Employee wellness has been a top focus at Granger since the company’s founding in 1959.
“We look out for the health and well-being of everyone,” says Granger’s CEO/President, Glenn Granger. This is evident through the company’s broad history of investing in structured wellness programs.
“Before wellness initiatives became popular, Granger was offering them,” notes Director of Human Resources Matt Bozung.
“With one of our core values being ‘enjoys life and work,’ we aim to help our team members live healthier, balanced lives, which speaks volumes in honoring that principle.”
A History of Wellness
While the structure and variety of wellness initiatives have shifted over the years, past services included wellness subsidies for team members. This was a dedicated allowance for purchases such as gym memberships, equipment, shoes, and other health and wellness-related items. The company also established a space in the Lansing Headquarters for a gym, allowing employees access to equipment like treadmills and rowing machines in addition to free-weights – an investment that is still heavily utilized to this day.
“At one time, Granger even hired trainers to conduct fitness sessions in the gym,” shared Bozung. “This evolved to sponsoring personal training sessions four times a week at off-campus facilities, but the tradition continues.”
These perks dating back quite a few years became a catalyst for things to come. While these are still offered in a different capacity, wellness at Granger has since evolved into an activity and incentive-based program that offers employees many resources to support a healthy lifestyle.
The Current Program
Today Granger offers all team members access to a structured and robust Wellness Program, complete with online tracking portal, quarterly challenges and incentive checks and prizes for participation.
Granger employees have the freedom to track and earn wellness points simply by partaking in a healthy lifestyle. Wellness is not exclusively about working out. Granger’s expanse of wellness offerings directs its employees’ attention toward all aspects of physical and emotional health.
Ways to earn Wellness Points:
- Team members receive a unique login to access the Be Well at Work portal, managed by Sparrow Health System
- Some data, like daily steps traveled, is automatically shared to the portal through use of a fitness tracker
- Users can track food and water intake and log other activities through the web-based portal or mobile app
- Employees can also partake in Granger’s subset of quarterly challenges, ranging from Lunch and Learns to cooking demonstrations administered by experts
- Participate in races and volunteer opportunities, as well as Granger’s annual March Madness challenge
- Doctor, dentist and even chiropractor appointments translate into points once Sparrow receives confirmation of the appointment, which can be an invoice or EOB statement
Wellness has its Advantages
“I think that there is a positive correlation between the concept of employee engagement and participation in the Program,” Bozung mentions, “For the people who don’t actively participate, I perceive that they appreciate that Granger really does care about people’s health.” This program stands on its own as a symbol of the culture Granger is proud to possess.
Through this program employees have:
- Provided positive and helpful feedback within the company
- Participated in free health screenings included in the company’s medical plan
- Lost weight
- Quit smoking
- Shifted to healthier lifestyles
- Influenced others to get involved
Keeping an Eye on the future
“We often repeat things from the past. The good news about that is that people are generally familiar with the program. However, I’d like to see more of a tie in with our safety program,” Bozung says, “I think there is an opportunity for more synergy between what we are trying to accomplish through Project Safety and employee wellness.”
Matt points out that employee safety is of paramount importance at Granger, “We talk about basic things like being protected on the jobsite, staying hydrated and so on but we fall short of reminders such as, don’t forget to apply sunscreen.” Bozung adds, “Those types of basic things go hand-in-hand.” By heading in this direction, Granger can continue to uphold an attentiveness to each employee’s wellbeing.
Upholding Values
“I feel that this program and what we invest into it really speaks to Granger’s culture. The Granger family is very generous in terms of their investment in employee benefits, and the Wellness Program is an important component,” shares Bozung.
Granger hopes through involvement in this program that employees are taking these healthy habits home to share with loved ones. This company wants its team to feel like a valued part of the Granger family. “It’s something that we don’t have to do, but we choose to do. This is a family-oriented place where we want what is best for our employees,” says Bozung.
Glenn Granger acknowledges, “Not everyone is a fitness nut. We want everyone to feel comfortable with their place on the health and fitness spectrum. We want to encourage health for all Granger families.”
