PBN 2021 HEALTHIEST EMPLOYERS AWARDS
5,000+ EMPLOYEES: 1. U-Haul International Inc.
CEO (or equivalent): Edward J. “Joe” Shoen, CEO and president
Number of employees: 13,262
U-Haul International Inc. founded its Healthier You Wellness program in 2016 with absolute determination to not guess about the health and wellness needs of employees.
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The national moving and storage company has 120 employees in Rhode Island.
Company organizers wanted a program that measured health needs and met those needs with pinpoint accuracy and individuality. One tool to achieve that goal was to bring on board the services of Springbuk, a health analytics platform.
Springbuk has been leading U-Haul’s wellness programs exactly where managers hoped to go with it, said Monique Harty, wellness program manager for U-Haul International.
There is no shortage of examples. One was when Springbuk data noted a high incidence of health claims pertaining to muscular and skeletal problems – not surprising in a business full of employees doing lots of lifting and hauling.
The company responded to this information by adding a physical therapist to its on-site medical clinic at U-Haul Arizona offices. This person will, over time, visit, shadow and observe workers in every job category, with the goal of designing fitness programs tailored to each type of worker. When the job-specific programs and exercises are created, this information is forwarded to U-Haul employees throughout the United States and Canada, Harty said.
Another example of Springbuk’s usefulness was when it discovered through data analysis that employee expenditures on prescriptions were very high. U-Haul met this news by hiring Rx Savings Solutions. This company disseminates information to U-Haul employees about where to find lower-cost prescriptions and what medicines may be safely replaced by generic drugs.
Harty and Sandra Gardner, marketing company president with U-Haul Rhode Island, emphasized that U-Haul takes the well-being of employees to an individual and personal level.
Harty said top executives at U-Haul have said that health and wellness initiatives should mimic “how you would treat your own family.”
For instance, Gardner said, CEO and President Edward J. “Joe” Shoen has asked that company-provided food served at monthly meetings or occasional in-office celebrations must be healthy food. Cake, muffins, soda, chips and all foods of that ilk have been replaced with salads, fruits and other healthy options.
Gardner said employees were a bit leery when the healthy-food policy landed, but she secured a caterer that served delicious meals without relying on flour, oils and sugar.
A HEALTHY THOUGHT
‘We have a totally individualized approach [to wellness]. Team members are reaching out to someone who is truly there to help them.’
SANDRA GARDNER, U-Haul Rhode Island marketing company president
“It’s a case of leading by example,” Gardner said of Shoen and his interdiction of sugar. “And I have seen people changing their eating habits since this began.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns hit in spring 2020, U-Haul quickly revised some of its fitness offerings to make it easy for workers at home to keep going. The company has long offered employees a $75 reimbursement for personal gym memberships, Harty said. During lockdown, the company came up with about 20 apps that offer guided exercise classes that people can do at home. Cost of using the apps was borne by U-Haul. The apps were so popular, the company has continued the reimbursement even though most gyms are now open.
Gardner said the company has begun to offer a $400-a-year reimbursement for employees on the company medical plan to use the services of a registered dietician. Thereafter, benefit managers learned that access to a professional dietician was difficult for some workers, depending on where they lived. So, about five months ago, the company extended the $400 benefit to allow workers to apply it to a Weight Watchers app.
In 2019, U-Haul created its employee You Matter program, which offers referrals for help with legal, financial, family relations or other problems, Harty said. Use of the program tripled from its first to its second year. An additional element of the program is one that provides counseling, amounting to five sessions a year for any specific problem.
“These benefits mean more to some people than the paycheck they get,” Gardner said. “They know they are reaching out to someone who is truly there to help them.”
