CapTech Embraces a Culture of Health and Wellness
CapTech, an Active RVA Certified company, offers consultants a variety of activities to stay healthy and active in the workplace.
By: Nan Turner
Wynne Reece, a Recruiter at CapTech for almost two years, got an early taste of the company’s fit and active culture – on her first day of work, to be exact.
When she pulled into the office parking lot, one of her new coworkers immediately noticed Reece’s bike fixed to the bike rack on her car. They struck up a conversation about the bike and the coworker invited Reece to join them on their next employee group ride. It was an unexpected development but a great introduction to the way CapTech embraces a healthy lifestyle.
Reece has now made it her mission to help continue that commitment to wellness, and CapTech routinely encourages their consultants to get fit and stay healthy and active in the workplace.
As one of the sponsors for the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k, they have covered entry fees for employees to run in the event, and many of their staff has volunteered at the CapTech booth during the Anthem Richmond Marathon expo.
They even sponsored a team to run in the Ragnar Relay, a race that involves six team members running relay style for 200 miles. The group took a van and traveled to the race, which ran from Cumberland, Maryland to the National Harbor in Washington, D.C.
For their efforts, CapTech recently earned Active RVA certification through the Sports Backers' new Active RVA Community Awards initiative, recognizing them as an exceptional employer for offering innovative programs to promote physical activity for employees. All Active RVA certified organizations will be honored at a luncheon ceremony in February 2013 for serving as ‘physical activity role models’ in the community. There are other benefits as well – such as recognition through various Active RVA social media outlets and access to wellness program best practices.
CapTech's Ragnar Relay Team
CapTech has two locations in Richmond – one in the Fan and one in the Henrico’s Glen Forest office park, a business community on Glenside Drive that has a gym that is free for all CapTech employees to use. Another office offers free yoga classes during lunchtime on Tuesday and Thursday.
Reece has also organized ‘Lunch & Learn’ programs, which serve as an opportunity for consultants to come together and learn about different health-related topics from a professional practitioner. Reece put together a whole variety of topics for 2012 and then conducted an interest survey to see what areas her coworkers wanted to hear about.
“We got back that people were interested in financial management, total health and well being,” Reece said. “In 2013 we’re going to offer breakfast in case that works out better with some employees’ schedules, and we’ll offer lunch at some. The next one is breakfast with a nutritionist.”
Other topics that will be covered this year include elder care and anything that could cause emotional stress, not just direct physical wellness. Additionally, the Center for High Blood Pressure recently contacted Reece about screening employees for health problems, and they were able to work with CapTech consultants on preventative screenings. “They were making it their goal to prevent 1,000 strokes,” Reece said. “They contacted us and we had them come out to our location on Glenside and check blood pressure. They talked to us about how to prevent heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and diabetes. It was just a quick five minute screening.”
In the office, CapTech is trying to help consultants snack mindfully during work. While they’ve always provided free snacks and drinks, recently they added fresh fruit and green tea to the list of available choices, hoping people would choose the healthier option.
“The green tea flies off the shelf,” Reece said. “Sometimes people will read the labels on the back of an orange juice or an apple juice and say, ‘I never realized how much sugar was in this, and I’ve been having one every morning.’ We’re not shoving it down their throats; we just want to give them healthier options.”
The improvements don’t stop with snacks either, as CapTech just wrapped up a Walking Work Wellness Challenge. Every day registered employees received a pedometer and logged their steps and activity through a wellness portal.
“We didn’t want it to just be in one office, we wanted everyone to participate,” Reece said. “We did it in our Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Charlotte and Richmond offices. Then in Richmond we broke it down further and did contests between our different practice sites and departments. All the different groups competed against each other and we recognized the practice areas with the most steps logged and gave awards to the top three individuals in the company.”
The overall winner was from one of the Richmond sites and walked 538 miles in 10 weeks.
While this challenge was geared more towards walkers and runners, Reece will collaborate with coworkers to figure out the scope and nature of future events to ensure they get as many participants as possible. These ‘Wellness Ambassadors’ help Reece come up with ideas for programs that will meet the needs of everyone at CapTech.
The group was formed when Reece reached out to different members of departments and practice sites to help her generate excitement for the Walking Challenge. At the conclusion of the project the eight individuals all said they were interested in meeting and deciding what the next challenge would be and how to improve wellness at CapTech. One idea already being explored is a company-wide fitness portal that employees can use – something relatively easy to grasp since CapTech is an IT company.
“I can’t wait; I think it’s a good centralized spot for communication,” Reece said of the portal. “I hope people post ideas, success stories, and pictures.”
The portal will also have an area where employees can share what they’ve eaten and find out the nutritional value of meals. They can also share links to articles, and sign up to volunteer at events or register for races.
“I was excited to see how active the company was,” Reece said. “We have a very happy, active, vibrant company, and we want it to stay that way. Many of the reasons people are in poor health are entirely preventable. We can get our health care costs down as a company.”
Reece said that studies have shown that individual health and work behavior are linked. Good health leads to a good lifestyle and helps people, and businesses, prosper. CapTech’s mission is to inspire and empower their consultants to make healthy decisions on a daily basis and take ownership of their health and wellness.
“Healthier employees make for a better company,” Reece said. “They make a more productive workforce. If you feel better you want to come to work and you have more energy. If you’re biking or running with a group you feel a friendship or camaraderie. People want to work with people they like.”
Is your company or school interested in becoming Active RVA certified? Click here to learn more about the program and complete the survey. The deadline to complete the survey is January 11, 2013.