Today, more companies discover that caring for the wellness of their employees is one of the smartest investments they can make. After all, a healthy worker is a happy worker.
REPerformance Inc. is a Sudbury-based app that’s banking on the fact that employers are seeing the benefits of bettering the health of the people who drive their bottom line. Callen McGibbon, the CEO and founder of REPerformance, has an extensive history in the strength and conditioning field.
From his days as a strength coach for teams at Laurentian University to coaching NHL players like Leon Draisaitl, Nick Foligno and Marcus Foligno, McGibbon has devoted his life to working with athletes young and old. With the next phase of REPerformance, he’s aiming to take over the corporate wellness world.
“We’re a company whose mandate is to educate people and equip them with the tools to achieve any health goals they desire,” McGibbon said. “We are on a mission to disrupt the fitness and benefits industry—from education to workplace—by equipping everyone with the skills and tools to be able to live the life they feel optimized in.”
The platform is like providing each employee with their own personal digital trainer. They take a self-assessment, which leads to personalized workout plans. With access to a robust training database and analytics, users can then take control of their own fitness and health.
The original vision of REPerformance was a piece of software to standardize athletic testing in rural communities across northern Ontario. But when that failed, McGibbon set his sights on the education field, and now REPerformance is the only approved digital fitness product for the curriculum in Ontario schools.
With a strong foothold in the Ontario education system, they’re looking to expand from helping kids with their health and wellness to helping those in the corporate realm reach their goals.
As some companies are struggling to attract and retain employees, McGibbon sees the corporate wellness sector as a big area of opportunity for his company. Absenteeism costs some companies millions of dollars, but giving them a tool like REPerformance can curtail those losses.
“If you can invest a fraction of what it costs for someone to turn over into an existing employee’s health, that makes a lot of sense,” McGibbon said. “The average is a half-year’s salary in turnover for someone in the corporate world.
“If you could spend a twentieth of that on increasing the existing person’s health, maybe they stay, they become happier, they become more fulfilled, and the company is way further ahead.”
At this moment, there are no products on the market focused on preventative health benefits like REPerformance. Companies who use the platform attest to seeing decreased absenteeism, increased morale, better workplace culture, improved energy, and increased mental fortitude in their people.
“How our product works, it uses behavioural change methods,” McGibbon said. “It focuses on educating the employee on health, narrowing down goals and specific areas that they’d like to achieve.
“And then we use habit-building processes to build long-term habits in those employees so they make those changes forever. Then we attach these goals to actual live coaches. We use the tech to be the brains of the operation, but we attach real coaches to that goal, so they’re accountable.”
Giving employees a tool like this isn’t a quick fix; it’s a complete lifestyle change that aids them to be their best selves. And it’s not just fitness, the REPerformance app includes resources like mental health practitioners, relationship coaches, sleep advisors, nutrition coaches, and trainers.
It’s the combination of high-end technology and connecting people with real people. Coaches are available virtually seven days a week from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. for anyone looking to connect for real-time assistance.
To learn more about the REPerformance app and how to help impact employees’ lives inside and outside work, visit them online.