1st Place | Category: 1,001 to 4,999 employees
Gilbane Inc.
CT Headquarters: Glastonbury
Industry: Construction and real estate development
Top Executive: Thomas F. Gilbane Jr. is chairman and CEO of Gilbane Inc. and chairman of Gilbane Building Co. in Glastonbury
Last year, when leaders at Gilbane Inc. found they were falling short of their employee-wellness goals, they looked for a new way to offer programs that produce change.
“We’ve had a wellness program in place for many years and our previous program included annual biometric screening and tobacco affidavit in order to earn a medical premium discount,” said Courtney Cannata, Gilbane’s vice president and director of human resources. “When we looked at population health data year over year … [including] cholesterol levels, blood pressure, obesity rates … we weren’t seeing meaningful improvement.”
Gilbane turned to outside work-wellness vendor Virgin Pulse to offer employees and families added tools like a mobile app with a variety of inspirational messages and daily tips for making healthy choices, as well as nutrition and sleep trackers.
“We believe that engaging employees and their families with healthy activities on a more regular basis, in addition to the annual biometric screenings, will result in healthier families,” Cannata said.
Management promoted the program heavily with a series of webinars, blogs and mailings. Company executives were active in their support of the program and stressed the ease-of-use access with the mobile app. Cannata said Gilbane increased participation to 76 percent of its 2,740 employees.
Gilbane encourages and pays for step challenges, community road races, charity walks, stair climbs and other team-building activities. It also provides a fitness-reimbursement benefit up to $300 annually.
Financial coaching is important as well, with Fidelity Investments offering Gilbane employees individual assistance as well as instructional webinars. Virgin Pulse includes a “Stash Some Cash” program to help workers save for unanticipated expenses. Additionally, the company offers paid family leave.
Wellness leaders also increased their focus on mental health, including more education and awareness, reducing co-pays for behavioral-health visits and eliminating prior-authorization for in-patient mental-health treatment.
The construction and development company lives by a Gilbane Cares philosophy, “built on the belief that everyone deserves a safe, healthy, and secure work environment,” said Cannata.
The company has also paid attention to the opioid epidemic, which has impacted the injury-prone construction industry.
“One of the biggest issues in this space, especially around substance abuse, including opioid dependency, is recognizing abuse among the subcontractor population, [which is much more prevalent than in the Gilbane population],” Cannata said. “Gilbane’s safety leadership in many locations has offered training to leaders and field-assigned employees in areas including identifying signs of substance abuse and administering Narcan.”