{"id":3013,"date":"2018-01-18T19:59:25","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T19:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/52.10.1.109\/?p=3013"},"modified":"2018-01-20T01:36:39","modified_gmt":"2018-01-20T01:36:39","slug":"taking-the-temperature-on-workplace-wellness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/?p=3013","title":{"rendered":"Taking the temperature on \u2018workplace wellness\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Jeff Buenrostro, chief people officer of Denver\u2019s Metric Theory, speaks to business leaders last week at the South Metro Denver Chamber. The millennial-driven digital marketing agency recently made Denver Business Journal\u2019s list of the Best Places to Work. Photo by Peter Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

BY PETER JONES<\/strong>
\nNEWS EDITOR<\/span><\/p>\n

Look no further than Jeff Buenrostro\u2019s business card to realize Metric Theory has a different theory on the metrics of doing business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ever hear of a chief people officer before?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour main job is to listen, to ask the right questions that you don\u2019t know the answers to, and listen to your employees\u2019 responses\u2014and that\u2019s going to guide everything that you do,\u201d Buenrostro told members of the South Metro Denver Chamber on Aug. 9.<\/span><\/p>\n

The CPO must be doing something right. His digital marketing agency, with offices in Denver, San Francisco and New York, recently made Denver Business Journal\u2019s<\/i> list of the city\u2019s Best Places to Work, and has received the newspaper\u2019s Workplace Wellness award, as well as an assortment of similar recognition from Advertising Age<\/i> and Entrepreneur<\/i> magazines.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[A healthy office means] everything from providing a space that is mentally challenging to a place that focuses on health and wellness and happiness, but also working on emotional awareness and interpersonal dynamics,\u201d the 30-something CPO said.<\/span><\/p>\n

To clarify, Metric Theory\u2019s stock and trade is still marketing, not self-help. The firm boasts 85 employees, represents more than 230 clients and is entrusted with spending more than $130 million in web-optimized advertising every year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even so, to hear Buenrostro tell it, Metric Theory\u2019s bottom-line success is wedded to its holistic corporate climate, where a wide range of teambuilding exercises and a surprising culture of candor are part and parcel to a win-win vision for success.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEmployees choose to spend the vast majority of their waking hours at work, so I think it\u2019s our responsibility as employers to provide them with an experience that helps them develop and get where they want to grow,\u201d Buenrostro said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Forget work-life balance, the CPO said. Metric Theory is all about work-life integration, meaning employees are actually encouraged to bring personal baggage to the office. A 12-week program called Engaged Management teaches supervisors how to redirect their workers\u2019 stress, ensuring that the personal kind is recognized and the professional kind is clearly delineated. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important for management to understand what lens you\u2019re looking through, but also your co-workers \u2026 because that helps you interact more effectively and be more productive,\u201d Buenrostro said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Professional stress can also be a figment of the employee\u2019s own making, the CPO added.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we realize is we\u2019re putting stress on ourselves. It\u2019s not external,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 We\u2019re in charge of our happiness. We\u2019re in charge of our stress as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The same apparatus, or \u201ccheck-in circle,\u201d was designed to nip all kinds of interpersonal problems in the bud before the powers that be ever have to even hear about them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other benefits include unlimited work-from-home sick leave, a way to prevent further illness in the office by empowering those who should not be there in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

The same workers do not have to hide their external job searches in \u201csick time\u201d either. When they are open about their desires, the company will negotiate a \u201csocial contract\u201d to potentially find a way for the worker to reach their ambitions within the company. If that does not work out, Metric Theory will help the employee find their next \u201cdream.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt creates this atmosphere where there\u2019s no reason to lie,\u201d Buenrostro said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of Metric Theory\u2019s workers have not had to get used to the unusual culture. Most are between 22 and 27 and many are holding their first career jobs. <\/span><\/p>\n

The idea is to hire ambitious \u201cathletes\u201d and set them loose.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you provide them with enough support, they will excel\u2014if you hire the right people,\u201d Buenrostro said.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  BY PETER JONES NEWS EDITOR Look no further than Jeff Buenrostro\u2019s business card to realize Metric Theory has a different theory on the metrics of doing business. Ever hear of a chief people officer before? \u201cYour main job is to listen, to ask the right questions that you don\u2019t know the answers to, and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,46,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-health","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}