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Management at Custom Concrete knows that wellness is a marathon, not a sprint. So, with a workforce that didn’t enthusiastically embrace the company’s wellness program from Day No. 1, Custom Concrete is taking it slow.
But its two-year-old wellness program has been in a growth phase since early this year, and Custom Concrete is already registering some victories.
Cecilia Crone, the Westfield firm’s assistant controller, hears from employees who have taken the program to heart. Employees who had not seen a doctor in years are going for physical exams. There’s the man who found out through the screening that he is diabetic and is now taking steps to control it. And there’s the woman who found out she had very high blood pressure and decided to do something about it by kicking her smoking habit.
Smoking is prevalent at Custom Concrete, Crone said.
To attack that problem, the company added an insurance premium credit for non-smokers when it decided to start a wellness program a few years ago. Employees who agree to get a physical and complete an online health screening also get a credit.
The program became more visible this year with an introductory seminar, complete with interpreters for the company’s sizable Spanish-speaking population. At the seminar, held on company time, each person in attendance was given a reusable cooler bag stuffed with 11 healthy snacks and a water bottle. Employees also were given dozens of suggestions of small changes they could make to their daily routines that could have a big impact on their health.
The kick-off seminar was the first in a series of monthly seminars that will appeal to both Custom Concrete’s office staff and field employees. The office group can make good use of fitness tips. Field employees, who get plenty of exercise in the course of doing their jobs day in and day out, can benefit from programming that relates to diet, stress reduction and other topics not related to physical activity.
Among the more popular activities so far was a healthy cooking demonstration. Employees learned how to make two healthy, inexpensive meals using just five ingredients. The demonstration dispelled the notion that cooking healthy has to be complicated.
A recent seminar devoted to walking and running was scheduled to help employees prepare for the Anna’s Celebration of Life 5-mile walk and run, an event that Custom Concrete has gotten behind in a big way. The run benefits a like-named foundation that was started by a group of friends, including Custom Concrete Vice President Brad Schrock, to support a local family whose daughter Anna suffered from a rare childhood illness.
Custom Concrete pays for employees and spouses to participate in the event, which the firm plans to use as a springboard to creating walking and running groups that can take advantage of the company’s location adjacent to the Monon Trail in Hamilton County. Bike racks are also coming as an incentive for employees to bike to work on the trail.
Also on tap for Custom Concrete employees: a fitness park that incorporates the firm’s inventory of giant truck tires. Crone said the company’s wellness coach noticed the tires and is working on a plan to put them to use to help employees get in shape.•
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