Fostering a Collaborative and Healthy Work Environment

Photo credit: Hedi LaMarr

MetaStar fosters a positive and purposeful work culture to effect positive change in health and healthcare. The Culture and Wellness Committee guides programs, activities, and best practices to help create a supportive work environment for MetaStar employees.

Formation of the Culture and Wellness Committee

MetaStar has had a Wellness Committee for many years – working on programs, education, and opportunities to improve their health. When Human Resource Manager Susan Gunay joined MetaStar in 2020, she introduced the idea of integrating company culture into the existing Wellness Committee. The idea was supported, and the new Culture and Wellness Committee was formed.

The Wellness Committee members were invited to continue with the new committee and Gunay worked to recruit new volunteer members from across the organization, ensuring representation from each department.

Project Specialist Brent Amble shares, “Having the opportunity to be a voice and represent fellow employees is a privilege. By participating in the committee and sharing my opinion, I feel like I am contributing to the overall culture of MetaStar.”

Additionally, a charter was created to guide the committee. It includes the mission to discuss, plan, and manage organizational initiatives that promote a positive, fun, inclusive, and healthy work culture. An annual review of the charter and mission helps keep the group on track and aligned with MetaStar’s mission, vision, and values.

The committee meets monthly to work on employee appreciation, community-building activities, wellness initiatives, and other offerings to engage employees in the MetaStar culture.

Activities and Events

The update to become the Culture and Wellness Committee occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, which posed some unique challenges for the group. In December 2020, the group organized and hosted a virtual celebration to conclude the year. The committee bought snacks and treats, coordinated shipping to staff around the state and country, and ended with a virtual party featuring various breakout rooms and activities.

“It was just a huge win because the committee needed to be creative and work hard to put it together,” recalls Gunay, “In the end, employees really enjoyed the virtual event and it helped to bring us all together during COVID, which was a tough time.”

Last summer, MetaStar hosted “Hay Day on the Midway” at the home office. The weather was beautiful, and the staff had a fun afternoon team building in person through food, outdoor games, and volunteer opportunities.

“It’s really all about the camaraderie and relationship building and having an opportunity to interact with leadership and work colleagues in person that help us establish and maintain our culture,” said Gunay.

Another major event organized by the committee is the annual end-of-year celebration. This is typically held offsite and includes food, activities, recognition, prizes, and plenty of time to mingle. “It’s a nice way for the organization to thank employees for all their efforts during the year,” explains Gunay.

Impact of Remote Work Opportunities

After the pandemic, MetaStar studied how to best support staff in a new work environment while still ensuring we could continue to exceed our customer’s expectations. It was decided that staff could choose a remote, hybrid, or in-person work status if appropriate for their role. Ultimately, this change saved MetaStar resources, improved morale, and allowed us to provide more space for current and new tenants. However, the change caused MetaStar to look for opportunities for employee connection outside of regular meetings and spontaneous hallway conversations. It also gave the Culture and Wellness Committee additional challenges when planning events or programs. Organizing in-person events is a bit more complicated than it used to be. “It definitely affected how we thought about getting employees together and doing different activities,” Gunay explains, “We needed to think through the complexities of having many remote staff, whether it be the timing of events, so employees have sufficient travel time, coordinating with department level onsite meetings, etc. Many factors come into play. It is a lot of moving pieces.”

Communication and Access to Resources

With staff utilizing remote, hybrid, and in-person work status, communication becomes critical to make sure information about events, programs, and opportunities is accessible to staff. Besides hosting a monthly All Staff meeting, MetaStar uses Microsoft Teams (Teams) and emails as well as MetaStar’s intranet as ways to share information.

The Culture and Wellness Committee has an information hub on the intranet, making things easily accessible to all staff, regardless of location. Each month, the committee contributes an article to the intranet for staff to access. The articles cover a range of topics on culture and wellness, such as mental health, specific health conditions, and exercise practices. Sometimes, they feature guest writers outside of the committee who may have a particular interest or subject matter expertise they would like to share with others. The committee also promotes events and resources available through MetaStar’s Employee Assistance Program.

New to the Culture and Wellness Committee’s efforts are the Employee Wellness Resource Groups. These are topic-specific Teams channels that staff can join to engage with other like-minded staff. Current offerings include:

• Mindfulness/Restore
• Movement and Exercise
• Nutrition/Food is Medicine

Volunteer employee facilitators share information, articles, and experiences. Staff can choose how much they want to participate, which helps increase engagement across the organization.

Looking Ahead

The committee’s current focus is to set dates for the summer and end-of-year events and brainstorm new ideas and themes. It is important to schedule event dates well in advance so staff can arrange travel and plan to attend.

The committee is also looking to increase engagement and participation in the existing Employee Wellness Resource Groups and perhaps start some new topics. The group continues to ensure the committee consists of volunteers who have the time and energy to contribute effectively and are a balanced representative of the departments and organization.

Everyone’s Efforts Impacts Work Culture

The work of MetaStar’s Culture and Wellness Committee plays an important role in fostering a supportive and positive work culture that reflects MetaStar’s values and mission. The committee’s impact on the culture comes through clearly when you look at the high level of retention and long tenure of employees. MetaStar has a retention rate of over 90%, with employees staying an average of nine years—more than double the national average of four years. Additionally, MetaStar achieved our highest staff engagement score in our history, 96%, in 2024.

Ross Gatzke, practice leader of URAC and IVA, explains, “The committee contributes to the positive work environment at MetaStar by doing much of the planning and logistics for company community building. These events (summer gathering, end of the year party) are important for staff morale and a great opportunity for engagement, especially as most staff are remote.”

Looking ahead, the Culture and Wellness Committee is committed to building on these efforts, continuously improving the workplace culture, and ensuring all employees feel valued, connected, and supported in both their personal and professional lives.