On the Road to Wellness

From awareness to lifestyle change

Campbell Canada’s Wellness Within initiative has proven to be an integral part of its workplace culture. The initiative, which was built on a thorough analysis of benefit utilization data, short-term and long-term disability trends and the results of an employee survey, is directly aligned with our business goals. Our mission is to create a workplace environment that inspires employees to incorporate health and wellness goals into their daily routines.

Last year, employees participated in approximately five out of 10 programs, all of which are offered during work hours. The program is voluntary, designed for all Campbell’s employees and adaptable to all stages of health—from recovery from a chronic illness, to health maintenance and disease prevention, to health maximization (e.g. training for a marathon). We offer employees programs in nutrition, active living and disease prevention.

We continue to monitor and measure the success of our wellness programs. We have seen a steady increase in participation rates. We have also noted increased levels of employee engagement and job satisfaction, as well as improvements in individual health outcomes, such as weight loss and smoking cessation.

We have also partnered with Pfizer Canada to help us quantify the impact of our wellness programs on our employees’ risk of cardiovascular disease and its associated benefits costs. Called Heart to Heart, this initiative has more than 170 participants and will be completed in late 2008.

We continue to provide individual lifestyle counselling to our employees, along with incentives and workplace support for achieving their health goals.

Our commitment to health and wellness is steadfast and continues to evolve thanks to the active involvement of partners such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Pfizer Canada and our dedicated team of in-house heath and wellness professionals.

Fanny Karolev is manager of work-life, health and wellness, Campbell Company of Canada.