K.E. McCartney employees see benefits of working out together

K.E. McCartney & Associates is taking a proactive approach to ensuring the health and wellness of its employees.

Brian McCartney, president and owner of the civil engineering firm, said the company had been focusing on what it could do to help employees after they got sick (e.g. disability and life insurance), but now the business is paying more attention to what it can do upfront to make sure its employees are healthy.

“We just re-prioritized our efforts to spend some of our resources on the front end to get people motivated for health and fitness,” he said.

This has led to the inception of a wellness program, which includes a monthly gym membership reimbursement of up to $50. Employees must show they’ve attended at least 10 times per month.

The program started in December, but several employees have been working out together for over a year now.

Within walking distance of the business’s downtown office is CrossFit Katana, where about 10 KEM employees meet regularly during lunch hour for a CrossFit class.

Jason Burgholder, transportation services manager at KEM, encouraged his coworkers to join him in working out at CrossFit Katana, where he’s been a member for the past four years.

“I harassed them enough,” he joked.

McCartney and others admitted their reluctance, as CrossFit is often perceived as intense and intimidating.

“CrossFit can get a bad rap,” Burgholder said. “I mean it is very intense and there are people who will jump into not knowing the moves and trying to go too fast and too hard and do get injured, but J.P. (Pocock, owner of CrossFit Katana) is really good about making sure people understand the technique and form and are smart about their choices with weights.”

The group aims to work out together every weekday, with some coming in on the weekend.

Already they’ve seen the fruits of their labor in that several have lost weight, including one employee who’s down 70 pounds.

Not only that but relationships have been strengthened, as well.

“It’s a team-building thing and an opportunity to spend time together outside the office,” McCartney said.

Pocock picked up on the camaraderie that they share, remarking how fun and entertaining it can be to watch them as a group. “It’s like a high school locker room,” he said laughing.

Having the chance to get up and be active during the workday has been another win.

“As engineers we sit most of the day, so this gives us an opportunity to come over and move around a little bit,” Burgholder said. “It definitely helps my afternoons when I can get in here.”

The work environment as a whole has been impacted in a healthy way — McCartney said employees bring in healthy recipes to share and that they’ve even started a weight-loss competition with 18 employees participating, who, in just four weeks, lost a combined total of 150 pounds.

Looking ahead, McCartney anticipates additional value of the wellness program.

“I firmly believe in the long run this is going to reduce our health costs,” he said. “I think if every business thought about it that way they could actually save money if they just spend the money up front on health rather than spending it on the back end to get people prescriptions and paying for their health insurance.”