<p>By: Krystal Register, MS, RDN, LDN Director, Health & Well-being, FMI</p>
<div class="mg-image–circular" style="float: right; margin: 10px;"><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/heart-fruit-bowl.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=46f2fc45_1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="heart fruit bowl" title="heart fruit bowl" /></div>
<p>Over the course of the past year, FMI has been engaging in conversation, learning about and supporting the many health and well-being programs across the industry that meet the needs of both customers and employees looking for improved overall health and well-being. Now it’s time to take an inspirational closer look at how these programs come to life by showcasing a few real-life examples from our members. </p>
<p>For this first feature (yes, there are more to come!) we reached out to Sarah Kiel, registered dietitian, and wellness champion at Harmons, to share her perspective on the good work going on to encourage health and well-being with a focus on supporting the essential food industry workforce. </p>
<p>As we all know, supermarket employees spend so much time at work and grocery work has been exceptionally challenging during COVID. As a retail dietitian, focused on employee wellness, Sarah believes that she is in the right place to support the health and wellness goals of their associates, helping them by making the healthy choice the easy choice. In fact, she shares that while, “worksite wellness programs used to be considered a perk, Harmons believes it’s our <em>responsibility</em>.” </p>
<p>When asked why she<strong> </strong>believes <strong>the grocery store is the ideal place to promote health and well-being programs</strong>, Sarah explained that all of the best resources are right here, “In a grocery store, we’re surrounded by food and chefs, and we have a team of dietitians and pharmacists. We are already positioned in place where many of our associates are making eating, health, and lifestyle choices.” </p>
<p>Harmons believes that their Dietitian Program is one of their greatest assets, primarily delivering customer-facing resources, but acknowledging employee wellness as a top priority. Along with free nutrition counseling sessions, the Harmons dietitians take a wholistic approach to offer robust weight and diabetes management classes, along with cooking classes and informative interaction with pharmacists, and they have the impactful ability to walk the store with an associate to explore personal choices and review labels. </p>
<p>As many others have experienced in the industry, <strong>one of the biggest challenges in delivering health and well-being programs to employees during the pandemic</strong> has been communication. Sarah admits that at Harmons they have had to get creative with communications and are working toward “surround sound” health messaging by using a combination of good old-fashioned word of mouth, Wellness Ambassadors at the store level, wellness boards in break rooms, email blasts, and their very popular associate Facebook page. </p>
<p>The shift to embrace virtual communications has been <strong>one of the biggest successes in delivering health and wellness programs to employees during the pandemic</strong> beyond the inspirational Facebook page. Sarah notes that, “we’ve successfully held classes, 5K fun runs, and many other events virtually, and hope to move forward with hybrid virtual and in-person wellness events!” </p>
<h5>
Do you have a health and well-being story to share? <a href="mailto:kregister@fmi.org">Contact Krystal</a>. </h5>
<p>By: Krystal Register, MS, RDN, LDN Director, Health & Well-being, FMI</p>
<div class="mg-image–circular" style="float: right; margin: 10px;"><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/heart-fruit-bowl.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=46f2fc45_1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="heart fruit bowl" title="heart fruit bowl" /></div>
<p>Over the course of the past year, FMI has been engaging in conversation, learning about and supporting the many health and well-being programs across the industry that meet the needs of both customers and employees looking for improved overall health and well-being. Now it’s time to take an inspirational closer look at how these programs come to life by showcasing a few real-life examples from our members. </p>
<p>For this first feature (yes, there are more to come!) we reached out to Sarah Kiel, registered dietitian, and wellness champion at Harmons, to share her perspective on the good work going on to encourage health and well-being with a focus on supporting the essential food industry workforce. </p>
<p>As we all know, supermarket employees spend so much time at work and grocery work has been exceptionally challenging during COVID. As a retail dietitian, focused on employee wellness, Sarah believes that she is in the right place to support the health and wellness goals of their associates, helping them by making the healthy choice the easy choice. In fact, she shares that while, “worksite wellness programs used to be considered a perk, Harmons believes it’s our <em>responsibility</em>.” </p>
<p>When asked why she<strong> </strong>believes <strong>the grocery store is the ideal place to promote health and well-being programs</strong>, Sarah explained that all of the best resources are right here, “In a grocery store, we’re surrounded by food and chefs, and we have a team of dietitians and pharmacists. We are already positioned in place where many of our associates are making eating, health, and lifestyle choices.” </p>
<p>Harmons believes that their Dietitian Program is one of their greatest assets, primarily delivering customer-facing resources, but acknowledging employee wellness as a top priority. Along with free nutrition counseling sessions, the Harmons dietitians take a wholistic approach to offer robust weight and diabetes management classes, along with cooking classes and informative interaction with pharmacists, and they have the impactful ability to walk the store with an associate to explore personal choices and review labels. </p>
<p>As many others have experienced in the industry, <strong>one of the biggest challenges in delivering health and well-being programs to employees during the pandemic</strong> has been communication. Sarah admits that at Harmons they have had to get creative with communications and are working toward “surround sound” health messaging by using a combination of good old-fashioned word of mouth, Wellness Ambassadors at the store level, wellness boards in break rooms, email blasts, and their very popular associate Facebook page. </p>
<p>The shift to embrace virtual communications has been <strong>one of the biggest successes in delivering health and wellness programs to employees during the pandemic</strong> beyond the inspirational Facebook page. Sarah notes that, “we’ve successfully held classes, 5K fun runs, and many other events virtually, and hope to move forward with hybrid virtual and in-person wellness events!” </p>
<h5>
Do you have a health and well-being story to share? <a href="mailto:kregister@fmi.org">Contact Krystal</a>. </h5>
