BBVA Compass achieves gold status for workplace health from the American Heart Association
On Sept. 12, the American Heart Association announced the results of its 2017 Workplace Health Achievement Index, a comprehensive annual survey that assesses and measures the quality and overall effectiveness of workplace health programs at companies across the nation. BBVA Compass is the only company headquartered in Birmingham, Ala. and bank with an employee count of over 5,000 to earn Gold level for cultivating a culture of health within its workforce.
More than 800 companies completed the Index assessment this year, but only 540 received either Gold, Silver or Bronze recognition. An index score of 86 was needed to achieve Bronze and a score of 130 was needed to achieve Silver. To achieve Gold, an organization’s health program needed to earn an Index score of at least 175 out of 217 points. BBVA Compass and 74 other companies reached Gold level, the association’s top recognition. While the average score for financial services companies was 83, BBVA Compass achieved 185 points.
The American Heart Association created its Index with its CEO Roundtable members, a leadership collaborative of more than 30 CEOs from some of America’s largest companies who are committed to applying evidence-based approaches to employee and workplace health. The Index’s scorecard uses science-based methods to evaluate the overall effectiveness of workplace health programs.
BBVA Compass Senior Vice President of Corporate Wellness and Benefits Amanda Creel oversees the bank’s wellness program, stating that a good wellness program should be flexible, comprehensive and act as a catalyst for promoting employee wellness inside and outside the office.
...we are invested in creating opportunities for every employee to have a healthy and bright future
“We are not interested in creating an one-size-fits-all wellness program. Instead, we are invested in creating opportunities for every employee to have a healthy and bright future,” said Creel. “BBVA Compass received the top recognition from the American Heart Association because our program integrates all the layers of personal wellness and provides resources and activities that can also contribute to a healthy lifestyle outside the workplace.”
“Wellthy for Life” is BBVA Compass’ complementary, point-based wellness program which is designed to address more than physical health. The holistic program strives to improve employee wellbeing in its entirety and is divided into four components: medical, physical, mental and financial health. Under each component, employees have the opportunity to earn points by individually selecting and participating in activities to help them set and meet their specific goals. Each point accumulated is converted into a dollar and contributed to employees’ Health Savings Account or Health Reimbursement Account throughout the year. Employees can earn up to 1,000 points a year.
The wellness program includes physical health activities such as an online health assessment, annual biometric and physical screenings, and a program that allows employees to track their steps and maintain healthy eating and sleeping habits. Also integrated in the program are mental health webinars that cover topics such as mindfulness and meditation. Rolled out this January, financial health is the program’s newest component and offers free financial wellness activities and programs such as Smart Dollar, which was created by American businessman and mainstream personal finance advisor, Dave Ramsey.
Using its Life’s Simple 7 playbook, the American Heart Association’s Index assesses the physical health of a workplace by evaluating a company’s cardiovascular health and calculating the average heart health score of its employees. The Index also measures a company’s workplace health program based on seven organizational best practices pillars, including the assessment of employee engagement and communication strategies.
Starting at onboarding, we engage each employee with our wellness program and its resources in a way that prioritizes his or her overall wellbeing.
“We focused on creating a holistic wellness program that could be easily communicated and personalized for each employee,” stated Creel. “Starting at onboarding, we engage each employee with our wellness program and its resources in a way that prioritizes his or her overall wellbeing.”
As a Gold recipient of American Heart Association’s workplace health program survey, BBVA Compass will be represented with other Gold and Silver recognized companies in Forbes’ special centennial anniversary edition, which appears on the magazine’s online platform starting Sept. 12 and hits newsstands on Sept. 28.
BBVA Compass’ wellness program will also receive recognition as one of the 100 Healthiest Workplaces in America, a national ranking that measures an organization’s wellness plan against six values: foundation components, vision, culture/engagement, communication, metrics and technology. On Sept. 19, the ranking of the 100 winning companies will be revealed online at www.healthiestemployers.com and honored at the Healthiest Employers Wellness Awards at the Fitbit Captivate ceremony in Chicago, IL.
For more information about BBVA Compass, click here.