FORT WORTH, Texas – (August 16, 2016) The American Heart Association has again recognized Inspirus as a Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite and recipient of the Worksite Innovation Award.
“As a leader and innovator in the employee engagement industry, we practice what we preach, providing programs and activities that engage our employees every single day,” says Lesa Blakey, vice president of human resources and culture. “Because wellness programs pay a vital role in employee engagement, we take this very seriously at Inspirus. Being recognized for it for three consecutive years is an honor.”
The Fit-Friendly Worksites program is a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce, helping worksites make their employees’ health and well-being a priority. Criteria for the advanced Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite recognition include: offering employees physical activity options in the workplace; promoting a wellness culture at work; increasing healthy eating options at the worksite; and demonstrating measurable outcomes related to workplace wellness. The elite Worksite Innovation Award is available only to companies that have creatively implemented programs to promote physical activity in the workplace in addition to achieving high-level Fit-Friendly criteria.
Inspirus fulfills the AHA criteria with a multi-faceted employee wellness program, providing such initiatives as:
- Rewards for participation in onsite lunch-and-learn sessions about subjects like stress management, positive living, diet, exercise and nutrition
- Free biometric screenings and flu shots
- Walking challenges and Zumba classes
- Rewards for gym attendance
- The Energy Bank, a healthy snack and meal program in company break rooms
- Weight Loss Wars, a 16-week, team-based weight loss challenge
- The 30-Day Challenge to Drink More Water
The company’s well-being initiatives and messaging have taken hold and employees are embracing the Inspirus wellness culture. Many days, employees will use HipChat to announce there will be planking or squats at a certain time of day for anyone who wants to join. Other days, they might rally around a lunchtime bowling tournament. Groups are forming to routinely walk around the neighborhood at lunchtime or during afternoon breaks, and some members of the management team have started conducting one-on-one walking meetings with their employees.
“Each program takes us one step closer to making permanent lifestyle changes by learning behaviors that can create a healthier, more engaged and more energized Inspirus team,” Blakey notes.
Inspirus reports positive results of its wellness efforts, from being able to maintain its fully funded health plan with no premium increase this year to significantly reducing employee turnover.
American employers are losing an estimated $225.8 billion a year because of healthcare expenses and health-related losses in productivity, and those numbers are rising. Many American adults spend most of their waking hours at sedentary jobs. Their lack of regular physical activity raises their risk for a host of medical problems, such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Employers face $12.7 billion in annual medical expenses due to obesity alone. The American Heart Association is working to change corporate cultures by motivating employees to start walking, which has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity.
The Fit-Friendly Worksites Program offers easy-to-implement ways for organizations to help employees eat better and move more, which will help improve their health — and their employer’s bottom line.
For more information about the Fit-Friendly Worksites program and how it’s helping to improve the health of Americans by focusing on the workplace, visit heart.org/worksitewellness.
About Inspirus
Employee engagement is a company’s most powerful lever for driving results, building a best place to work and contributing to a better world. The Inspirus employee engagement platform draws employees into purpose-built employment experience and gives organizational leaders continuous measures and a full portfolio of solutions to drive employee engagement and demonstrate business impact.
Only the Inspirus platform combines an integrated rewards engine, learning, communication tools and analytics to power 21st century talent applications spanning recognition, well-being, safety, milestone moments, community involvement and global rewards. The Inspirus engagement platform continues decades of experience helping market-leading companies inspire their employees and bring joy to work, one experience at a time.
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is devoted to building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Our mission drives everything we do. To improve the lives of all Americans, we provide public health education in a variety of ways. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or join us, call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or any of our offices around the country, or visit heart.org.
Topics: wellness, employee wellness programs, well-being, employee engagement, fitness, health
