By Linda F. Jarrett
With the ever-increasing emphasis on better health and nutrition, many corporations, realizing that a healthy workforce means healthy production, are turning to wellness programs for their employees.
In the spirit of the 2008 Summer Olympics, Schnuck Markets Inc. implemented a program encouraging their employees to form teams and walk 13 million miles to Beijing, China.
“We’ve wanted to do a corporate wellness push anyway,” says Chairman and CEO Scott Schnuck. “Raising employees’ awareness of wellness benefits in two ways,” Schnuck says. “One, to impact their own personal health, and two, so they can impart some of this knowledge to our customers who are interested, and asking about nutrition.”
So, the Schnucks Steps to Summer Olympics program was born.
A Walk to Beijing
Schnucks Director of Benefits Ed Keady calculated that the distance from the Schnucks Lackland office to Beijing, China was “about 6,750 miles or 13.5 million steps for one walker. We thought the team approach might be more practical!”
The program kicked off on Monday, July 14, at the corporate office at 11420 Lackland Rd., with 180 teams, 30 to 60 associates to a team. Each member sported a pedometer donated by Schnucks along with an exercise conversion chart and log sheet for reporting step totals. Walkers got bonus steps for added exercise and daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
“We’ve changed our menu at our company cafeteria,” Schnuck says. “And the amount of fruits and vegetables that we’re serving compared to what we did in the past is amazing.”
A Team Effort
While everyone wants to win, the goal of the contest has been to change lifestyles and that seems to have worked.
Cheryl Pitman, customer service manager at the Eureka Schnucks, says she was worried, at first, about getting enough steps. “Even though I walked a lot around the store, I wasn’t sure, but I push myself now. When someone wants something, instead of sending a bagger, I go find it.”
She now averages 85,000 to 92,000 steps a week. “We have two teams. I’m on the ‘Over-40’ team and we’re beating the ‘Under-40!’
“My two grandchildren recently came to live with me, and it’s been good to get them on a healthy eating plan,” she adds.
Ruth Koehr, assistant customer service manager at the Schnucks, 10275 Clayton Rd., is on a team with 50 participants. “One of our women went to Disney World and logged 82 miles in one week. That helped us a lot!”
She says many people at work say, “I need to get another serving of fruits and vegetables. I’m making better choices for my kids, because we’re focusing on it.”
Koehr’s husband works at the Brentwood Schnucks, 8800 Manchester Rd., and is also on the team.
“We’ve had a friendly competition, and he always beats me. One day he got up at 5 a.m., did his shift, and then took the kids to Six Flags, so he got 30,000 steps in one day.”
Mary Moorkamp, general counsel and corporate secretary for Schnucks says the response to the contest has been overwhelming.
“We have over 7,600 associates participating, with over 185 teams,” she says. “More than 40 teams have made it to Beijing, and several have made round trips. We’re one of the smaller teams and we’re still swimming in the Pacific!”
Moorkamp says one person has lost over 40 pounds and another over 50. “At department meetings, we have fruits and healthier choices. I’m reluctant to make my to-kill-for brownies! I know how long it takes to walk them off. Our luxury now is what mustard are we going to dip our pretzels in!”
The Ultimate Goal
Schnucks says the aim of the company is to “help improve the quality of life of our associates and their families, and promote behavior that will benefit us all down the road. Like every employer, we continue to feel the impact of rising healthcare costs while there is no immediate cure for our ailing healthcare system, we hope that, over time, we can reduce the need for emergency medical intervention and long-term treatments through preventative checkups and healthier lifestyles among our associates.”
He adds that the company has hosted a number of nutritional authorities including a speaker explaining the Pritikin Diet, and Dr. David Katz, who has written for Oprah Magazine.
Plus, he has approached his competitors, Dierberg’s and Shop & Save, and encouraged them to come up with a wellness program for their employees.
“All of our company’s union employees are in the same health and welfare trust, so, collectively, if we can encourage our people to become healthier,” he says, “We don’t have to incur the costs that we have to cover when they get sick, and we can lower the cost of our insurance which can help us, ultimately, compete with Wal-Mart.”
Schnucks also received support in developing the program from BJC HealthCare, a
St. Louis-based not-for-profit healthcare provider that encourages companies to provide on-site employee health, fitness and wellness programs as one way to combat rising healthcare costs.
For this contest, it was not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. But, a little competition never hurts, and when the results were tallied, the top team for distance was Sole Train, Rick Frede, Captain, from the Bridgeton Complex, with 38,860,263 steps.
Top team for highest average per team member was Toes On the Go, Pekin, Ill. store, with Captain Marsie Schroeder, at 773,220 steps per person for the six-week period.
“We have several teams in the running for creativity,” says Lori Willis, director of communications for Schnucks. “Our Steps committee will need to vote on: Wok or Run (Center Store), Buns on the Run (Bakery), Forty and Over (Eureka), The Pedominators (Advertising), and FUWAlkers (Human Resources). |
