ENTRY FROM: The Top 100 Health Promotion Professionals

Nominee: Courtney Moskal

Corporate Transitions

Walsh Duffield Cos., Inc. is an independent insurance agency, supporting our customers by providing personal and business products and services leading to insurance and risk management solutions. As a fourth-generation, family-owned business, we take this work seriously and approach each day with the mindset that we want to exceed our customers’ expectations.

Wellness at Walsh Duffield has been an ongoing educational and exciting journey which began several years ago. As our workforce grew both in size and age, we discovered how much we valued the health and well being of our associates. As this priority became more evident, we found we wanted to be supportive and encouraging of all wellness efforts. Consequently, we found ourselves counting steps and calories, participating in screenings, from finger pricks to Bod Pods, and performing yoga moves, striking Latin poses and playing Wally ball! As associates learned which ways to wellness worked for them, we now consistently see healthy snacks and lunches in our office and everyone seems to be “on the move” in one form or another. Our travels began with healthy steps taken by both owners and associates. This mutual initiative and enthusiasm is the foundation of our success. Our journey has brought us to a destination of a culture of wellness, in which we continue to discover new approaches, accompanied by the support of all at Walsh Duffield Cos., Inc.

In addition to valuing our associates’ health, we are experiencing benefits from our wellness culture. Our associates have a greater awareness of their personal health which is reflected by their interest and positive attitude toward wellness events and opportunities. In our agency, both the employee and employer benefits from decreased absenteeism; and employees earn a significant monetary benefit incentive for program participation. Our high percentage of successful participation is attributed to several factors including a variety of wellness events. Our “WD – Wellness Daily” program sponsors educational lunch & learns, nutritionist and personal trainer one on ones, community walks, flu shots, health assessments and screenings, exercise classes and more; all promoted on our WD! intranet and eye catching office bulletin board. Active participants in our current outcomes based program, not only personally receive the results of their efforts, but all the corresponding wellness benefits. Our group is out walking after a healthy lunch, heading to the gym before or after work, trading healthy recipes and supporting one another as we take our wellness steps. As our associates have become more aware of their physical condition, wellness conversations are the norm and increased ownership of personal health and well being is prevalent. The most effective tool on our journey and the one in use every day is the support, enthusiasm and efforts of our owners and ALL of our associates. We are very proud of our wellness culture and it remains a priority within the organization, at WD – Wellness Daily!

I have been hired as the Wellness Coordinator and Registered Dietitian to promote these same influences within our clients' corporate environment. I have been in the field for over 9 years and it has been quite the satisfying adventure. Our organization has 80 associates and our clients' sizes range from small to very large.