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Remote and on-campus employees can benefit from this organic vegetable gardening offering that incorporates hands-on and online learning.
With the landscape for employers changing on a regular basis and best practices for engagement always in flux, organizations are searching for regular activities that are inclusive—whether employees are working from home, on campus or both. As demands of both life and work increase seemingly on the daily, programs offering stress reduction and a healthier lifestyle, while improving company culture, are a must.
If your credit union is searching for engagement activities or a new employee benefit, consider an employee gardening program. Such notable companies Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Apple, Tesla, Whole Foods, Bed Bath & Beyond, IBM, Patagonia, Intuit, LinkedIn and PayPal have turned to StartOrganic to design, develop, execute and maintain organic gardening programs that have proven to be successful for engaging employees working remotely as well as on campus.
Away From the Office but Engaged
Gardening programs can have something to offer even those employees that don’t live near the office or corporate headquarters. For example, the StartOrganic online corporate wellness and sustainability program is designed to help reduce employees’ stress levels while improving productivity and physical health by teaching people how to rely more on themselves and less on the grocery store by growing their own organic vegetables. The StartOrganic team manages all development aspects for the online course content.
Sample course topics range from “Spring Garden Planning & Planting,” “Fruit Trees & Honey Bees” and homesteading lessons on canning, pickling and preserving to get the most out of harvests. There are special events online created around Earth Day, Bring Your Kids to Work Days and more to help employers provide meaningful experiences for their employees.
From consulting services, recorded topic-specific courses, bi-weekly webinars touching on relevant gardening topics throughout the year and consistent Slack/MS Teams interaction, employees can learn to become successful organic gardeners in person or from their own home office and garden.
Companies that have implemented the online program for remote employees have had participants join from their home locations throughout the U.S. and Canada as well as South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Japan, India, Southeast Asia and Australia.
A Garden for All
To promote engagement, it’s important to offer resources for program participants of all gardening experience levels. StartOrganic’s online courses support a diverse group of gardeners, from beginners to experts. Team members have reported positive feedback, making progress on their own gardening goals, while also connecting with other team members who share a passion for gardening.
The program helps employees develop the skills needed to grow a successful home garden of any size—from a small area with containers on a patio balcony to a larger sustainable garden space in a backyard. The positive effects of gardening are supported by numerous scientific papers showing it reduces depression and anxiety while providing multiple emotional, social, vocational, physical and even spiritual benefits.
Everyone Benefits
Employees who participate in such gardening programs enjoy stress reduction, learn life skills, have better food security in a time of supply chain issues, engage in healthier eating and mindfulness practices, and can share an activity with family members when spending more time at home.
A recent survey of 358 participants in StartOrganic’s online vegetable gardening program revealed 100% of employees enjoyed StartOrganic’s learning presentations; 99.4% also said they learned something new and 92% felt a reduction in their stress level from participating. Approximately 96.1% said that they experienced positive life changes due to having a campus garden, 92.2% felt comfortable implementing their new knowledge in a home garden.
Employers offering gardening programs benefit by seeing increased employee retention, recruiting, team building, community, enhanced company culture and company perception, and the flexibility to engage in an at home or at work activity themselves. If space is available, StartOrganic also develops and builds on-campus gardens to give employees a hands-on experience that serves as a living example of an organic vegetable garden’s potential.
Josh Levine and Troy Smothermon are the founders of StartOrganic, San Jose, California. To connect with them, visit https://www.startorganic.org/corporate-gardens.
