tasks such as stretching or 30 minutes of exercise.
“What we do is, however many rows of bingo they get, they’re entered into drawings to win certain healthy items,” with prizes that have included an exercise bike, gift cards to HelloFresh or a Ninja blender.
But while the lure of rewards encourages initial participation, easy access to fitness activities, lifestyle reimbursements, as well as the ongoing support of management and colleagues help employees take it a step further to sustain good habits.
Like Mann, Consumer Credit Union counts an in-house fitness center among the benefits staff at its headquarters in Kalamazoo, Michigan, can take advantage of to keep wellness in mind, even during a busy workday.
“At any given time, you walk down there and there’s somebody there on the treadmill or lifting some weights or whatever. They do classes mainly earlier in the morning and at lunchtime,” Summerfield said. At the same time, through its Team Consumers program, the credit union also subsidizes a portion of fees for sports club memberships or entry costs to running and biking events.
With the current popularity of pickleball, the company also recently installed on its campus courts. The addition was just one of several ideas the financial institution has implemented over the years in response to employee feedback, according to Summerfield.
Based on employee requests, Mann’s benefits now include partial lifestyle reimbursements for ski passes and other types of sports memberships, as well as for wellness apps. The subsidization of entry fees and memberships often help lead workers to new health-minded pursuits, according to Mann Mortgage’s human resources generalist, Courtney Callahan.
“I think that has helped encourage people to do things that they might not have done without it,” she said.
A company who listens to employees and invests in keeping them healthy could ultimately end up creating an environment that encourages better habits across the organization. Mann’s human resources team reintroduced a weight-loss challenge to support and connect those striving to shed pounds once it learned of growing interest for such a program.
“Even though it’s a private weigh-in, we have everyone come at the same time so that they can kind of talk about what works,” Callahan said. “Just kind of getting people in the same room to know that they’re all doing it together.”
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