A former college football player and tennis pro, Greg Lambert, wellness coordinator for Facilities and Operations says: "My calling was to be in a position where I can help people appreciate their health."

Challenging Coworkers to Place a High Value on Health

Greg Lambert, Wellness Coordinator for Facilities and Operations (F&O), a major U-M business unit with approximately 1,750 union and non-union staff members, is a magnetic man with a smile that lights up a room. It's a smile he flashes freely—along with a warm handshake and welcoming air that makes people feel good about lining up to get a flu shot in anticipation of a long winter, or taking advantage of a free health or fitness screening to learn how fit or out of shape they are, or participating in one of the many fitness/charity challenge programs Greg has organized over the past six years to motivate F&O staff members in his department to appreciate their health and take steps to improve and preserve it. He's a man who brings passion and conviction to the work he does, is practically infectious about spreading that passion around, and seems to find tremendous gratification in helping others take steps to improve their lives by making good health a priority.

"My calling was to be in a position where I can help people appreciate their health," he explains. "We're supposed to live a long life, but we have so many obstacles that get in the way of that—obesity, stress, depression, drugs and alcohol, and any number other risks. In the University community and Facilities and Operations in particular, we have an aging workforce with lots of occupational injuries and illnesses. My challenge coming into this environment was to boost awareness of some of those risks and begin teaching people to put a higher value on health and the steps each of us can take to take better care of ourselves and the people we care about."

Empowerment and outreach are two critical success factors that Gregg credits with helping staff members attach greater value to health. "When people started seeing the passion in me they began coming on board. Little things like free health screenings where we'd have a nurse come in to do a simple finger-prick blood test to determine cholesterol levels or blood pressure measurements really turned some heads around when people who typically would never take time to go see a doctor realized there were at high risk for life threatening diseases like a stroke or heart attack due to having high cholesterol or uncontrolled high blood pressure. When people realized something as simple as a little finger prick could lead to a life-saving changes, we began to see greater participation in a variety of health and wellness programs such as our Fall Fitness Charity challenge (now in its sixth year), Active U, free yoga classes, and comprehensive fitness assessments. And, when peoples' health habits begin to improve you start to see other benefits, too, such as reduced absenteeism and greater overall productivity, so it becomes clearer and clearer over time that the investment in health and wellness pays off—for the employee and the organization."

A former college football player and tennis pro with an undergraduate background in business administration and a Master's in counseling, Greg credits the 20 years he spent in human resources and labor relations at General Motors prior to taking on his current position helped him to develop listening and problem-solving skills that have served him well in helping to motivate others toward healthier living. His business background also comes in handy, he says, as a tool for measuring the payoff from health and wellness programming.

An active exerciser and passionate practitioner as well as preacher of the gospel of wellness, Greg says that the key to his philosophy of healthy living is the idea that "Every day is a new day, so live yours to its fullest."

Asked what facilities around the U he recommends for staff members interested in starting, stepping up, or maintaining their physical activity, Greg answers: "Our U-M recreational facilities are a tremendous asset offering incredible fitness resources, classes, and other exercise-related opportunities that I'd like to see employees take greater advantage of to support their health and stay physically active year round."