Case Study
Best Buy Health
Best Buy Health is a senior device company owned by Best Buy that offers various products specializing in medical alert systems like fall detection alerting emergency services. Seniors can request roadside assistance, ask questions about medical matters and play brain games with Best Buy Health devices. Some of Best Buy Health’s apps even work with existing smartphones, so seniors aren’t obligated to buy devices from the company.
Best Buy Health Offers Employees an Innovative Approach to Wellness Programming
Corporate Wellness Programs have gained popularity, with an increasing amount of companies investing time, effort, and funds in activities to promote healthy choices to their employees. Typical wellness programs focus on weight loss and increasing physical activity, and mainstream programs tend to lack focus on emotional and mental health fitness, which often leads to physical ailments.
San Diego-based Best Buy Health, the nationwide leader in wireless health and safety services for older consumers, has approached “corporate wellness” in a groundbreaking way – partnering with Dr. Brian Alman of True Sage to provide employees with coaching and support to navigate the challenges and issues faced in their day-to-day lives. Best Buy Health first partnered with True Sage to offer The Wellness Call, an automated coaching service, to its subscriber base focused on providing relaxation tips, motivational messages, and techniques for overcoming challenges to an older demographic. The program provides immediate results and long-term success. While extending this type of service to the wireless subscriber base, it also felt natural to extend a similar service to Lively employees so they could benefit from Dr. Alman’s techniques.
This innovative employee program was launched in January 2013. It provided a unique at-work opportunity to learn life skills and techniques on stress reduction, work-life balance, relationships, and various other personal and interpersonal topics.
Best Buy Health employees had access to monthly sessions in an intimate and safe group setting, one-on-one meetings, and the ability to email or call Dr. Alman directly to follow up on personal situations. Archived videos and resources were also provided to employees for on-demand access.
Participants were surveyed at the end of the program to learn what motivated them to attend and the value they found from those sessions. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and many employees expressed their hope for the sessions to continue in the following calendar year.
The program’s success can be seen through the anecdotal evidence and changes employees experienced by attending sessions and incorporating the techniques.
Here’s a sampling of what the company’s president, CEO, and employees had to say…
This program gives our employees a unique opportunity to learn from and meet with one of the world’s leading authorities in wellness and personal growth that they might not otherwise have. Most people do not have the luxury of spending resources on an expert of Dr. Alman’s caliber, yet through our program they receive the same techniques, coaching and access as his private clients. The skills they learn from Dr. Alman improve both their personal and professional lives.
~ Lynn Herrick, Vice President of Human Resources
“I found the program to be very valuable. I have learned helpful techniques and gained valuable advice in multiple sessions that have helped me cope or deal with situations in my personal and professional life.”
~ Employee X, Executive Assistant
I attended the parenting session. His examples and suggestions we’re really appropriate and helpful. He engaged the participants and asked about each person’s situation, then gave helpful and supportive information in a general sense as well as specific to the various participants. You could tell he was listening and really cared about each individual. It was time well spent!” – Employee Y, Training Manager
“Dr. Alman focuses his sessions on equipping employees with techniques to help them live a fuller life less cluttered with stress, anxiety, and physical, mental or emotional pain. Many employees would not have the opportunity to experience the benefits of having a coach or “therapist” so this permits them the chance to do that.
~ Employee Y, Training Manager
“Dr. Alman focuses his sessions on equipping employees with techniques to help them live a fuller life less cluttered with stress, anxiety, and physical, mental or emotional pain. Many employees would not have the opportunity to experience the benefits of having a coach or “therapist” so this permits them the chance to do that.”
~ Employee Z, HR Business Partner
Attending Dr. Alman’s sessions helped me to gain peace about a personal relationship matter, which enabled me to better focus on work when I am at work. Dr. Alman’s work helped me to assign responsibility where it belongs to myself or other people as appropriate, so I don’t feel guilty about or take on responsibilities that are not mine.
~ Employee XX, Anonymous