Indiana, as a state, is fat. According to the CDC:
- 65.9% of adults are overweight, with a Body Mass Index of 25 or greater
- 29.6% of adults are obese, with a Body Mass Index of 30 or greater
With the rampant obesity problem and the continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act, more emphasis is being put on wellness. I see a lot of companies talk about wellness, but last night on the news, I saw a company that not only preached about wellness, but is taking steps to do what they can to improve the wellness of their employees. The company is Brown & Brown, Indiana’s largest employee benefits company. It is encouraging to see a company that provides wellness consulting and expertise with its clients, actually practicing what it preaches. They have purchased two treadmill desks where the employees can sign up for half an hour blocks. I spoke with Andrew Lockerbie, SVP at Brown & Brown, and at first they weren’t sure how receptive employees will be to utilizing these desks but the slots are full weeks out and the treadmill desks are almost always in use. He is a regular user of it and has been able to shed a few of those unwanted winter pounds just by walking a couple of miles a day. You can view the video here.
At Walker, they pay for a portion of a gym membership, which I love. I would never join a gym but when they began paying for a large portion of it, I was quick to sign up and regularly work out over lunch, of course that led to a major knee injury which I blogged about here. We have also recently begun offering fruit, granola bars, oatmeal and other healthy snacks and will pay for entry fees into marathons, mini-marathons, triathlons, etc.
So my blog is about employee loyalty, what does wellness have to do with employee loyalty? One of the key drivers of employee loyalty is a company that shows genuine care and concern about an employee. Providing opportunities easy methods of being healthier is a way to show you care about the employee. It is also helps differentiate the company from the competition so if any employee is looking for a job, or receiving an offer for a job, it is one of the perks that would need to be factored in when deciding to leave or stay. It is kind of sad that companies have to make it easy for employees to exercise but that is the state we are in and companies that are doing it, will be differentiated from others in the marketplace and it will help attract talent.
