CEO (or equivalent): Thomas A. Lawson Number of employees: 3,800
If you are reading this while sitting at a desk, chances are that some part of your skeleton is crying at you, or it will later on. That is not the case for employees who take full advantage of the Total Health program at FM Global, the worldwide business-property insurer based in Johnston.
The Total Health program, initiated in 2006 and accessible to FM Global employees from Rhode Island to Brazil and China, includes an ergonomic program that helps employees analyze and correct their workplace posture.
It’s a small detail, perhaps, among many health and fitness benefits for FM Global’s 3,800 U.S. employees, including 1,100 in Rhode Island. But the details, including an annual fitness reimbursement that allows employees to pay for gym memberships, add up.
Mostly, though, the Total Health program thinks big. One major element is an annual 10-week Global Corporate Challenge that invites teams of seven people at FM Global offices to walk, run, bicycle, or swim in friendly competition, recorded and tracked electronically.
The teams are encouraged by “wellness champions,” selected people in local offices who serve as examples and cheerleaders. In 2015, the challenge registered 1,600 participants from 16 countries, who logged a total distance of 591,689 miles of walking, swimming and bicycling, according to statistics provided by the company.
“Our Total Health offerings … create an environment where the healthy choice becomes the easy choice,” said Enzo Rebula, the company’s senior vice president of human resources, in a statement for this award.
Carole Williamson, manager of health and welfare plans, said that promoting employees’ health is good for the company overall. “It makes sense for us to be investing in the health of employees. They are important to the success of the business.”
FM Global has been in existence for nearly 200 years, but it is very much in tune with contemporary lives. In the arena of health, this includes appreciation of the mind-body connection. Williamson said the Global Corporate Challenge recently added a component for brain health called GCC Balance. It is a tool, she said, that promotes mental resiliency with the use of brain-training activities.
“Simply being aware of the state of your mind is important,” Williamson said. “This is training to develop a positive outlook.”
Another health problem receiving attention these days – inadequate sleep and the elements of contemporary life that aggravate sleeplessness – is addressed in a sleep-tracking portion of the challenge.
A big element in the Total Health program is the company’s on-site fitness centers, offering exercise equipment, group classes and personal fitness training. One of the 500 employees who are members of a fitness center is Josh Razee, 36, a CAD supervisor in Johnston.
Earlier in life, Razee had played football, but in 2014 he found himself at 340 pounds, taking medicines for high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and treatments for arthritis in his knees. He decided to turn the situation around when he was physically unable to coach his son’s football team.
Razee joined forces with Lisa Helfrich, the general manager of the fitness center located just a floor below his at work. With her help as an adviser and cheerleader, he hit the gym virtually every workday and has gotten rid of 100 pounds and all his weight-related medications.
“I was on the road to being dead by age 50,” Razee said. The fitness program at FM Global, he continued, “has given me my life back. They gave me the opportunity to do things at work that I could not have gotten done outside of work.”
Carolina Garcia, a change and release specialist in Johnston, jumped into an evaluation and personal fitness program at the gym soon after she was hired in February, and she has lost 27 pounds with her workouts and group classes during the weekdays.
“I have signed up for memberships at other gyms and I just did not use them. When you get out of work all you want to do is go home,” she said. “I used to dread going to the gym, but now it’s my favorite part of the day.”
According to FM Global data, the fitness centers logged more than 23,000 workouts in 2015 by Razee and other employees. Surveys show that 94 percent of fitness center members increased their physical activity because of the centers.
Williamson said FM Global recognizes the need of employees to balance their work and family life to bring their best game to the office. The company recently extended paid maternity leave to 10 weeks and began offering four weeks of paid leave for mothers and fathers in the first year after the birth or adoption of a child. •
