When I started at Reward Gateway earlier this year, I had no idea that my entire employee experience (so far!) would be remote. While I’ve benefited from the routine that working remotely can provide, a big part of this has been focussing on my own wellbeing throughout the week.
While prior to the pandemic I was heavily reliant on the gym down the street to get my workouts in, I’ve found that our own HR team has been critical in helping me maintain and even improve my wellbeing through a variety of programmes and initiatives.
By taking a holistic approach to our employee wellbeing model, one that’s proactive, personal and inclusive, our HR has been quickly able to adapt a number of initiatives to help support our wellbeing when we need it most.
I’ve found the same across many of the HR leaders I’ve spoken with – it’s an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of improving the employee experience, no matter where people are located, through wellbeing.
For instance, one of my favourite buys this pandemic has been new running trainers. Just the simple act of buying these trainers through our employee discounts programme has led to me searching for videos on running tips and techniques on our Wellbeing Centre. I’ve also bought a new bike through our Cycle to Work benefit, and plan on cycling to the office when we return to work this month.
This is all part of our own holistic wellbeing strategy, which I’ve seen many HR leaders adopt – Reward Gateway defines a holistic wellbeing strategy as one that is personal, proactive and inclusive - it considers how your people would best benefit from wellbeing initiatives throughout their everyday lives in a continuous way, rather than being reactive and only having a tickbox approach.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, this has become all the more urgent as we’ve seen employees at all companies of all different sizes and industries struggle financially, mentally and physically as their environments have constantly changed.
Client Spotlight: MacMillan Cancer Support
That’s why we’ve been excited for our teams to help clients like MacMillan, who has 2,000 employees in the nonprofit sector, help boost their overall EVP and improve morale with a renewed focus on wellbeing. With nonprofits being hit especially hard financially and employees experiencing increased stress as a result, MacMillan made the mental and physical wellbeing of their people one of its biggest priorities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the first month after launching the Wellbeing Centre to give employees full access to hundreds of videos and articles on improving physical, mental and financial wellbeing, it has received more than 1,000 views.
Employees from every demographic are accessing the wellbeing videos, with a mix of frontline nurses, remote and furloughed staff that are looking for ways to access resources to help them, at a time that suits them best from wherever they might be.
MacMillan has been able to promote the Wellbeing centre so employees can access it directly through a tile on its employee engagement platform, Top Banana’s homepage, or from the navigation so it stays top of mind.
Sam Dewey, Wellbeing Manager at MacMillan Cancer Support says, “the recipe cards have gone down particularly well with our employees, who have quite clearly been cooking up a storm in the kitchen!”
How Reward Gateway supports employee wellbeing pillars
We can help you build the right wellbeing strategy for your unique employee demographic through a variety of programmes we offer to our 2,500+ clients. Here’s a snapshot of how we support financial, mental and physical wellbeing pillars at work:
Supporting wellbeing isn’t just a nice perk anymore for employees, it’s an obligation for HR to fulfill ways to help these basic human needs, especially when our people need it most.
Plus, improved employee wellbeing is proven to lead to healthier, happier, more productive employees with reduced absenteeism across the business, with one study pointing to 56% of employees who have a wellness programme in place taking fewer sick days than those that don’t.
By redefining your approach to employee wellbeing to include as many of these pillars and tactics as possible, employers can give their employees the education, support and tools they need to be better versions of themselves both at home and at work – no matter where 'work' might be, or how it continues to change.
For me, I’ll be checking out our discounts to buy some golf clubs, so I can decompress on the course while socially distancing with some of my closest mates!
If you need help thinking through your holistic wellbeing strategy or want to know more about how Reward Gateway can help, please get in touch with us:
