Employee wellness committee encourages personal health at Peoples
H
appiness spills over into every area of life—personal and professional—so anything Peoples can do to foster it is a top priority, according to the utility.
Peoples formed the Peoples Well-Being Committee five years ago as part of an initiative by its human resources department to encourage personal welfare. The committee has been going strong ever since, drawing volunteers from various locations across the company to spearhead innovative health-related programs and education.
“I care about the people here at Peoples,” Alex Anderson, an employee in Peoples’ Infrastructure Management Department and chair of the Well-Being Committee, told American Gas. “I understand that being able to lose a little bit of weight or be better prepared for retirement can completely change a person’s life.”
The goal of the Well-Being Committee is to provide employees with educational opportunities, tools and incentives to become the best version of themselves, he said. “We have hosted financial retirement-planning sessions, a prostate cancer awareness talk by retired Steeler Robin Cole, yoga classes, step challenges and weight loss challenges, including the Biggest Loser,” Anderson said.
Some initiatives also foster the good feelings that can come from helping others. One project involved partnering with Venture Outdoors to clean up the Allegheny River, Anderson said. “Ultimately, it’s much easier to work with happier people, and I try to do what I can to support them.”
The committee’s efforts have proved popular: Hundreds of co-workers have joined in one or more of the activities since the program began.