Before Tiffany Dennis joined Golden 1, the credit union didn't have any kind of wellness program or benefit in place — and she has spent the last four years in her role as senior wellness program manager to build one from the ground up.
"They knew that after the pandemic they needed to do more," Dennis says. "They just didn't know where to start."
Dennis, one of this year's Excellence in Benefits Award winners, began by reviewing employee feedback and data on their current offerings, a process she said made it difficult to access all of the information she needed. Changing tactics, she changed the company's engagement platform from Virgin Pulse to Personify and used it to track as many benefits and their utilization as possible. Once that was centralized, Dennis could then tackle the biggest pain points within their population.
"Our top five high insurance claims conditions were obesity, depression, high blood pressure, diabetes and back pain — which is probably not different from a lot of organizations," she says. "Looking at those as our biggest obstacles, I wanted to find solutions that best supported them."
Dennis implemented coaching services for all forms of wellness: She added an MSK program, and kept mental health platform Headspace on as a medication and therapeutic resource. Financial wellness platform Enrich was also added, as well as virtual care solution Omada to help employees manage chronic conditions such as obesity and prediabetes. Throughout the process, she made sure to factor in physical considerations like ergonomics and stretching, and touched on the mental and emotional component with mindfulness training for staff.
Tiffany Dennis, Senior Wellness Program Manager at Golden 1
But lining up these offerings was just the start of Dennis's mission to improve the health and well-being of her team. To get the word out about these new benefits, Dennis created "The Hive," a wellness committee composed of employees who have used the wellness benefits, and then deliver feedback to their colleagues and leaders.
"The Hive has been a huge resource in increasing engagement," Dennis says. "Prior to The Hive, our engagement into our chronic condition program was about 5%. After launching The Hive and having them really promote that program, we saw a 367% increase. [Their feedback] has been really instrumental to us."
Dennis' program has been deemed a huge success. Within 18 months, claims related to weight conditions, arterial disease, osteoarthritis, diabetes and heart disease have all decreased from the prior year on Cigna, according to Golden 1. Colon cancer screenings have increased from 30% to 39%, cervical cancer screenings from 38% to 47% and breast cancer screenings from 66% to 81%. Pediatric and adult visits are up, and preventive care compliance rose by 3%, reducing long-term healthcare risks. The program has even earned several national accolades, including the #1 spot for Healthiest Employers of Northern California and Newsweek's America's Greatest Workplace in 2024.
Despite the positive response, Dennis still has plans to improve upon her program for 2026, with a focus on adding more social programs and activities. When asked her biggest piece of advice for organizations looking to achieve a similar outcome, she stressed the importance of shifting perspectives.
"Wellness needs to be front and your other benefits need to support it," she says. "Medical, dental, vision — that all has to be just part of the bigger picture, which is employee wellness as a whole. You need to use surveys or focus groups to really understand what your employee population needs and wants and then build your program out."
Tiffany Dennis will be speaking at this year's Benefits at Work conference, happening September 3-4 at the Wynn in Las Vegas. Interested in attending? Find out more information right here.
