Page 20 - MECO | Winter 2016
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Powering a Healthier Future
Promoting a Culture of Wellness in the Workplace
What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word “Wellness”? Mostly people think of physical fitness. However, the term
wellness is generally used to mean a healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit that results in an overall feeling of well-being.
In our last issue, we discussed our initiative of “Empowerment Through Excellence” which encourages our team culture to “Keep
Getting Better”. This idea resonates with me and how I feel when I think of our wellness initiative. Wellness can have a different
meaning for each person; whether it be spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical, social, environmental or financial; well-being is an
active process through which we become aware and make choices toward a more successful existence. We want our wellness initiative
to encourage our employees to “keep getting better”.
Why have a corporate wellness initiative, anyway?
If you “Google it”; the five most common reasons to build
a corporate wellness initiative are: better production, less
absenteeism, lower employee health costs and surges in
employee morale. While those reasons are valid, there is a little
more at play for us. When I began asking questions about the
possibility of a wellness initiative my main question was: why do
we incur the cost of our employees and their families healthcare
premiums? I mean, it’s crazy expensive and there are very few
other companies that provide that benefit. The answers I got
were: because it is the right thing to do and we want to provide
this benefit to our employees so that they don’t have to shoulder
that burden.
This attitude can be found throughout our core values but
specifically in our STEWARDSHIP value. “We invest in our
clients, our employees, and our company for the long-run. We
strive to preserve the legacy of our predecessors and build
upon it for future generations.” What better way to practice
Stewardship than to create and participate in a wellness program
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