Show employees how much you value health with an office gym

Innovation and morale are a big part of the business for co-owners Jennifer A. Borislow, CLU, and Mark S. Gaunya, GBA, of Methuen, Massachusetts, with 29 and 11 years, respectively, of MDRT membership. That’s why, among many other initiatives, they’ve created a 1,000-square-foot fitness area in their building and hired a full-time trainer, who is available to work with staff members at any time of the work day.

Jennifer A. Borislow, CLU

“We’re trying to encourage our clients to take steps to create health care confidence and more opportunities to educate their employees,” Borislow said. “We start everything with our own employees first, and that culture starts with the investment in the gym and the investment in the trainer.”

In other words, the company lives by example, and delights in both offering these amenities to employees and showing them to clients. “They’re just amazed and

Mark S. Gaunya, GBA

ask, ‘You built a fitness center for your staff? You have a personal trainer? And then you tell them to take an hour out of their workday and work out?’” Gaunya said. “Yes, we do! Our only requirement is that if a client needs you on the phone and you have to come out in your workout gear, then that’s the way it is. And they’re OK with that!”

Positive impact

The result has been a less-stressed staff that also has new opportunities to socialize. (Because of the size of the space, only three people are allowed to work out at the same time, Borislow said, so the trainer can keep an eye on all of them.) Other employee benefits include a potluck lunch, an ice cream break and a day off every year to participate in a community service project. “We’re in the benefits business,” she said. “So the one thing that you can be assured of when you come to work for our team is that you will have the best benefits around.”

Hear more in Borislow and Gaunya’s 2017 Annual Meeting Focus Session “Building an Engaged Organization.”

Look back on past Annual Meeting Focus Sessions

Written by Matt Pais, MDRT Content Specialist