Philadelphia employers make employee wellness fun

If you peek in the offices at Fox Rothschild during lunch, you might see people doing yoga or participating in Salad Bowl Wednesday, when the office supplies the greens, and employees bring in favorite toppings.

At American Heritage Federal Credit Union, employees might think twice about what’s in their lunch box if they’re competing against their coworkers to win the “Losers R Winners” competition.

And those employees eating at their desks at Bentley Systems won’t suffer the ill effects of prolonged sitting, thanks to flexible new sit-stand desks.

These are just some of the innovative initiatives Philadelphia companies have taken to keep their employees healthy.  In partnership with the Philadelphia Business Journal, UnitedHealthcare invited employers, large and small, to tell us about their wellness initiatives.  We received over seventy nominations for the Healthiest Employer Award and we learned a lot about the healthiest employers in Philadelphia.

As it turns out, almost all of the companies advocating workplace wellness have a few things in common.  The companies that focus on wellness have healthier employees, increased productivity, reduced costs and a healthier bottom line. Most of the wellness programs these companies use are based on sound principles.

Senior level support and involvement was critical to helping employees understand that wellness was a high priority in the organization’s strategic plan.  Executives tried to  create a culture of wellness with such activities and programs as promoting stair use, encouraging a smoke-free workplace and making vending machine snacks healthier.

Smaller companies stressing workplace wellness tend to have a wellness coordinator, while larger companies put a committee in charge of wellness.

The healthiest employers in Philadelphia are also among the smartest.  They used data from health assessments, claim reports and employee surveys to help identify and understand the needs of their employees.  Then they created a wellness program that best augmented their existing benefits package.

Finally, and here’s where the fun began, they came up with innovative programs that generated excitement about wellness in the workplace.  But don’t take my word for it, go to  http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/feature/healthiest-employers-2013.html and check out these Philadelphia companies who are making the health of their employees a top priority.  It doesn’t get much healthier than that!