Employee health and wellness programs are certainly not new ideas, businesses have been offering wellness resources to their employees for decades. A strong, well-rounded offering often leads to happier, more productive employees, higher retention, and can even attract talent to an organization, with a balanced wellness portfolio incorporating resources that support both mental and physical health, and increasingly, professional development.
We recently chatted with Reagan Nuss at CMA Enterprise to discuss the decision to add leadership coaching to their employee wellness resources and the positive impact it has had on company culture and employee wellness.
The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health. Wellness extends well past our physical and mental health, and may include a focus on areas such as social connections and the environment where we spend most of our time.
Broadening your Wellness Portfolio
Leadership coaching provides the opportunity to co-create an action plan of attainable milestones that helps participants to achieve goals and enhance confidence in their creativity, resourcefulness and wholeness.
We spoke with Reagan Nuss, manager of organizational development at CMA Enterprise about our collaboration to offer On-Demand Coaching (accessible professional leadership coaching) for all employees at CMA Enterprise.
“The CMA Enterprise has a culture that focuses on creating an engaging employee experience. Wellness, including opportunity to learn and grow as a professional, is a key component of this experience.”
~Reagan
Not surprisingly, CMA Enterprise was an early adopter of a broadened wellness strategy, including the use of confidential one-on-one leadership coaching as an avenue for employees to create strategies to positively impact their career development, relationships at work and strategies to manage through change.
“The reaction has been very positive! All our employees are thrilled with the opportunity to work with a coach and are appreciative of the option to add coaching to their career development activities.“
~Reagan
Engaging and supporting employees
From the outset, CMA Enterprise chose an open approach for the use of coaching. Employees book appointments when needed, in intervals that are frequent enough to allow mini coaching ‘programs’ to take place. Coaches have met a mix of new and returning coaches every time, individual contributors and leaders alike.
Feedback from those who participate has been inspiring: all deeply appreciate the opportunity to speak with a professional coach who can challenge their thinking and provide them with actions and choices they can take to improve their own wellness.
“We have received unsolicited feedback from those who participate in the program. Self-reports include a perception of increased skill and confidence and the intention to apply their new skills to work.”
~Reagan
Leaders at CMA Enterprise have gained new perspective on everyday responsibilities by using tools (applied in conversations) or practices (such as adding intentional reflection) to help recognize and overcome tendencies that may have been limiting their effectiveness.
While managers are the ones who engage with each employee on a daily basis (Read our thoughts on the role of managers post-pandemic), the importance of all dimensions of wellness cannot be understated as contributors toward a strong employee experience.
Leadership coaching is proving to be an effective approach to strengthening resiliency and resolve in all employees.
Stratford Leadership Development offers personalized development experiences that results in better people, positioned to be better leaders – leaders that are confident and capable of supporting & achieving business outcomes and team success.
Reach out to discover how we can help you build a custom solution to support and build up your organization’s leaders. We’d love to chat with you.
Dean Fulford brings more than 20 years of experience and a deep expertise in leadership development, organizational development and design, project management, process mapping, and best-practice benchmarking activities. With an extensive background in organization development and effectiveness, performance consulting and process improvement, Dean compliments his HR background with strong process management and competency-based project experience. Dean’s particular areas of expertise include:
- Leadership development strategy and program development
- Instructional design and facilitation; talent management program design and implementation
- Process design and project management
- Driving pragmatic, metrics-driven solutions
