All Well and Good A healthy workplace means keeping your employees' minds and bodies happy.
By Karen E. Spaeder •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
For John Roberson, motivating his 32 employees to be healthy is often as simple as rewarding them with a pair of cowboy boots. "We define wellness more liberally than others might," says Roberson, 43, president of Advent, a Nashville, Tennessee-based experiential marketing firm.
"It's about more than the physical; it's the whole person. So we encourage those things that will help not only [employees'] physical health, but their emotional well-being, too."
For one employee, the incentive was indeed a pair of cowboy boots; other rewards have included anything from guitar or yoga lessons to time with a personal trainer and even paid time off to build orphanages in Central America. "We tailor our rewards around our employees' interests," says Roberson, who purchased 20-year-old Advent in 2000 and has since grown the company's sales to an estimated $7 million in 2008.
