At any given time during the day, Intuit employees can be found at their desks, in the on-site weight room, on the .42 mile indoor walking path, on the outdoor walking path, in the on-site Pilates class, in an on-site Weight Watchers class, meeting with the on-site personal trainer, with the on-site chair masseuse or in the café where healthy options are available everyday.

There’s no subtlety here, Intuit wants to provide options for a healthy lifestyle to every one of its 1,200 employees.

“Approximately four and a half years ago ,we started a big kick off for the wellness program,” said Jacki Cyburt, human resources coordinator for Intuit. “It has turned out great. The employees are thrilled to have offerings on-site that are convenient for them. Many say they wouldn’t work out if they had to stop somewhere else on the way to or from work.”

(Use arrows above to view more photos) Advertisement

Beyond all this, Intuit offers smoking cessation classes, stress reduction classes, a cycling club and a softball team.

“The cycling club rides in the El Tour de Tucson each year,” Cyburt said. “It actually draws our cycling clubs from different sites all over the country to come here and ride. It’s their big event.”

The company even hands out stretching bands or fitness balls with an instructional sheet of things employees can do while sitting at their desk on the phone.

“We try to incorporate as many things as we can for them,” Cyburt said. “We are considering offering a dance class to the employees with the popularity of shows like ‘Dancing With the Stars.’”

Each year Intuit brings a mobile on-site mammography unit to the building for its female employees.

“We had 54 people take advantage of it this year,” Cyburt said. “It is easier for them than having to make an appointment, take time off of work, drive to town, sit in a waiting room, have the mammography and drive back. Here they go out, sign a piece of paper and they are done in 15 minutes.”

Michelle Rau has been with the company for a little more than 10 years and the changes the company made have made her an entirely new person.

“I’ve lost more than 50 pounds over the last year,” Rau said. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much better I feel.”

Rau, a senior communications specialist, has been attending the Weight Watchers program, meeting with the personal trainer and taking advantage of the various offerings from Intuit. All together, the Weight Watchers program attendees have lost more than 700 pounds during a couple of years.

“It is fantastic that Intuit offers so many choices,” she said. “I don’t have to take the time to go off site or stop on the way home for these things. Now I just walk down the hall. That’s been an important factor in my success at the program.”

Rau said her success is also attributed to being able to follow her meal plan in the company café.

“They always provide a variety of healthy things for you, not just pizza,” Rau said. “They have a salad bar, veggies, yogurt, milk, grilled chicken or salmon. It is a lot more convenient to do things that are good for me.”

Rau has taken advantage of the opportunities for mental health and stress relief as well.

“The watercolor class is great for stress relief, unwinding and relaxation,” she said. “All the materials are provided. People can just show up and grab paint. Talking on the phone and solving problems is a very left brain activity. It is nice to slip into right brain activity.”

Personal Trainer Andrea Curless is part of the Wellness Council of Arizona. She comes to Intuit Wednesdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Monday nights from 4 to 6 p.m. to meet with employees who schedule time with her.

“I am usually here for one-on-one training,” she said. “We talk about everything from exercise, nutrition, self care and everything else.”

The fitness center is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

“It is just one less burden to put on the employees,” Curless said. “It really helps out a lot.”

Despite her work in the fitness center, Curless said the program as a whole is what is important for the employees.

“It is important that companies like Intuit focus on overall wellness and not just the physical aspects of it,” she said.

Intuit partners with the Wellness Council of Arizona and many of the programs they offer the employees are put together through the council.

“They have a touch on the pulse of the appropriate people to bring in to work with our employees,” Cyburt said.

Despite encouraging the employees to participate, Intuit does not see who is working out, nor do managers and supervisors know who is going to Weight Watchers, smoking cessation or anything else it offers.

Even the chair masseuse and the fitness instructor only know the employees they work with on a first name basis.

“We don’t know who is making healthy choices because we don’t reward our employees for doing that,” Cyburt said. “It is just something we want to offer them because a healthy employee has less sick time taken, they are happier, they are healthier, they are more motivated.”

Happy, motivated employees take care of customers.

“We know it is an offering our employees are very appreciative of because when classes wind down I get messages everyday asking if they are coming back,” Cyburt said. “We’ve received nothing but positive feedback.”

 Contact Joe Pangburn at (520) 295-4259 or at  jpangburn@azbiz.com.