Desk Sets

The sporting goods shop is one of several local providers
of workplace wellness programs that businesses use to show caring and
concern for staff as well as to promote improved productivity. Each
wellness agency has its own approach, but all champion the concept that
supporting good health and a brighter outlook is a good investment for
employers. Such community leaders as O’Brien and Gere, National Grid
and Carrier, often prompted by research data from the American Medical
Association and the Mayo Clinic, provide wellness activities for
workers.  

Syracuse Research Corporation offers wellness support to
employees as part of its corporate philosophy. “Each month there’s a
list of national health observances and we try to program around those
as themes,” says Melissa Kearney, staff administrative
assistant/receptionist and wellness committee member. “For example,
October was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and we had a
lunch-and-learn, as we call them, where employees can come and get more
information.” The company presents about 10 lunchtime programs a year,
each including some aspect of health and wellness. 

Lunch and learn: At Syracuse Research Corporation,
noontime wellness fairs and chances to hit the green help employees get
and stay healthy.

“Just recently I’ve done Syracuse Research Corporation,
Excellus and Crouse Hospital,” notes Matt Werder, marketing manager at
Fleet Feet, 3453 Erie Blvd. E., DeWitt. “We do a lot of stuff at
Syracuse University. We’re doing one there next week on exercising
during a Syracuse winter. Obviously they want their employees healthy,
just because when you’re active and healthier, you’re going to be more
productive at work and not going to have to take as many sick days. It
promotes a healthier and more productive workforce. I’m sure that lower
health care costs are a goal of employers using wellness programs.”

Some Syracuse-area companies, following a national trend,
focus on wellness in the course of daily business, encouraging
employees to attend seminars and practice healthful activities while on
the job. “POMCO even has a position there called the Vice President for
People,” says Christine Dowling, Wellness Programs coordinator at the
Zen Center of Syracuse, 266 W. Seneca Turnpike. “That’s the person who
sought us out.” In contrast to Fleet Feet’s fitness-based approach, the
Zen Center places meditation at the foundation of its wellness
programs.  

A third provider, Liberty Resources, 1045 James St., has
several clients who contract for its workplace wellness program.
“There’s one organization that’s got 565 people, another that’s got 175
people,” says Liberty president of workforce solutions Dave Lacy.
“We’re not into industry. We’re into people. So if you’ve got a company
with 10 staff or 20 staff, we’re just as likely to be able to support
you as somebody with 500.”

Vitality Signs

Employers seeking benefits for individual workers and
increased efficiency for the company have caught on to the
effectiveness of supporting healthy workers, helping them find ways to
avoid substance abuse and emotional pitfalls. “Everyone is overstressed
and overworked and now employers are seeing the costs of retraining and
dealing with symptoms of stress, such as turnover, health care costs
and absenteeism,” Dowling points out. “That’s how wellness even entered
the employer sphere. So, this company is wanting to promote your
wellness and show you some tools that can help. Learning some movement
and some stillness postures on the scientific side has been proven to
reduce high blood pressure, boost immune functioning, help promote the
balance of endorphins.”

The programs often encourage employers to take a holistic
approach, making the point that a more positive outlook carries over
from home life to the workplace. “We strive for life-work balance,”
says SRC spokeswoman Lisa Mondello. “We have employee events that
center around wellness—things like the Corporate Challenge {the annual
3.5-mile run along Onondaga Lake Parkway}. So the wellness program
really fits into what we want to do overall.”

Companies are keeping a close watch on results from
keeping workers healthy. “We like to put simple, achievable benchmarks
on the table,” Lacy says. “They could be something like attrition or
sick leave. We try to measure it that way. That way the employer is
seeing the benefit for that line item on your balance sheet and the
employee hopefully is more comfortable, happier at work.”

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Each agency uses its own method for wellness promotion
allowing companies to choose among them or use some combination of
available providers. The meditation program is provided at the
employer’s worksite or in the Zen Center facility, where participants
gather in the soothing environment of the Zendo, a meditation hall with
hardwood floors furnished with rows of bamboo platforms padded by
cushions. Comfortable chairs are available for those who prefer them. 

Despite its Buddhist origins, religion is not part of the
meditation presentation.“When we do our worksite wellness program, it’s
not taught with any religious content at all,” says Dowling. “It’s
simply taught in the same framework as John Kabat-Zinn’s mindful-based
stress reduction techniques. That includes stress reduction, movement
meditation, which uses yoga postures, tai chi postures and other
movement and breathing techniques. It can be done as a one-hour
presentation as part of a wellness day or as a keynote speaker with
some meditation in there. Some employers want not just a wellness day,
but then they want to continue and have one session each week like a
series.”

