Company flourishes with innovative health and wellness, employee development programs
‘It’s made a measurable difference in people’s lives’
Friday August 14, 2009 -- Jennifer Higgs
Pizzagalli Construction Company is empowering its employee owners to take control of their health and wellness as well as their own professional development through the organization’s innovative programs, says Mike Sessions.

Sessions, senior vice-president, says a lot of employees are engaged in the company’s health and wellness program, which started in 2007.

The South Burlington, Vermont-based company hired a health coaching firm and on an annual basis employees are given the opportunity to participate in a biometrics screen.

Nurses visit the job site and record participants’ weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and other health indicators. Employees identified in the high risk category can participate in ongoing health coaching.

“We had a very high engagement level from our employees,” says Sessions, adding craft workers who are involved in manual labour seem to love the program.

Sessions notes hypertension was present across the population, but the statistics show improvements. Over a year, 500 high-risk employees had a two-per-cent decrease in hypertension, 16-per-cent decrease in cholesterol and five-per-cent decrease in obesity.

He says Pizzagalli considers health and wellness a 24/7 enterprise, looking at employee’s health, safety, and ability to come to work and leave work the same way they came.

While the company is focused on helping employees live a long, healthy and productive life, there are financial benefits for Pizzagalli as well. Last year the company’s healthcare costs stayed the same, though their consultants said other companies experienced a five- to 10-per-cent increase.

“We are really excited about that program, we think it’s made a measurable difference in people’s lives, as well as in the profitability in the company which affects our stock price,” says Sessions, adding as Pizzagalli is 100 per cent employee owned, employees will not only be healthier and live longer but also make more money as stock value increases in the Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

Employee development is another focus at Pizzagalli, with a training and development manager on staff and several programs available.

The company renamed its annual performance evaluations to performance development meetings, signaling it is less of a look in the past as a focus on moving forward.

The company realized the evaluation expectations were not the same as employee’s job descriptions, so they recrafted all position descriptions. There is now a 100 per cent annual performance development meeting completion rate, compared to 50 per cent or less previously, says Sessions, adding employees are finding the meetings more meaningful.

Pizzagalli has training programs employees can participate in that are directly linked to position descriptions. There are also employee-led development plans where employees create their own learning plan.

The company’s employee development program earned the company the 2007 Innovations in Employee Ownership Award from the National Center for Employee Ownership.

The health and wellness program also received a favourable write-up in a Dow Jones report.

“We think of this as a way of empowering employee owners really to take control of their health and wellness and their own professional development,” says Sessions.

Related Story:
Pizzagalli Construction Company transitions to 100% employee ownership

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