Living Well

Some of Alexis Walsko’s employees at Lola Red PR will work from home on occasion if the weather is bad or if they have a personal situation to handle.

They’re typically ready to get back to the office as soon as possible though.

“I have always had the belief that I liked people being in the office,” says Walsko, owner and founder of Lola Red. “I felt there was an energy and enthusiasm that came from the collective gathering and from being together and also that they were learning.”

It helps that the employees seem to enjoy being around each other. Often, she’ll find them there even if they aren’t working. And the company’s wellness program, which covers four areas of their lives: physical, social, emotional and occupational, doesn’t hurt either.

“I’m really cognizant that we spend so much of our lives at work that it really should be fun,” she says. “Personally, something that I take seriously is that I would like to help grow good humans. So, if I can create an environment where people can learn for their professional lives and their personal lives, that to me feels like I’ve succeeded.”

Diverse program with something for all

Walsko says the company culture has always included activities that could be filed under wellness, though a new committee started formalizing the program just within the last couple years. Under each of the four pillars, the company has many perks and activities in which people can participate.

For example, as part of physical wellness, employees can take part in the Pride Run 5K or conduct walking meetings. Under the emotional category, the company has weekly meditation, Monday morning affirmations and every-other-month praise break meetings during which employees go offsite, learn about a topic (one month, for example, it was bees) and then co-workers recognize each other for going above and beyond the call of their jobs.

In one case, an employee’s client was in Brainerd on vacation and bought a new car. The employee volunteered to drive the car north for them.

“That was, literally, just him being nice,” Walsko says. “When you are in a service-related business, that makes a difference.”

Public relations, Walsko notes, is one of the more stressful professions out there. So, finding some strategies for having fun and alleviating stress can only be a good thing.

“I think people are happier,” she says. “What we see is that to our current clients and potentially new clients, people will say we seem like a very energetic team, we seem to get along, we seem to be happy and invested. If that’s how we deal with each other, that’s also how we deal with them and their business.”

Working outside the office

While Lola’s employees can’t wait to get to the office, those working at web development firm Creed Interactive are expected to report just twice a week. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the team works remotely.

The strategy is due to the theory of “deep work” made famous by entrepreneur Jason Fried, who found that employees were more productive with large chunks of uninterrupted time.

“We took that to heart,” says Jonathan Anderstrom, president of Creed Interactive. “We built that right into our work environment, where 40 percent of the time you have to work together and it’s highly collaborative. Sixty percent of the time you can meet if you can still want to, but most everybody works remotely.”

Creed has nice office space in St. Paul. The two days they are there, they have a lot of status meetings and collaborative discussions dealing with problems people can’t work out alone. The tasks performed by Creed employees often include complex equations, loading variables and advanced calculations that take uninterrupted concentration.

“To be together all the time, I can’t get anything done,” Anderstrom says. “I’m putting out fires all the time.”

The offices are so desolate the three remote working days that the company started renting its facility out during those times. The timeshare partner eventually moved to a different space, “But it actually worked pretty well,” Anderstrom says.

There are times employees will head into the office voluntarily if they are having trouble focusing, but Anderstrom says the setup naturally attracts employees who are highly motivated self-starters.

Maintaining balance

After having been in a job that did not allow her to satisfactorily sustain a career while being a mother, Katie Toghramadjian decided to start a business that brought better balance in her life. She never intended to have employees, but as Isthmus Engineering Inc., a highway transportation engineering firm, grew, she made it a goal to ensure they can prioritize their personal lives.

“Work can be a priority, but not the priority,” she says. “My employees are more productive if their personal priorities are in line.”

It’s been a successful and award-winning strategy. Isthmus has captured multiple awards for its treatment of employees, including a 2017 “When Work Works” award from the Society for Human Resource Management

One of the main benefits Isthmus employees have, whether full-time or part-time, is the ability to customize a work schedule that fits your needs.

