How to start a workplace wellness program (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of our series on employee wellness programs. If you haven't read Part 1, you can catch up here.

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Avery Jolly joined Revelry six years ago to establish the company’s wellness program. Before joining, he experienced first-hand how even a short meditation session can ease work pressure. With his personal training and nutrition counseling background, Avery now helps Revelry employees stay healthy and happy.

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In this interview, Avery shares:

How Revelry’s wellness program works
Employee wellness program KPI
Leadership support of the wellness program
His motivation for becoming a wellness coordinator
The best and the worst parts of managing a wellness program

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Keep reading for the interview summary, or watch the 16-minute interview video!

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Why did you decide to become a wellness coordinator?

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I have a background in personal training and nutrition counseling. My background gave me some confidence that I could do this job but it wasn’t the reason why I started it.

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I was working at a company where I was experiencing a lot of stress. I also felt underpaid, but the main thing was that I wasn’t in a healthy place. The company gave us health insurance and 401K but no wellness program. Then, one day, two employees volunteered to organize an hour-and-a-half event where they talked about mindfulness and meditation. The session was simple: they explained mindfulness and then played a 10-minute YouTube video about meditation. They turned the lights off, and we all closed our eyes and sat in silence. I left that session feeling better than ever at that company.

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I thought that if I was feeling stressed because of my job, others were probably feeling it, too. I could bring sessions like this to a company that wanted to help its employees feel less stressed. So, I contacted Gerard (Revelry’s CEO) and Thomas (former Revelry COO).

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How does Revelry’s employee wellness program work?

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Our C-Suite puts people at the center of the Revelry’s strategy. Our COO Jennifer, Head of People Dani, and CFO John set aside resources and their own time to be involved in the program. I was hired six years ago to shape and execute it.

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The wellness program consists of two parts:

Group activities
Individual benefits and activities

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Group activities

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Group activities include volunteering outings, game nights, DIY cocktail classes, scavenger hunts, virtual escape rooms, wine tasting, and bouldering. We learned how to make empanadas with an Argentine chef. We also do group yoga classes, movie nights, and happy hours.

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These group activities are meant to allow Revelry employees to spend time together outside of work. They spend a third of their lives at Revelry. We want them to enjoy their time and spend it with the people they get along with. So, the least we can do is help them connect with coworkers and form closer bonds.

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Individual activities and benefits

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Individual benefits and activities include:

A wellness spending account
Ideas and funding that we propose

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The wellness spending account is similar to a health spending account, except you can use the money towards anything that benefits your wellness. You could spend the money on a gym membership, arts and crafts workshops, or dance lessons. Revelry funds each employee account directly from the wellness budget.

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We also propose ideas for what employees might want but wouldn’t be able to search for themselves. We send them Slack messages and ask if they would like a subscription to services like MasterClass to up-skill, ClassPass to try new fitness classes, or Calm to practice meditation and mindfulness. We aim to expose employees to many wellness options and let them choose what works for them.

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How do you come up with team-building activities?

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Some of these activities originate in my mind, but most group events are suggestions from our employees. If they want to play arcade together, I’ll put it on the calendar and open a food tab. If they find an exciting exhibition at a museum, I’ll organize a group visit. If someone wants to correct their posture, I’ll get an ergonomics specialist to improve everyone’s workstation.

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We hold many “lunch-and-learn” events. For example, a coffee instructor showed us how to make cold brew, and we subscribed everyone to a service called Bottomless. Every month, Bottomless delivers coffee to our employees, so now that they’ve learned how to brew their coffee, it becomes a part of their new happiness routine. We also had a group session with a personal trainer to discuss the importance of exercise. Then, our employees could schedule 1:1s with the trainer for personalized advice.

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See also:

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Revelry has raving Glassdoor reviews, many of which mention the wellness program. Did you expect this outcome?

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When our CEO Gerard Ramos and former COO Thomas Knoll created the wellness program six years ago, they decided not to limit it by strict program parameters or “businessy” KPIs. I had the freedom to shape the program to our employees’ needs.

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I never looked at our Glassdoor reviews, but I didn’t need to see them to know that the program was working. The most rewarding part of running the wellness program is attending wellness events and seeing the team enjoy them. I’m there when they volunteer, stretch, practice mindfulness, or have a SPA day. They always thank me and the entire team (Dani, Jennifer, John, and Gerard). Receiving that gratitude makes me happy.

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We want to do wellness for employees, not to employees. We are doing it not for the company's benefit but for the employees' benefit. We want them to be their healthiest, happiest, and highest-performing selves—not as Revelry employees but as humans who happen to work at Revelry.

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So, we don’t have a KPI meeting every quarter looking at healthcare savings or the impact of wellness on our bottom line. Instead, we measure the impact on our people—do they feel:

Taken care of
Treated like they are important
A better person with Revelry

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Our employees could take their skills, creativity, dad jokes, and integrity to any other company. Instead, they choose to work with us. So, we want the wellness program to show them how grateful we are to have them. The paychecks they get are a transaction that confirms that they did their work well. The wellness program is our way to thank and care for our employees.

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What are the most stressful parts of running a wellness program?

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The biggest worry is whether the wellness program matches what people at Revelry want. I address this stressor by collecting employee feedback. I want them to know that if they come to me and say they need something, I will do everything to get it. I hit 99 out of 100 requests.

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The only stressful time for me is when I run events. For example, I organized a big SPA day with many moving pieces, such as catered food and a coffee bar. I had to coordinate with five different vendors. I was stressed because I wanted everything to go well, and it did in the end.

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In general, I don’t experience any intense stress. I have such a rewarding job, and we have good leadership and people! If I tell you that the spa day was the most stressful thing I’ve had, that gives you a good idea of what kind of company I work for.

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Let Spaciously help with your employee wellness events

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Are you working on an employee wellness program? Do you manage a team at a company that doesn't have a wellness event calendar yet?

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You can book your wellness events one-by-one on our website. But you could also let us design and schedule your entire wellness calendar for the year. Schedule a regular class (like yoga), or have us bring a new wellness event every month to your office (cooking and art workshops, nature adventures, hair salon pop-ups, and more). You’ll be the mastermind behind your program, and we will execute it for you. The best part? You won’t have to pay more than you would if you booked the same events on your own.

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Starting a wellness event program might seem hard, but it doesn’t have to be. Even companies with the most complex hybrid setup manage to run successful team-building and wellness programs. Outsourcing saves countless hours, which you could use to get more work done or take a much-needed break.

How to start a workplace wellness program (Part 2)

Team buildng activity ideas

Improv Class

Tea Ceremony

Wood Burn a Cheeseboard

Needle Felt Your Pet

Tie Dye Workshop

Handmade Ceramics Workshop