G&A Partners, a national professional employer organization and HR services provider, has recently been named one of the healthiest employers of 2015 in four markets, including Houston, Central Texas, North Texas and Utah. Each of these awards recognizes local employers who have demonstrated a commitment to creating a culture of health and wellness within their organization by implementing acreative corporate wellness program.

In just the past month, G&A Partners has been recognized as a Healthiest Employer finalist by the following publications and organizations: the Houston Business Journal, the Austin Business Journal, the Dallas Business Journal and the Utah Worksite Wellness Council. G&A claimed the No. 5 spot in the Dallas Business Journal’s list of North Texas’ Healthiest Employers; the rankings of the other two publications will be announced later this spring.

G&A Partners began offering a wellness program in 2012, according to Bonnie Scherry, Director of Corporate HR.

“The program started small, with gym stipends, healthy snack options and free yearly biometric health screenings. We’ve since expanded these efforts into a robust and comprehensive program that touches each dimension of wellness: physical, social, mental, emotional and environmental.”

The G&A Partners wellness program has four main objectives:

1. Educate employees on their current health status;

2. Engage employees through incentives and challenges;

4. Reduce the cost of health care to both employees and employer.

“By achieving these objectives, we believe this program will also help us reduce employee absenteeism, increase productivity across the organization and foster happier, healthier employees,” Scherry explained.

In order to drive participation and increase employee engagement in the program G&A conducts monthly wellness challenges, which are overseen by its full-time wellness specialist. Past challenges have included practicing stress management techniques, increasing daily amounts of physical activity and incorporating more fruits and vegetables into each meal.

Employees who successfully complete a challenge receive wellness points. These points, along with the results of biometric screenings and health assessments, are then used to calculate employees’ Individual Health Indicator (IHI) scores, which determine each employee’s health insurance premium. Employees with optimal IHI scores have lower premiums, creating a monetary incentive for employees to participate in the program.

Scherry has been pleased with the overall response to the program and the high level of employee participation the program has seen thus far, citing one challenge that achieved particular success.

“One of our more successful challenges has been the Fitbit challenge,” Scherry said. “Over the summer, G&A subsidized the purchase of a Fitbit fitness tracker for every participating employee. We awarded prizes to employees who met a variety of weekly goals, as well as those who tracked the most steps over the course of the challenge. In total, 100 of our employees participated in this challenge, tracking more than 66,000,000 total steps.”

Scherry also noted that several employees reported experiencing significant weight loss during the Fitbit challenge, as well as an increased awareness of their physical activity and overall fitness levels.

As an HR outsourcing provider, G&A takes special pride in having its wellness program so widely recognized.

“Human resources is our business, and we live by the very same HR best practices we recommend to our clients,” Scherry explained. “Having an award-winning wellness program showcases our commitment to not only take excellent care of our employees, but also our clients and their employees.”

G&A Partners

G&A Partners, a leading national professional employer organization (PEO), has been helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses, take better care of their employees and enjoy a higher quality of life for more than 20 years. By providing proven solutions and technology in the areas of HR compliance, employee benefits, payroll administration and workplace safety, G&A alleviates the burden of tedious administrative tasks, allowing business owners to focus their time, talent and energy on growing their companies. Headquartered in Houston, G&A has offices throughout Texas, as well as Arizona, Utah and Latin America.