“We’ve had over 100 years to perfect our company’s culture, and we found that the wellness program is truly part of the strategic plan within our company,” said Whitney Ayers, wellness program manager at Garver, an engineering, planning, and environmental services firm founded in 1919.

The program, which has become a cornerstone of the company’s benefits, includes a $300 health reimbursement employees can use at their discretion. Despite its importance, there were ways in which the company hadn’t modernized the program in decades. Chiefly, its administration, which Ayers was still juggling across spreadsheets, costing her hours on tedious, manual tasks, she shared during a From Day One webinar.

Employers would send receipts to Ayers, who would log them in an Excel spreadsheet by employee ID, make a few (manual) computations for tax purposes, then forward it to finance—a process that was becoming increasingly untenable as the workforce grew from 450 to 1,300 workers over about seven years. “Finally, I was like, ‘man, I’m doing a disservice to the wellness program because I’m not able to spend quality time on the strategic planning of my program. I’m spending so much time on administrative work.” 

Garver’s insurance broker proposed a solution: a lifestyle spending account, or LSA. These are flexible, customizable, employer-funded spending accounts employees can use for a wide array perks largely determined by the employer. With theirs, Garver funds perks like home gym equipment, nutrition programs, and fitness subscriptions. 

“LSAs are about employees being able to access things that matter most to them and bring value to their lives in various ways,” said Amanda Verdino of Forma, the LSA platform Garver brought on to lift the administrative burden and polish the program. “They’re super personalized, where everyone can access what matters most to them in a way that feels really valuable and meaningful.”

After the switch to an LSA, “the administrative burden went down to zero, which was amazing,” said Ayers. “I’m saving countless hours from having to do manual work, and it’s helping decrease human error.” Now, Ayers has time to focus work on cost-effectiveness and planning. When the CFO calls to ask exactly what the company is spending on health reimbursements, Ayers can answer right away, and in detail. 

“We have a 97.8% participation rate in our wellness program,” Ayers said. “We provide an insurance premium discount, and 97.8% of those employees earned that discount, not only last year, but also in 2023.” Garver also sees better health outcomes as a result of the improved program—which pairs preventative care with perks like the LSA that allow employees to get healthy how they want to.

“With the introduction of the lifestyle spending account, just last year we were able to invest in our people and pay out $233,000 in health reimbursements. That’s a 110% increase,” said Ayers. “The engineers checked my math.”

Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Forma, for sponsoring this webinar.

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism.

(Photo by mapo/iStock)