Evolving Minds Brings Connected Cultures for Retail to Well-known Baltimore-based Food Purveyor
In January 2024, Evolving Minds began working with well-known Baltimore-based food purveyor, Atwater's to implement the Connected Cultures for Retail program in two of their five locations. Building on the Connected Cultures for Retail program first piloted at MOM's Organic Market, the collaboration with Atwater’s aims to further improve workplace mental health and well-being in the retail sector.
The initial phase of Connected Cultures training with Atwater's started in January and will last four months. It includes eight bi-weekly, one-hour sessions with Evolving Minds. Subsequent check-ins will happen during month seven and month ten in order to provide long-term support as Atwater’s works to implement the various components of the Connected Cultures for Retail model and create an ongoing culture of care.
Building on the MOM's Organic Market Pilot
The Connected Cultures for Retail curriculum that Evolving Minds is using with Atwater's incorporates lessons learned from the program’s initial pilot at MOM's Organic Market. The program now includes five key components rather than three.
The five key curriculum components are:
Work Health Survey: Participants will complete a 53-question work health survey to assess their personal well-being and their perceptions of Atwater’s.
U.S. Surgeon General Framework: Participants will learn the components of the 2022 U.S. Surgeon General Workplace Mental Health and Well-being Framework.
Work Culture Curriculum: Participants will learn essential skills for promoting mental health and reducing burnout in the workplace.
Culture-Building Meeting: Participants will learn how to hold a weekly 20-minute meeting that fosters a culture of connection within the organization.
Resilience Team: Participants will build a Resilience Team to support the long-term sustainability, evolution, and integration of our Connected Cultures framework within the work environment.
The first two components, the work health survey and the Surgeon General's framework, are new, added after the completion of the MOM’s Organic Market pilot program. The MOM’s Organic Market pilot program revealed a greater need for managers to understand the importance of employee mental health and well-being in the workplace. These two new components will further educate participants about the benefits that a healthy work culture provides.
Working with a well-known community partner
Evolving Minds is training over 15 Atwater’s employees, including a mix of managers and non-managers at two locations. Training employees at various levels of the company increases the likelihood of success in adopting and implementing the Connected Cultures model.
For them, the Connected Cultures for Retail training builds on their existing commitment to provide new opportunities to their employees. They have already built an emphasis on mental health and well-being into their mission statement, and their investment in this Connected Cultures for Retail training furthers that mission.
Evolving Minds sees the partnership as an opportunity to work with a local community partner with shared values, while at the same time furthering its own mission of creating healthier and more supportive work environments in the retail industry.