A Culture of Health

Wahpeton, N.D., company has implemented an all-encompassing wellness program that has improved culture and shrunk turnover rate

BY KAYLA PRASEK

Employees at WCCO Belting, a manufacturing company in Wahpeton, N.D., started pushing for a wellness program after attending the Worksite Wellness Summit, a health summit organized by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, in 2014. Once the company approved it, a wellness committee was formed and employees were surveyed to find out what they wanted in a wellness program. Now, the committee organizes two events per month to promote the five tenets of health — physical, social, emotional, financial and professional.

The wellness committee has worked with the Wahpeton Future Farmers of America to serve fruit to employees every day, increased volunteer opportunities through the United Way of Cass-Clay, and brought in experts from Bremer Bank to give financial seminars. Employees receive free memberships at the North Dakota State College of Science fitness center, and the wellness committee works closely with BCBSND to bring in guest speakers. The company also sponsors employees who want to take part in recreational leagues.

“One of the speakers we had from BCBSND talked about their Walking Works program and the benefits of walking and brought pedometers for all of our employees,” says Karley Serati, a wellness committee member and marketing services manager. “From that, we came up with a walking challenge, and we had 95 employees sign up. We assigned random teams, so they got to interact with people outside their departments, and they all hit the 1,000-mile mark and many went over.”

Serati says the wellness program has been accepted well and employees have had fun with it. “Our employees are the core of our business, and wellness is so much more than your weight,” Serati says. “Putting employees first has created a domino effect. By giving employees a platform and a voice, it’s really affected the culture and environment here. We’re at almost zero absenteeism, and our turnover rate is less than 2 percent.”

Worksite Wellness Program

The North Dakota Worksite Wellness initiative was launched in 2009, as a partnership between BCBSND, Dakota Medical Foundation and the state Department of Health. “Its purpose was to get more organizations engaged in worksite wellness,” says Pete