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Case Study: Palliser Lumber
The lumber industry, like many physically demanding industries, struggles with employee injuries, associated absenteeism and high staff turnover.
According to Mike Brandrick, Human Resources Manager at Palliser Lumber, Ziest’s preventative health care programs offer a successfully proactive,
cost-effective solution to these problems. “It’s been difficult to measure,” says Brandrick, but, since engaging with Ziest over five years ago,
Palliser has “seen reductions in the number of injuries... the number of claims have dropped – that’s where we see the biggest value, along with the drop in absenteeism.”
One of North America’s leading lumber remanufacturers, Palliser particularly appreciates Ziest’s readiness to work directly with staff onsite: “Being able to get the services onsite,”
says Brandrick, “gave the staff another opportunity to manage some of the injuries that happen on and off of work without having to impact production.” Also noteworthy from Palliser’s
point of view is Ziest’s life skills coaching service. With Ziest providing arbitration services for staff, Palliser experiences “a lot less conflict within the floor,” notes Brandrick,
as the root cause of issues gets “dealt with immediately.”
Before Ziest came on board, Brandrick thought of preventative health care as being “very specific to the job, to what’s going
on within the facility and within the existing work environment.” He now views this type of health programming from a more “wholistic approach ... a far bigger picture, far bigger spectrum.”
For Brandrick, Ziest brings all aspects of an individual’s life and wellness together “to improve the overall working environment and the culture,” making for “lots of positives”
in more committed and aware management and a healthier, happier, more stable and productive workforce.
Case Study: Stepper Custom Homes
Two years ago, Stepper Custom Homes, a private home builder of 50 years based in Calgary, sought “to offer a benefit to its employees
that wouldn’t cost them anything, that would show the company’s appreciation.” Stepper engaged Ziest who, according to Robert Sandor,
Corporate Controller and Head of Human Resources, “came in with a whole range of services which fit what we wanted to do.” Initially,
Stepper envisaged preventative health care as mainly addressing employees’ physical health needs. However, it soon became clear that
tackling employees’ mental and emotional needs was just as essential.
Ziest’s physical fitness programs quickly led to “an increase
in productivity.” However, the team’s initiative in addressing individuals’ “personal problems, relationship issues, issues with
family, etc., also increased productivity.” As Sandor observes, “people generally had a better frame of mind,” which, in turn,
led to an overall improvement in company morale. “The morale is the issue that changed,” notes Sandor, “from where people started
to where they are now how there’s such a marked difference in them – their attitude and their weight and everything. Ziest has
addressed the needs of the company.”
Even in times of financial stress, Sandor emphasizes the advantage to companies’ bottom
line of investing in proactive health programming like that provided by Ziest. “I would recommend them to any company,” says
Sandor, “because it does increase productivity. It gives a person a benefit. It increases morale. It offers them something.”
Sandor applauds Ziest’s adaptability and willingness to work with Stepper to modify programs and costs as required: “You can
work with Ziest and they’ll offer you what you need at the price you need. And whatever price you pay, you’re still going to
get a benefit out of it.”
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