For instance, Friendship’s monthlong hydration challenge provides employees with reusable water bottles and encourages them to drink more water, Wilson said. Each week, employees turn in a water consumption tracking sheet, which doubles as a raffle entry. At the end of the challenge, employees win prizes such as gift cards.
“Our mantra oftentimes is, ‘Activity breeds activity,’ ” Wilson said. “You see other people doing things, and it makes you want to do things, too.”
Since the program started, one of the group’s health insurance plans has dropped in cost for employees by 26 percent, and the amount that Friendship’s medical plan paid out per employee dropped by 23 percent, she said. The savings comes from a combination of fewer health maintenance prescriptions, fewer overall claims and a decrease in cost per claim.
Friendship CEO Mitch Walters said the dealership group banned smoking from its properties after his brother, who was a smoker, died of small cell lung cancer. Being tobacco-free and nicotine-free is required to participate in the wellness program.
“I can’t control everything in everybody’s lives, but we do try to discourage it,” Walters said. “We educate everybody to make their own smarter choices and healthy choices.”
The company offers to pay half of the cost, or up to $175, of smoking cessation programs or other wellness-related expenses such as gym memberships, Wilson said. Friendship also requests that each employee gets a preventative health screening each year.
