It’s no surprise a company called The Motley Fool values lightheartedness and fun, including in their wellness program. Samantha (Sam) Whiteside, MPH (Chief Wellness Officer) points to an all-encompassing, holistic design as the key to the program’s overwhelming popularity — 9 out of 10 employees… or Fools… participate.
Their success is reflected in numerous awards and recognitions:
- 2017 Most Athletic Company in DC
- 2016 Game Changer in Employee Health Award
- 2015 Healthy Alexandria Workplace Award
- 2015 Washington Healthiest Company Award
- Greater Washington’s Healthiest Employers 2015
- Cited in articles: Companies Take a Broader View of Employee Wellness Programs, 4 Companies With Awesome Wellness Programs, Amazingly Unique Corporate Wellness Programs, and 39 Kick-ass Wellness Programs to Copy.
Founded in 1993, this financial services firm committed to treating every employee as an adult. No Policy vacation gives each person total discretion over when they take time off; similarly, sick days are not tracked. Generous maternal/paternal leave allows a parent to take up to 4 months off any time in the child’s first year.
Foolish 15
The Motley Fool had no formal wellness program in its early years. Due to the sedentary nature of their work, Tom Gardner (CEO) began to see a company weight gain trend and took action. Sam laughs, “It was called the ‘Foolish 15,’ because that was how many pounds on average were gained after being hired. Tom removed all soda and candy vending machines. “One of our tech Fools, Ben Sterling, was planning to leave and become a fitness trainer. Tom convinced him to stay and dedicate part of his work day to personal training and leading group fitness classes. Eventually it turned into a full-time job, which I later took over and expanded into a multi-dimensional wellness program.”
Buckets of Wellness
The wellness program includes 4 separate but interconnecting categories:
- Exercise
- Nutrition
- Health promotion and disease prevention
- Brain health.
Sam feels getting people to use available stress management resources presents the greatest challenge for brain health. “I bring in EAP counselors at least twice a year to answer questions and explain how to access their services. Each Fool gets 6 free counseling sessions a year to address a specific issue. We provide free onsite yoga classes as well as highly subsidized… and wildly popular… massage sessions twice a week. I keep a close pulse on what is going on. If a team is under a lot of pressure, I send each Fool on the team an email to let them know they are appreciated and offer a free massage. We also make life easier through onsite dry cleaning; monthly haircuts, manicures, and pedicures; shipping and mail delivery. We encourage everyone to take time for themselves. During our monthly companywide Huddle, we randomly draw a name. They receive $1000 and must take 2 of the next 4 weeks off. Every few months I bring animals to the office. Nothing like puppies, kittens, ducklings, or chicks to turn adults into kids again. Their stress just melts away as they play with these little fluffballs.”
The Motley Fool has transformed from a sedentary company into one that celebrates movement and activity by:
- Covering the cost of nearby sports fields for team events
- Arranging discounts at local gyms
- Reimbursing endurance events
- Offering free onsite kettlebell, indoor cycling, boot camps, showers/locker rooms, and a full gym. “Something’s going on every day. We’ve provided inexpensive in-house resources to teams. Our Foolish Solutions team (membership call center) put in long hours on the phones. So I bought resistance bands for everyone, installed a pull-up bar, and relocated an exercise bike plus a treadmill desk to their location. It drastically improved their movement and happiness.”
I keep a close pulse on what is going on. If a team is under a lot of pressure, I send each Fool on the team an email to let them know the are appreciated and offer a free massage.
Sam also tries to make healthy eating as easy as possible. “I offer nutrition consults. Healthy items in our cafeteria are either free or subsidized as much as 90%. Less healthy items are also subsidized but not as much. We also offer a 50% reduction on in-office meal deliveries. I reviewed all local menus and highlighted the healthiest options for group meetings. We provide a 50% subsidy for Weight Watchers® and pay 100% for health-related phone apps. In the early days, pizzas were ever-present in our offices. I didn’t want to take that away completely. Once a month we have Pizza Day from local restaurants, but I added a salad bar and am pleased to say it’s always empty — while we still have pizza left over.”
The Motley Fool covers virtual doctor visits, too, accessed by phone or Skype instead of spending time in a clinic. The doctor makes an assessment and phones in prescriptions to the pharmacy if needed. Parents find this particularly useful with a sick child.
Wellness Challenges
Sam creates 1-month wellness challenges pulled from a different bucket each time. “I find 1-month challenges keep people from becoming bored and dropping out. We have Fools all over the world so these challenges can be done anywhere. We recently completed a companywide challenge to collectively do 100,000 push-ups in a month…. even our CFO joined in. As an incentive, if the company reached its push-up goal, we gave 2 Fools known to not take enough time for themselves a day outing based on their personal interests. We had a challenge to conduct meetings while moving. We’re getting ready to start a philanthropy challenge where Fools track hours of volunteer work and charitable donations. The evidence of the long-lasting impact of these challenges is all around me. The behaviors have become part of our culture.”
Each year Fools receive a certain amount to spend on anything wellness related. Sam emphasizes, “Wellness doesn’t look the same for any 2 people, so this initiative encourages them to try new things. Accountability goes a long way, so I like to make sure they have a little skin in the game. They pay up front and are reimbursed 50% for bikes, hiking shoes, snowboards, nutrition and meditation classes, swimming lessons… you name it.”
Rewards Vs. Incentives
Sam is not a fan of paying people to exercise and make changes. “We prefer to recognize achievements with timely praise. We use a customizable online program called YouEarnedIt. Each Fool gets 1000 Gold every month; managers receive 2000. The purpose is to recognize a coworker for something they’ve done. This translates to $10 and $20 a person, respectively, so no one is breaking the bank by participating. Fools can save the Gold for a variety of prizes on the YouEarnedIt website, including gift cards and a book for free in-office massages, or toward a vacation fund. I dedicate 500 Gold to each monthly wellness challenge and other achievements such as coming to an exercise class for the first time, being a team wellness advocate, attending their first morning sports, and overall individual wellness greatness. Since launching this program, they increasingly say we’re recognizing the right people.”
Wellness Outside the Bucket
Wellness cannot exist without a supportive environment. According to Sam, The Motley Fool thrives on change. “No one has an office… not even our CEO. Everything is on wheels. That means tables, desks, chairs, standing desks… everything! At any given time you might move to a different project, a different team, or even a different floor. Not everyone embraces change easily, so we try to be sensitive to those who require more time to adjust by giving them a heads-up and even offering help in making a move. After the move is over, I’ll offer these Fools a massage or a free lunch… just to let them know we do consider their needs.”
Another core value at The Motley Fool is collaboration. Todd Etter, official Chief Collaboration Officer, makes sure teams can collaborate internally and with each other. He sets up board games at least 3 times a week in the cafeteria. Fools from all over the company come together, get to know each other, learn to collaborate, and build relationships as they play these games.
Sam says a question heard around the office a lot is “How are you going to top that?” “If someone wants to be involved in creating something new, even if it’s not related to their job, they can go to their team leader and volunteer. Rarely will they say ‘no.’ Being bored here is difficult. People thrive in this dynamic environment.”
Not Another Cookie Cutter Program
Sam is justifiably proud of The Motley Fool’s wellness program. “We take great pains to customize health and wellness initiatives. This is partly because we have a self-funded health care program. We don’t have to accept something forced on us by an insurance company. We never ostracize someone due to their abilities or preferences. Every single component of our program is achievable, doable, and realistic.”
