Acceleron Pharma is a publicly-traded, Cambridge-based biotechnology company that strives to bring health to their community and employees. Through its partnership with Wellable, Acceleron has and continues to provide employees with access to numerous resources to live healthier and happier lives, including weekly onsite fitness classes, engaging wellness challenges, educational seminars, fun events, and more. Like most companies, they didn't get there overnight. Acceleron started small with just one fitness class per week and constantly evolved its program over the years to meet the needs of its employees. Now, their successful and thriving program includes multiple fitness classes each week, leading technology, and happy employees! Check out the video below to find out more about the Acceleron wellness journey!

 

Timeline

2021

  • Introduced fun and unique virtual events to build culture and connectivity between dispersed employees (e.g., team trivia)
  • Helped employees train their way to finishing a 3.1-mile race by organizing a Make Your Way to 5K Challenge
  • Participated in Wellable's annual Biotech Challenge, competing against ~50 other biotech companies around the world

2020

  • Ran a team-based Charity Challenge that enabled winning teams to earn donations for the charity of their choice
  • Featured challenge winners in Acceleron's Company Newsletter
  • Delivered webinars to employees with resources to help stay active and eat healthy during an extended period of remote work

2019

  • Leveraged Wellable platform to cross-promote and drive engagement for on-site wellness initiatives such as fitness classes and community walks
  • Organized wellness scavenger hunt that rewarded employees for engaging in various events and activities around campus

2018

  • Organized the NMD (Neuromuscular Disease) Challenge to raise awareness of various muscular diseases and supporting organizations that and central to the mission of Acceleron Pharma
  • Continued commitment to employee health through comprehensive wellness program

2017

  • Expanded program to include Wellness Challenges and offered Fitbits to all employees
  • Participated in Step It Up Challenge, competing against six other biotech companies in Massachusetts
  • Started offering quarterly wellness seminars

2016

  • Increased frequency of onsite fitness classes to four per week and offered diverse options (yoga, bootcamp, etc.)

2015

  • Launched partnership with Wellable by including onsite fitness classes into existing wellness program once per week
  • Increased frequency of onsite fitness classes to three per week to meet high demand

Hear It From The Source

 

Some Wellable Love

"I think the wellness program impacts the organization by making employees happier, it improves morale, and . . . it also just gives people a really good opportunity to foster working relationships within the company, even with people they don't know that well... It's just a great way to start new conversations with new colleagues, which is especially... important for new hires because it helps with their onboarding too."

Barbara Leibo

Wellable Participant

"Since we started our wellness program, we've added different programs to it, including partnering with Wellable, and we have them come onsite to do different fitness classes, fitness challenges, which is great. Our employees seem to like it... The impact has been great, I can't say how much ... [the program] benefits employees in so many different ways that you can't even begin to think of!"

Jennifer Sweeney

Human Resources

"Our employees are thrilled with the fitness classes we sponsor... If you don't currently run a Wellness Program you should look into the [Wellable] offerings, you won't be disappointed!"

Nancy Sullivan

VP of HR

"The fitness classes only get about 5% of employee participation but now that we have offered Fitbits through Wellable and also done step challenges, we have almost half of the company participating in those events... I think Wellable has been doing a great job just to get people engaged in other fun ways to use wellness to [their] advantage... Over the course of the month, we walked 13,000 miles, which is halfway around the Earth."

Bergen Washburn

Wellness Committee Member