Bullivant: The Wellness Team

Bullivant wanted a wellness program with deep employee engagement and integration with existing benefits offerings. After designing multicomponent health risk intervention campaigns for each location, Recess used its signature four-step teams-based approach in rolling out Bullivant's wellness program. Recess engaged 34 Bullivant employees as wellness team members.

A collaborative process

The wellness teams participated in programming, solicited and reported feedback, marketed and conducted outreach to their fellow employees.

"I've really enjoyed the collaborative process we've engaged in in this. I think it has been beneficial for coming up with things that make the process work," said wellness team member Rob Williams, a paralegal at Bullivant.

The team's early involvement in the wellness programs made reaching out to discuss wellness with their co-workers feel more natural.

"I talked with a new employee and she was excited that we have this program," said Carol O'Connell, a paralegal, "She ended up enrolling in our Recess Office Stretch class."

Getting the word out to the entire company can be challenging. Allen Eraut, an attorney on the wellness team observed, "It is a bit daunting to motivate as large a group as we have. It would have been a heck of a lot more work to create something from scratch and get it going. Recess brought a lot of experience to the table to make it effective."

Best practices with custom spin

Recess facilitators worked hand-in-hand with the wellness teams, incorporating the their creativity and good ideas into best practices wellness programming.

Because the wellness team worked collaboratively, there was no need for the success of the entire wellness program to rest on the shoulders of just a few people in HR. As a result, Bullivant's wellness programs saw 63% enrollment firm-wide in wellness programs in only their first year.

"The scope of our programs has been fabulous," said Marie Porter, a wellness team member and Portland Office Manager,"We have a bit of all of the critical elements."

Ultimately, the wellness team felt that their efforts made an impact on their co-workers lives and the culture in the firm.

"I think it's hard for some people in our firm to make the time commitment, but they feel happier when they do," said Rob Williams,"The wellness program has created a better atmosphere."

The stories behind the stats:

• Bullivant Houser Bailey PC

  

  Unfortunately, many of the hallmark traits driving successful legal services firms are the same factors that drive high health care costs. Bullivant was no exception.

• The HR Team's Perspective

  

  “We wanted to do wellness effectively from the beginning.”

• The Employees' Perspectives

  

  From cooking classes, online healthy living modules, blood pressure screenings Bullivant employees found options that worked for their lifestyles.