Roughly a year ago, I was faced with my graduation from undergrad school with a degree in Nutrition, Exercise and Health Science (blah blah blah, it's a hybrid degree between Nutritional Science and Exercise Science) and the dive into the real world, where jobs are scarce because no one is hiring and people hold onto their jobs longer. So, my search for a "real person" job was fruitless. In defeat, I approached my worksite bosses and proposed that I do something with wellness there. "Sure! Do whatever you want!"
You don't tell me that. I have a mind that goes crazy with ideas. And it did.
When I started, The Company wanted everyone to focus on the five pillars of wellbeing (according to Gallup research): Career, Social, Financial, Physical and Community (believe it or not, that's the order of their importance). I didn't give a hoot about career wellbeing or anything other than physical. Oh, how time changes your "knowledge" into wisdom! Each day I buy more and more into this theory, because I see it every day. More on that in another post...
So, I was stuck with promoting these other four pillars that didn't make a darn difference to me. But, I came up with a plan that took minimal time to administer and maintain - besides, this was something in addition to my 40 hour/week duties, and I didn't have a lot of time to spend on this program, despite my desperate cries to do more with it. The first six months we had a mere 12 active participants. That is about 5% of our total workforce. Not bad for a start-up program, but I could certainly do better. And I did. By continuous promotion we are currently sitting near that amount times two (the number could actually be much higher)... with much more active participation by management. We've done alot in the past year that I have headed this program and we have made TONS of progress towards motivating and inspiring people to live healthier lives. But we can always do better. I'm a perfectionist, so whenever I achieve 100% participation, I still believe that we can do better. We can motivate some of the least motivated, we can help someone achieve their dream of running a marathon or getting off their blood pressure medication. You can always do better.
So, where are we at now? We are looking at getting some on-site fitness equipment. Nothing much, but somewhere to start. Two of the biggest reasons people give for not exercising are: 1. Not having the time and 2. Not wanting to pay for a membership. So we bring the equipment to them so that they can workout on their breaks at no cost to them. This is going to be a long process to get this equipment, but you can bet it will be worth it. Even if I get one person that uses the equipment religiously that never worked out in the past, it will be worth it. Did I mention that this single endeavor could result in The Company's first on-site fitness equipment in Their hundreds of worksites across the globe? Yeah, you got that right!
When we finalize the the exercise equipment and get it into the worksite, I will post on the process and necessary steps in order to do this correctly for those who are looking at doing the same.
From here, the possibilities are endless. I've had people from other worksites across the nation email me asking for our materials because they have heard or seen what we do. It is quite the honor and it is a humbling experience, especially to think about the people that I am impacting. Not just here, where I call home, but in other states where other people call home. I greatly anticipate what the future holds for our worksite and The Company, I hope one day I can become an integral part of their wellbeing initiatives!
P.S. Did you know that the shell of cashews are always removed before they are packaged and sold? That's because a cashew shell contains toxins similar to poison ivy. That's all I've got to say about nushells!
Cheers to perfection and always wanting to do better!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment