Healthiest Employees: 150-499 Employees | #1. Collette Travel Services Inc.
CEO (or equivalent): Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.
Number of employees: 486
Employees of Collette Travel Services Inc. don’t have to journey far to find a place to exercise.
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Learn MoreSince 2013, a 6,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art wellness center and workout room within its 162 Middle St. facility in Pawtucket has been the nucleus of the company’s holistic approach to promoting employee health on many levels.
Eighty-eight percent of Collette’s employees participate each year in its wellness program, Public Relations Manager Amelia Sugarman said. The fitness room accommodates 15 people at a time and always fills up quickly.
Sugarman said the company’s successful health-centric efforts all started when the wellness center was built five years ago.
“We had a great workout room,” she said, “and we decided to expand our programs.”
The core of that mission, she said, is the idea that wellness and well-being includes a mind, body and spiritual connection. The result of that mission is a comprehensive wellness program, available to employees and their families for free, that improves their overall health and well-being, she said.
The center includes not only weights, cardio equipment, towel service and showers but also instructional classes, and health and wellness coaching. The fitness company Perfectly Fit staffs and manages the facility, conducting classes that include meditation, yoga and mindful breathing as well as physical exercise. In good weather, exercise activities head outdoors to the nearby park.
The center regularly picks a wellness topic of the month, focusing on activities and disseminating information on that subject. Themes have ranged from dental health to emotional well-being to summer wellness. The latter was the topic this July, providing information on the company website and activities related to staying sun-safe during the season, and eating and exercising properly.
The center offers a variety of activities, Benefits Manager Phyllis Shields said, because it recognizes a workout means different things to different people.
“Some walk, some like to run,” she said. “We try to make everybody comfortable. In class, they can modify their level of fitness exercise.”
In addition to the workshops, every October the center hosts a health fair that offers flu shots and biometric screenings and health care-related vendors. In September, it will host its annual Financial Wellness Day, focusing on money-management topics that give employees peace of mind, another component of the mind, body, spirit connection that leads to a holistically healthy employee.
Beyond center programming, Collette employees are encouraged to leave their desks and walk and even conduct walking business meetings, Sugarman said.
There are three different walking teams, before work at 7 a.m., lunchtime and after work. Sugarman has seen as many as 40 walkers during these times.
Arguably Collette’s most successful walking team was the Jingle Joggers, who trained hard eight weeks before the Christmas season run in Providence last year. Its 26 joggers raised more than $1,000 for the Toys for Tots campaign and crossed the finish line of the 5K run.
There are also Commitment Challenge teams. Eight such four-member weight-loss teams at Collette are currently encouraging each other to achieve their weight-loss goals. A one-month step challenge resulted in 9,191,088 steps taken by 38 participants who walked a total of 4,594 miles.
The company’s regular Wellness and Well-Being Member of the Month award is also a sign of the program’s success. Shields said the award goes to an employee who has shown a commitment to improving overall health by surmounting challenges such as weight loss, healthy eating or quitting smoking.
“It serves as a kudos to them,” Sugarman said, “and an inspiration to others.”
A healthy thought:
‘Some walk, some like to run. We try to make everybody comfortable.’
Phyllis Shields, Benefits manager, Collette Travel Services Inc.