The company’s core value of inclusion was created, with strong leadership support and led by CEO and Chairman John Forsyth. There was a clear bridge to cross, moving from a strategic leadership initiative to employee awareness, education, and shared outcomes. 

As momentum grew for Diversity and Inclusion at Wellmark, there was a need to connect employees to a regular feed of information, resources, and inspiration around the topic of Inclusion. The Inclusion Hub was created as a technology solution to connect with all employees. Through the Inclusion Hub, employees have direct access to a comprehensive list of programs, services and benefits that reflect the model and values of Inclusion at Wellmark. Employees can share feedback and receive regular updates about Wellmark’s commitment to inclusion. The hub is refreshed as needed with new information, with a weekly commitment to new articles and stories that educate the organization around shared topics of value, community events, monthly observances, and special team member features where they share personal and diverse stories of inspiration. One component of the Hub is Wellmark Superheroes – focusing on strengths, gratitude and core values to engage, connect and inspire one-another.

To encourage continuous learning, the Chair/CEO issues frequent all employee D&I messages to raise awareness, educate and celebrate driving readers to the Hub throughout the year.

The Hub is one of the most viewed employee sites on Wellmark’s intranet. In 2019, the hub had 145,921 hits and averaged 30+ new articles a month. The Superhero site was recently added and saw over 5,500 hits in the first week.

Core Inclusion learning is required for all employees –courses and workshops are offered to focus on Speaking Up, Unconscious Bias, Generational Differences and Being an Ally. Wellmark employees gave inclusion courses an average rating of 4.6 out of 5.

Rona Berinobis