The challenge

Educating 74,000+ students across 125 diverse school systems is no small task, and Austin Independent School District is committed to giving their faculty the resources they need to care for their wellbeing.

With a Mission Statement “to foster a culture of engagement with our employees that encourages them to make healthier choices through interactive and impactful services,” Austin Independent School District (ISD) looked to offer their 13,000 team members—and their team members’ families—a streamlined wellbeing platform with resources that could affordably expand alongside their needs and strategy.

Over the years, our approach with Austin ISD has evolved. We started as a challenge-only platform and now have evolved it into a full-scale wellness program that includes monthly activities as well as connections to additional resources offered through the district. Navigate’s programming has only improved because of the creativity the Austin team has brought to the partnership.

Kim Fisher, Navigate Account Manager

Strategies and solutions

Together, Austin ISD and Navigate continued to develop a program strategy and online platform that evolved each year, alongside their needs and budget:

Year one: The program launched in year one as a streamlined challenge-only platform, introducing the program and developing awareness in a fun, engaging way for participants. Spouses were included in the program at no additional charge, allowing them to engage in the challenge tasks together and encourage ongoing participation.
Years two and three: The team saw continued strategic growth, aided by Navigate’s robust tools and ongoing account support. The list of resources on the platform continued to grow, allowing participants to choose their own wellbeing path with a huge selection of videos, healthy articles, hundreds of searchable recipes, with the added bonus of being able to sync their favorite apps and devices.

Beyond these resources, the team added new, customized incentives to complete activities specific to Austin ISD—such as attending a staff-only mindfulness retreat, completing a “camp gladiator” challenge, or successfully exploring their annual benefits and wellness fair—to ensure participants took advantage of all the resources at their disposal.
Year four: The team expects to see this growth continue. Tweaks to the incentive structure allow participants to create their own wellbeing journey, focusing on four key components: Stay Healthy, Stay Wealthy, Stay Wise, and Stay Well. Each component will highlight different activities and resources available to the employees and their families in the Austin School District.

Results

Austin ISD and Navigate’s partnership has led to a successful, engaging program tailored to the unique needs of their culture and employees.

Most companies agree that employee wellbeing is a top priority. The challenge is how to manage and track programs and maintain employee engagement. Navigate has solved this problem for us. They have created a wellbeing hub that fully encompasses all aspects of the health and wellness. And their service team is phenomenal. They meet you at a personal level, make the work fun, and always respond promptly. As a big organization, we work with hundreds of vendors. Navigate is consistently a favorite!!

Director of Benefits, Leave, and Workers Comp at Austin Independent School District