Here, The Breakers Palm Beach shares an outsider perspective on employee wellness initiatives and what the fitness industry can learn.
It’s been estimated the average person will spend 90,000 hours — one-third of their life — working. As an employer, you should prioritize the health and wellness of your employees to ensure their time on the clock is energizing and not detrimental.
Many companies do this through employee wellness programs. However, Denise Bober, the senior vice president of human resources at The Breakers Palm Beach, said simple programs are not enough to create real change for your staff members.
“Workplace well-being is not about creating multiple wellness programs,” said Bober. “It’s about transforming a culture. It’s woven into the fabric of the organization, and appears at touch points throughout the company.”
In the early 2000s, The Breakers — a resort that employs more than 2,000 people — recognized the need to create a culture of caring focused on well-being and fulfillment. Bober said this was fully inspired by Garrett Kirk, the chairman of the board. “He said, ‘The best companies in the world have recognized that taking care of your team is the right thing to do,’” noted Bober.
So that was exactly what The Breakers did.
In 2004 the resort began studying and following the Human Performance Institute model, and things have continued to evolve over the years. From minor changes like switching out snacks from cookies to whole fruit, to implementing standing desks and treadmills in meeting rooms, to larger changes like Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training, The Breakers is ensuring all aspects of employees’ well-being is taken care of.
For the past four years, The Breakers has established a partnership with Ferd & Gladys Alpert Jewish Family Service — a non-profit, non-sectarian organization — to provide MHFA training to the resort’s team of managers.
Based on management feedback from those who attended MHFA, and with one in five Americans suffering from some form of mental illness in their lifetime, Bober said they recognized the need to expand MHFA training to the entire employee population. Thus, Mental Health Is Everyone’s Business — a virtual training initiative that raises awareness of the role mental well-being plays in both work and non-work lives — was developed and launched.
In addition to feedback, The Breakers uses data to direct the way its employee wellness initiatives are headed.
“In 2018, we conducted a diversity study using demographic data that focused on the engagement levels for both our wellness and financial incentive programs,” said Bober. “The results identified an opportunity with our Black/African American population. While they were the most engaged in our financial wellness program, they were the least engaged in our wellness incentive program — 43% engagement compared to the other populations at 80% engagement level.”
This led to the creation of The Breakers’ Wellness Program for Team Members of Color with Dr. Nicola Finley.
Developed with Finley, an integrative medicine physician of Jamaican heritage, this three-month program begins with a confidential biometric screening which provides tracked, measurable outcomes to proactively bring awareness to health disparities and prevent chronic disease.
“The first group’s results showed weight loss, lower cholesterol and glucose levels, healthy-range A1C levels, and people being able to decrease medications,” said Bober. “Participants said the program changed their lives. We have many examples of how it positively impacted our team and their families. Similar results were derived from the second group as well. It’s just incredible.”
Lastly, another recent program is Parents Corner. It’s an employee resource group designed to bring together new and experienced parents to share personal stories, challenges and referrals, as well as exchange parenting ideas, advice, information and resources.
While these are just three drops in The Breakers’ employee wellness bucket, it’s clear to see the overall initiative and well-being culture is paying off.
The Breakers carries an 80% staff retention rate, unusual for the hospitality industry. Additionally, a recent employee opinion survey — that had 97% participation — revealed 94% of the workforce say it’s a great place to work. Bober compared this data to the Great Place to Work database revealing the average company is only seeing 57% satisfaction.
“You achieve these results by creating an environment where people thrive,” said Bober. “Our wellness incentive program also benefits spouses. In an effort to reduce life’s daily stresses, it’s important to think beyond the employee and include the family whenever possible to really support the whole person. The results we see are more engaged, happier and productive team members.”
If you are considering expanding your employee wellness initiatives, Bober said you must have the support of the owners and the CEO. Additionally, you need someone in charge of them who is passionate and capable of championing it or they will not be successful.
“The New York Times published an article a few years back that lit me on fire,” said Bober. “The headline read corporate wellness programs don’t work and are a waste of company resources. I partially agree with that because most companies that signed up for wellness programs thought they would see an immediate reduction in healthcare costs, and when that didn’t happen, workplace wellness was labeled a failure. Creating a culture of well-being is a long-term proposition. It takes time to evolve the right strategy for your organization. We knew it was the right thing to do for The Breakers, and today we are proud to say 88% of our team members agree our culture has made a positive impact on their lives and overall well-being.”