Breathing lessons: Christine Dowling (below, left) visited The New Times office to conduct a meditation session, teaching stressed-out staffers how to breathe through a bad day. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTOS

Considerable preparation goes into customizing a program
for a client. “We work with the wellness committee or human resources
department to tailor our presentation to the folks we’re speaking to,”
Werder explains. “Before we go in, we want to know how many people
we’re presenting to, what their background is, what would be most
useful to them. I don’t want to go in prepared to talk about how to get
working on an exercise program, something that is more geared toward
the beginner or someone that’s struggling, if I’m going to have a
roomful of experienced runners. It’s just not going to be that
interesting to them.” 

Liberty concentrates on a comprehensive approach that
often becomes an ongoing relationship with an employer and its staff.
“What we’ve done is focus these training courses on what we call
low-cost, high-impact,” Lacy explains. “The idea is not to make a ton
of money. Our objective is to supplement or augment an HR division. Our
focus is trying to sell the employee assistance program. This is an
add-on to the employee assistance program for the employees and their
immediate families. It’s relatively low-cost compared to what is out in
the market, from what I understand. The employer would pay us based on
an annual subscription, renewable on the anniversary.” 

Once a presentation begins, the facilitator faces the
challenge of engaging those present and gaining sufficient trust that
the program under way is actually an employer-provided benefit. Fleet
Feet follows 25 to 30 minutes of presentation time with another
half-hour exchanging information and answering questions for groups of
generally voluntary participants. 

“All of ours have been received really well because the
people who are showing up are interested in the topic and want to hear
about it,” Werder asserts. “We’ve shown up to do a clinic and had four
or five people. In many ways it can be more rewarding because you have
the time to spend with each individual person. At the same time we’ve
had places like Lockheed-Martin and have had a couple hundred. So
that’s the trade-off. You don’t always get a great turnout, but the
people who come are genuinely interested.”

Dowling uses humor and acceptance of attitudes to loosen
up audiences that may have preconceived ideas and apprehension about
Zen meditation. “I try to dispel some misconceptions right off the bat
and say this could be weird or freaky to you, but just feel whatever
you like and if you don’t want to, then don’t worry about it,” Dowling
says. “It’s a surprising effect once you say, ‘OK, now we’re going to
sit still and just feel your breath.’ It’s so rare to us in America to
be given the chance to sit still in a group. People get into it. It
surprises me every time. It’s surprising that it feels calm and it
didn’t cost any money and it comes from just sitting still.” 

Some coping mechanisms offered in the programs can
actually be used to respond immediately to on-the-job stress and
problems. “Because you’re practicing it here, if you’re in the middle
of a board meeting, the thoughts start spinning, then you notice these
are just my thoughts, you take a breath and get clear,” Dowling notes.
“That’s how it functions when you can’t just leave the board meeting
and go sit on a cushion. I even say, ‘Of course, when you’re on the
floor at St. Joe’s, you can’t say that I can’t put that IV in right
now, I’m meditating.’ If you can know that you just had a terrible
phone call on a customer service line and you can breathe right at your
desk and notice that ‘I am really upset right now,’ that’s really good
for employers. It’s portable. You don’t have to have any tools or mats
or anything. It’s what can we do in the midst of the real world.”

While most providers charge a fee for their services,
Fleet Feet stages its seminars at the employer’s site at no charge.
“The clinics aren’t just because we’re a running specialty store,”
Werder explains. “About half of our customers don’t run at all, so
that’s not our entire market. We just want to encourage people to be
fit and healthy and to get active. That’s really the goal of these
clinics, to try to get people to get motivated whatever way we can.” 

Forward-thinking businesses not only encourage
participation in health preservation programs, but some, like SRC,
actually provide a gym on the premises and have organized fitness
groups during lunch or after work hours with a carryover effect of
increased socialization among staff. But with budgets tight, some
companies may be tempted to cut corners by eliminating wellness
programs. 

“I’ve seen things cut back because of the economy,”
Dowling says, “but I’ve also heard companies say, ‘I know things are
tight, but we need this now more than ever.’ I just did one for
oncology nurses. They have a very difficult job constantly, one that is
emotionally heavy, so I geared it more toward that angle: the
care-giving. It’s very hard in care-giving professions to remember to
fill your own cup.” 

A workplace filled with people feeling good in an
environment that supports physical health and emotional strength makes
for a happier, more efficient staff at the same time it creates a
stronger commitment to business. “As we get into the 21st century, if
the mind-set in business can shift to see that there’s more than
enough, there’s always going to be more than enough and that caring for
people will lead to profitability in the same sense,” Dowling says.
“That’s where this kind of consulting comes from: an awareness of
linking of your relationships.”

Smart companies have certainly discovered that healthier
businesses start with healthier employees. “When someone is well,
whether it’s spiritually, physically, mentally, just feeling good
health-wise, they’re more productive at work,” Mondello emphasizes.
“But they’re also more satisfied employees. It allows them to do
better, more creative work, to concentrate and focus at work.”