One of New England s largest community banks puts wellness and culture first

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Harvey Hancock
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1 One of New England s largest community banks puts wellness and culture first

2 About Bangor Savings Bank HEADQUARTERS: BANGOR, ME NUMBER OF ASSOCIATES: 820+ LOCATIONS: 54 BRANCHES Time for a refresh After the Vice President of Human Resources at Bangor Savings Bank attended the Fitbit Captivate conference in 2015, she knew it was time to bring activity trackers into their wellness strategy. Leadership understood the power that workplace wellness had on improving company culture and was ready to take its program to the next level. In just over a month, one of New England s largest community banks gave its wellness program a refresh with the introduction of Fitbit Health Solutions. Leadership decided to make the upcoming holiday season the time to introduce activity trackers to its employees. In no time, Bangor Savings Bank launched the Fitbit Health Solutions storefront and dashboard, where employees could choose whichever subsidized Fitbit tracker they wanted. To further engage employees, the company celebrated 12 Days of Wellness, which consisted of 12 days of s and intranet updates about its new Fitbit offering. Tis the season Leadership decided to make the upcoming holiday season the time to introduce activity trackers to its employees. In no time, Bangor Savings Bank launched the Fitbit Health Solutions storefront and dashboard, where employees could choose whichever subsidized Fitbit tracker they wanted. To further engage employees, the company celebrated 12 Days of Wellness, which consisted of 12 days of s and intranet updates about its new Fitbit offering. Wellness is here to stay Since its inception, Bangor Savings Bank s wellness program has been a crucial part of its culture. The company makes sure employees are aware of its wellness offering from day one by introducing the wearable subsidy during new hire orientation. The bank participates in monthly activity challenges that feature creative themes, like a virtual hike through the Maine Appalachian Trail, which entails virtually hitting certain trail milestones based on step goals achieved. Employees continue to be excited about participating in the wellness program. Best of all, they re happy to come to work and committed to their company so much so that they made it on the 2017 Best Places to Work in Maine list.

3 Employee Spotlight: Michelle Louk A few years ago, 28-yearold Michelle found out her cholesterol was high. She learned that if she didn t get her numbers under control, she would need daily medication. Right away, she altered her diet to include healthier foods and exercised here and there, but saw no change. Soon after, her father passed away, inevitably sinking Michelle down to a low place that put diet and exercise on the back burner. Then, she was given a Fitbit device through Bangor Savings Bank s corporate wellness offering. The device motivated her to get moving again. She started tracking her exercise, how many calories she was burning, and her sleep every day. The Who s the Boss challenge really pushed me and it felt great! I got my most steps ever that week. I even got my family walking with me for that challenge! Specifically, the corporate challenges that Bangor Savings Bank ran, like Who s the Boss (which challenges employees to compete against their executives), pushed her to reach the most steps she had ever achieved. She even got her family walking with her to help her hit her goals. - Michelle Louk About 6 months later, Michelle had her cholesterol checked again and saw that her good HDL cholesterol numbers had gone up by almost 25% and her bad cholesterol numbers took her out of the danger zone, going down almost 7%. Her Fitbit gave her the motivation she needed to stay on track and keep pushing herself to do better. She now hits an average of 10,000 steps a day and doesn t plan on stopping and neither does her family.

Featured in 2017 Best Places to Work in Maine 25% increase in good HDL cholesterol for Bangor Savings Bank employee, Michelle As an employer, anything we can do to help employees stay healthy is a

4 Featured in 2017 Best Places to Work in Maine 25% increase in good HDL cholesterol for Bangor Savings Bank employee, Michelle As an employer, anything we can do to help employees stay healthy is a win for everyone. It means they are more productive employees more engaged with their teammates and our clients and it means they are better able to take part in all the things that are important to them outside of work. And, if we can make it fun through some friendly competition...that s even better! -President and Chief Executive Officer, Robert S. Montgomery-Rice 1

5 How to Design Your Own Virtual hike Pick a notable hiking trail in your area or a popular hiking route in the country, like the Grand Canyon. Convert trail milestones into step goals so that teams who average 7,000 steps during the first week of the challenge will virtually make it to a desirable lookout or interesting historical destination. Try starting with smaller average step goals so employees can work their way up to higher step counts. Pair incentives with each milestone achieved, such as earning a company-branded water bottle once a team hits the first average step goal. Send updates throughout the challenge that let participants know how far along they are on the virtual hike. You could even throw in an interesting fact about the hiking trail to paint a more vivid picture of the route. At the end of the challenge, reward the teams who reach the top of the mountain or rather, who achieve the final average step goal, which might be 12,000 steps. You could either gift them with a wellness-related prize, like a gift card to an athletic store, or donate on their behalf to a charity of their choice. Í To learn more about how Fitbit Health Solutions can help you build successful programs and improve employee health, contact us at healthsolutions.fitbit.com. CS-019-A

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