“They commit to what hours they want to work, so it’s predictable, but they set the schedule so that it works for them,” she says. “Whether it’s because they are dropping kids off at school or they don’t want to sit in rush hour if they are commuting or if they want to hit the gym before or after work, they can set their schedule.”

There also are a lot of perks in the office. Isthmus has on-site showers – important for those who do hit the gym or those who bike to work in the company’s Lowertown St. Paul neighborhood. The company also invested in stand-up desks, which Toghramadjian says about 80 percent of its employees use either primarily or regularly. There are several spaces in the building where staff can be active and an outdoor patio where employees can work or gather for lunch or social breaks.

“I view that as not so much physical wellness, but as maybe the ability to go where they need to go to best focus on their work,” she says.

Between the flexibility and the perks, Toghramadjian says her employees are regularly engaged and productive.

“The number one thing is the customized work schedule,” she says. “When they are here they work really hard.”

Vital in hiring and retention

Angela Lurie, senior regional vice president at Robert Half International, says a recent company survey indicates that  two-thirds of companies of all sizes are providing more wellness benefits than they did five years ago.

“With record low levels of unemployment and the demand for talent, for skilled workers, showing no signs of weakening, employers have to find a way to stand out in a competitive job market in order to attract and retain this kind of talent,” she says. “We believe creating some attractive and progressive health and wellness programs is one way employers can differentiate themselves.”

That’s regardless of size and resources. It can be a large, varied program or it can be as simple as including healthy snack options in the office candy jar and swapping out a few less healthy options for higher quality items in vending machines, she says.

One important step, Lurie says, is getting employer buy-in. Find out what they want and customize the program depending on the office culture.

“Survey your employee group to determine what kind of health and wellness programs they would find important,” she says, adding that physical, emotional and mental health should all be considered.

These perks also are important in skilled labor jobs. Standing desks might not be a fit there, but perhaps subsidized health care premiums for gym attendance might.

“There are still ways companies can promote overall health and wellness,” Lurie says. “In some cases, let’s be honest, they’re probably more important. Some of those skilled trades require a lot of repetitive motion and require you to be healthy in order to perform your job, both mentally and physically.”

The big thing is these programs are a way to generate goodwill while standing apart from your competition.

“Get creative,” she says. “You’ve got to find a way to differentiate yourself from the other employers competing for the same talent. These health and wellness programs are one way to create a significant differentiator.”

St. Paul developer incorporating wellness in rebuild

Wellness initiatives are even starting to affect construction. St. Paul-based Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. is in the process of renovating the former Woolworth building in downtown St. Paul. While maintaining many of the historical features of the building has been a focus, so has creating a wellness-focused office space on which it believes future occupants may be willing to pay a slight premium.

Upon completion, the new 428 building is expected to be among the first WELL Core & Shell certified facilities in the state and the first to receive both that new certification as well as LEED Silver.

“What we’re known for is taking older retail buildings and repurposing them into new office buildings,” says Pat Wolf, president. “This is really important for me personally. I’m all about health and nutrition. In terms of adopting this kind of certification for the building, I’m all over it. Because this is the way I want to live.”

The WELL certification takes into account seven factors: air, water, light, fitness, comfort, mind and nutrition.

The 428 building features a prominent, open stairwell right inside the front door, more visible than the elevators, that attempts to get people to walk to the building’s next level rather than ride. The air and water will be significantly filtered. Huge windows allow in natural light. There will be a bike storage room, lockers and showers, as well as a designated fitness area.

“We’ll be focusing on these things and changing the way the occupants feel about the space,” Wolf says, adding that studies indicate there is a meaningful return on investment related to buildings constructed with these factors in mind.

The building, which will include a floor available for co-working along with three floors of office space likely for small- and medium-sized companies, should be available for lease soon.

“People are going to feel good about coming to work,” she adds. “They’re going to be more productive. They’re going to have less sick time and down time. And, by the way, I can use this as a retention and attraction tool.

With today’s unemployment, who isn’t facing a lot of challenges with just getting and keeping talent.”