Work and wellness
Honest Tea co-founder talks about company culture of health, fitness
he darkest day I ever had at Honest Tea was in April 2015, when my beloved personal assistant died unexpectedly. It reminded me how fragile life can be and reinforced why health and wellness are a big part of our company culture.
That's not to say that all of my employees have to be runners or fitness buffs; it's about what we can do to give our employees the tools to make wellness a part of their daily lives. Our first step was to add the following question to every employee's annual evaluation: “Optional: Do you have any personal health or wellness goals that you would like me to write down for the coming year?” We always phrase the question as optional because we recognize not everyone feels comfortable sharing a health goal.
Over the years, we've had employee goals range from completing an Ironman triathlon to walking before work twice a week. But no matter the size of the goal, we've learned that it makes a difference to put it down in writing with the supervisor as a witness to help create positive pressure to achieve it.
There's no negative consequence for employees who don't achieve their health goals. But every year at our annual company meeting, we give out Wellness Awards as part of our employee award ceremony to those who meet or beat their goals.
Here are a few of the other wellness opportunities we offer:
We have a lot of naturally competitive people in our company. We've learned over the years that within our team, bragging rights are often the most effective and coveted rewards. We have various competitions and love it when someone unexpected wows with a top-place finish.
After hearing feedback from our employees, we brought aboard a health coach to support people's goals. The coach is available by phone or email, and conducts seminars, writes a weekly tip for our newsletter and runs the health competitions.
Every beverage marketer knows that you want your drinks merchandised “eye to thigh” — the height where a consumer first looks, rather than at the top or bottom of a shelf.
We always make sure to offer plant-based lunch options whenever food is served in the office and we get fresh fruit deliveries so employees can have healthful snacks. That's not to say we don't have other treats, but we try to keep everything in moderation.
We have a group of employees who schedule Wednesday Walks in which people gather in the lobby and walk a nearby trail together during lunchtime. We also offer boot camp in the office twice a week (moving around some chairs to make space), and installed two standing desks so team members have the option to sit or stand throughout the day. When we moved into our office space in 2008, we made sure to renovate one of the bathrooms to include a shower to encourage biking to work and lunch hour workouts.
When we sold our one billionth beverage last year, we talked about how we could thank our employees in a way that felt true to our brand. After discussing options, we chose the one that seemed the most us — we purchased bikes for all employees who wanted them (and most took us up on it).
That decision felt like the most honest way to celebrate the milestone with our team and to communicate that we want them to stay healthy and vibrant.
