The General Good

Assess the Situation

We try to have all of our employees get a health number from a health-risk assessment. General Mills had a company meeting where you pull your employees together and a contractor checks blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index, and employees fill out a health questionnaire. They enter information into a computer, and then they get a health number.

We were amazed. People loved this. You create small groups of people who are talking about their cholesterol. What’s your blood pressure? How are you doing? You actually create a lot of excitement when you do these screenings at company events.

We try to say, “As part of our culture, it’s important to us that you stay fit. And we’ll make it easy for you.” We have fitness Friday with dodge ball, badminton, and football. We have dance classes on site. We have an outdoor cross-country ski trail. We have walking clubs and walking trails—you can do this even if you’re in an urban environment.

General Mills has an onsite fitness center. You clearly need to be of a certain size to be able to do that, but you can also get discounts at local fitness centers for employees. Any time there’s a charity event, like the MS 150 or Diabetes Tour De Cure, we try get teams of General Mills employees together where people train and get in shape. It really does create a lot of camaraderie and a lot of fun.

Biggest Loser, Corporate Edition

I don’t know how many of you have access to your cafeteria vendors, but you can meet with them to talk about healthy food choices. Employees can attend Weight Watchers meetings on site at our headquarters in Golden Valley every Wednesday, and receive a corporate discount. We also offer an employee discount for Weight Watchers on line. We have a very effective program. We have nutritionists on staff because we’re a food company. We have counseling. Of course we’re a cereal company, so we can do a free cereal promotion. It keeps the message out there: high fiber, fruits, vegetables, whole grains. And you just have to keep reminding people: calories in, calories out.

If employees are having a meeting, I would talk to the event planners to make sure there is at least one fruit and vegetable entrée, and not just bacon-wrapped-sausage entrees. In fact, people love it, they prefer it, and they’re happy having a little broader menu choices.