Championing Employees Health & Wellness
All of it: Physical, Mental, Intellectual and Emotional Health
Trailer Bridge (TB) was recently named to the Jacksonville Business Journal’s 2022 Healthiest Employers Awards as well as the lists for Nashville and Chicago. It’s an honor the company takes great pride in because the placement is rooted in how it serves its employees. The recognition considers the policies and initiatives businesses put into place that promote health and well-being for the employees.
For Trailer Bridge, that looks like honoring and celebrating a holistic approach to health and well-being to include mental and physical health as well as intellectual and emotional health. It’s an approach that Vice President of Organizational Development, Indie B. Bollman says is a key factor in company growth. “Taking care of our employees is our top priority,” said Bollman. “It’s key to sustaining our company’s growth and more importantly, it’s part of our culture and just the right thing to do.”
Director of Employee Services Kacy Swanson recently spoke about the company’s approach on a roundtable panel discussion hosted by the JBJ alongside other leaders from Northeast Florida. “Promoting a healthy lifestyle for our employees included some new, exciting offerings this year,” said Swanson. “As well as maintaining and improving a few of the longstanding programs that our teams enjoy.”
One pillar of the company’s program is free mental health counseling sessions. TB provides employees with three free and anonymous sessions with a licensed counselor every year. It’s a program that began in 2019 and has proven to be beneficial, especially throughout the past few years.
She adds these three sessions are in addition to the Employee Assistance Program offered through the company’s insurance.
Technology has been the theme when it comes to new offerings in the past year. The company recently launched ClassPass, an app that allows employees to book and enjoy different workouts and fitness options as well as wellness and beauty experiences. Trailer Bridge gifts employees 12 credits each month to use at their discretion; credits can be used to book anything from a rowing or yoga class to a blowout or manicure.
In addition, employees now have access to all their health benefits in one place with HealthJoy. The new app streamlines the healthcare experience with electronic benefits cards, concierge service for booking appointments and other great features. “We are always looking for opportunities to create user-friendly experiences for our teams,” said Swanson. “Since launching the HealthJoy app at the start of 2022, we have seen a 69% implementation rate by eligible employees and received positive feedback from users.”
Employees using the new technology have saved a combined $50,000 since implementation by taking advantage of the tool’s online medical consultation services, prescription savings and concierge services.
When it comes to employee’s intellectual well-being, the company has gone all in, developing a new Training and Development team, TB Foundations. The new team provides opportunities for employees to grow professionally. “When I started at TB more than seven years ago, we really began to focus on learning and education for our teams,” said Bollman. “And now we’re kicking it up a notch with individual learning paths for employees focused on not only giving them what they need for their current role but also the role they want next.”
Intellectual health is not necessarily the first thing most people think about when it comes to company wellness programs but at Trailer Bridge, Bollman says it’s an important part of an individual’s overall sense of self, “and we honor that.”
“Our team builds programs with employee feedback in mind – its just what we do and one reason why I think we’ve been so successful,” said Bollman. “Communication is key and that’s a two-way street around here at TB.”
The needs of today’s employees are different so listening and being open to innovation is essential. “One of our core values is to be curious and adventurous,” said Swanson. “We use that in how we approach our wellness offerings. We want to keep things fresh all while focusing first and foremost on understanding how we can best serve our employees.”
For Bollman and Swanson, it simply comes down to loving your employees. Love – a word shied away from by many in today’s business environment – is celebrated at the company and encouraged. “By loving our employees and showing up for them – whether that is with a new wellness initiative or a food truck Friday – we are ultimately showing up for our customers,” said Bollman. “It’s simple leadership math; how you treat your employees will be how they treat each other and ultimately, how they treat your customers. So, just love them.”
Learn more about Trailer Bridge and its full suite of benefits at TrailerBridge.com.
