Over the past decade, the Best Firms to Work For have taken it upon themselves to take an active interest in promoting the health and wellbeing of their staff, encouraging them to exercise more, eat better, get flu shots and checkups, manage their finances better and generally get their lives together.
The rewards are multiple — and not just in terms of lower insurance costs (though that's nothing to sneeze at). Healthier employees take fewer sick days, are more productive and engaged, and just generally happier, which translates into a better work environment and thus to happier clients.
The investments clearly pay off, which is why more and more firms are making them. Rhode Island's Sansiveri, Kimball & Co., for instance, reported, "We have a wellness-oriented environment" that includes Fitbit challenges, gift cards for achieving wellness goals, a range of wellness events and webinars, and firm-sponsored runs. (It's worth noting that Fitbit and similar "step" challenges that encourage employees to walk a certain amount every day are one of the most common programs of any kind among the Best Firms; initiatives and benefits revolving around athletics and exercise are so important that we're devoting an entire day to them later in the 20 Days.)
There are so many different ways to promote wellness that many firms leave some of the choices up to their employees: Both Michigan's Maner Costerisan and Ohio-based HD Davis CPAs give staffers $500 to spend on the wellness activities of their choice, whether it's gym memberships, fitness trackers, classes or whatever else promotes their wellbeing. During tax season, HD Davis also provides three meals a week from a healthy meal preparation company, to help balance out the impact of all that takeout food and donuts.
Colorado's WhippleWood CPAs, meanwhile, helps encourage wellness by leaving it up to chance, so to speak: It has wellness raffles where employees earn tickets for anything they do for their physical or mental wellness, with a winner drawn at each staff meeting for $50 they can put toward a wellness purchase of their price. The firm also plays Wellness Bingo, with wellness incentives on the cards, and a $50 prize for wellness purchases.
Wellness is so important that some of the Best Firms have set up a permanent structure to promote it: At North Carolina's Blackman & Sloop CPAs, "Our Wellness Committee creates various wellness challenges throughout the year focusing on both physical and mental health."
The mention of mental health is important: While the decade-long swell in interest in wellbeing started with a focus on the physical, over the course of the COVID pandemic, firms have begun to add an understanding of the importance of mental health — to such a degree that it will be the focus of tomorrow's entry
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