In spite of the stereotype of many sports fans, including race fans, as having room to improve as far as wellness, fitness and healthy eating, NASCAR as a sanctioning body has taken that effort to heart and has made great strides in its own wellness efforts.
In fact, NASCAR has recently been named a Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite by the American Heart Association for its emphasis on helping employees stay healthy. They also won the Worksite Innovation Award for developing new ways for its staff to keep physically fit and active.
This week’s edition of NASCAR Behind the Scenes focuses on just how NASCAR earned that distinction, as well as the many ways that they are following the example of their athletes in taking the wellness checkered flag.
“The whole nation is starting to come to terms with wellness, so NASCAR is not alone on this journey,” Paula Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of human resources, said. “What is unique at NASCAR is that we are a sport.
“Our athletes are the biggest inspirations that our employees have. You look at our athletes who practice incredible discipline and healthy habits on a regular basis. They train for the highest level of competition and push their bodies. That is motivating to our employees.
“You have the national emphasis on wellness and the fact that all employers are looking at how to have a healthier workforce, for their staff as well as to contain costs. But the secret ingredient in our sport is that the athletes really do rub off.
“Our goal is to harness that and build a platform that allows our employees to play on that same field with the athletes in our sport.”
As with all corporate wellness initiatives, the leadership must buy in for the effort to be successful. And at NASCAR, this is true from the CEO on down.
“On the topic of wellness, we have universal support from our leadership,” Miller said. “Our executives participate in the activities, from biometric screenings to getting flu shots to hearing tests.
“The leaders are not bystanders. They are out front introducing many of these initiatives. I think that’s the key and our leaders are real good examples here.”
NASCAR’s leadership is indeed committed to wellness as evidenced by Brent Dewar, NASCAR’s COO, who shared his thoughts on all that the sport is doing for their employees’ health.
“At NASCAR, we work hard to position wellness as an attainable way of life for our employees. First, we educate our employees on the importance of this initiative and then we work to equip them with the resources they need to hit their health and wellness goals,” Dewar said. “The healthier our employees are, the happier and more productive they will be at work and at home. NASCAR is constantly innovating and this is just one more example of how we strive to uniquely invest in our employees.”
While NASCAR is a corporate employer, they are also unique in that their employees are so often on the road. To accommodate wellness under these circumstances, NASCAR had to be even more creative.
“We are special from an employment perspective because we are in a sport where there is a lot of travel,” Miller said. “And when you travel, you may not eat as well as you should, you get less sleep and you may not get the chance to exercise as much.
“We tried to introduce something to our workforce that played to that aspect. Every year, we add something new so we partnered with Rival Health, a leader in individual fitness solutions. Their program creates daily, customized fitness routines and nutrition plans based on the information provided by the employee.
“The other neat thing is that it is not just about the employee but is offered to three family members or friends as well. We know that if you have a partner helping you on the wellness journey, you are more likely to be successful, at home or on the road.
“The beauty of Rival Health is that it is accessible via mobile devices, your phone, tablet, or your laptop. So, you can sit in your hotel room, logging, recording, reading and using the resources and tools from Rival Health. We selected them because of the travel nature of our business.”
NASCAR takes care of its employees who travel but also those who work in their more typical office settings.
“We’re big on making sure that all of our information is accessible to all of our traveling employees as well as our on-site employees in the more traditional settings,” Miller said. “So, we have on-site gyms, in Daytona, Charlotte and Concord.
“We give $50 reimbursements for purchase of equipment or other things that build people’s wellness. We offer $100 incentives for going to the doctor for preventative programs.
“We have treadmill desks in Daytona and Charlotte to make a habit out of getting up and being mobile. We have NASCAR-branded fitness balls that staff can use instead of the traditional desk chairs.
“There are fun ways that are visual that shows that this company is committed to be a positive place to work and to contribute to our employee’s well-being.”
While NASCAR’s wellness initiatives are designed to be not only effective but fun, they are also totally based on data and statistics. And in the end, all of the efforts are focused on making cultural changes that support taking the checkered flag in the race for long-term wellness.
“Before wellness gets fun, you have to look at the data,” Miller said. “The heart and soul of our wellness program are the annual biometric screenings. We do blood measures, BMI, glucose, and cholesterol screening. We have onsite screenings at every location, measuring how our employees are doing. This also allows us to tailor our programs, focusing on what the data tells us.”
“To change the culture, you have to have all the data but you also have to have that factor that visually reminds people to get involved,” Miller continued. “Once a month, we put out a big old pot of different fruit each month. There is a note that talks about why that particular fruit is good for you.
“At Daytona, we call it ‘Fruit Friday’ and at Charlotte , we call it ‘Wellness Wednesday.’ Now, we are also adding produce and we call that ‘Introduce Produce.’ We put recipes out there to be made with the fruit or vegetables. So, at every turn visually in this company, our staff sees that reinforcing point of wellness.”
As with every corporate wellness initiative, NASCAR has indeed seen results that impact their financial health and bottom line.
“I can tell you definitively that we run under the national trend for cost per employee for year for our healthcare costs,” Miller said. “And when we do an employee engagement survey, we have an 80% favorable rating as far as staff feeling like NASCAR promotes wellness.”
“We have increased our participation in the biometric screenings to 89 percent, which is phenomenal. We look aggressively at drug use where an employee can influence use by their behaviors and we have seen a solid downward trend in the need for those drugs.
“This is a journey. Companies may not see immediate results as it takes a couple of years. But we are in the middle part of our journey and are seeing terrific results.”
NASCAR’s wellness initiatives not only focus on physical health but also mental and emotional health as well.
“Emotional wellness and physical well-being are connected,” Miller said. “We have a strong Employee Assistance program, including lunch and learns that are specifically tailored to stress relief and reduction, family issues and dealing with eldercare issues.
“We have NASCAR University, which is an on-line training program for all staff, and there we have videos and other materials that deal with wellness. We did a health fair not too long ago in Daytona and we had a yoga demonstration.
“Our athletes need to balance their lives to deal with stress so we mirror that as well.”
So just how proud is NASCAR of all of their wellness accolades?
“We are proud of our awards because it is an employee award,” Miller said. “It speaks to the benefits that our employees receive being a part of NASCAR.
“We are not what a lot of folks think NASCAR might be and the recognition is a great way to show that our wellness efforts work. We love this national award from the American Heart Association but we were also named in the Charlotte Business Journal and in the Orlando Business Journal as one of the region’s healthiest employers.”
“So, the recognition is local and it is national,” Miller concluded. “I guess proud is the best word because it exemplifies what NASCAR really is all about despite any stereotypes that people may have.”
[WU1]“Wellness Wednesday” is the name of the activity in the Charlotte (not Concord) office.
