This has created a significant strain on our people. Proactive organisations understand that employees’ wellbeing and mental health continues to be challenged. In some instances, people have become more isolated and have had to adapt to new ways of working and living. Some are also coping with new financial pressures.
“The demands associated with COVID-19 will result in more organisations needing to invest in the wellbeing, safety and engagement of their workforce”.
Unique Programs for Unique Workplaces
With this increased need and new levels of investment, organisations will be seeking wellbeing, safety and engagement programs that produce better and more targeted outcomes than ever before.
Historically, off-the-shelf template wellbeing initiatives have primarily focused on promoting general wellbeing topics e.g. exercise, nutrition, sleep. While beneficial, organisations now have a need to implement more sophisticated programs that also have the ability to target the specific behaviours they most want to influence.
For example, this could be promoting collaboration and connectedness across their team, giving the organisation’s leadership team more presence and reinforcing their support for wellbeing across the organisation, or promoting the organisation’s unique organisations values. It may mean supporting a local charity, reinforcing an organisation’s unique point of difference, or educating employees on its supply chain as part of a broader wellbeing initiative. It also means promoting and delivering programs in a way that is most likely to engage participants across the organisation.
“Organisations are learning that to have the greatest impact, their wellbeing programs need to be as unique as what they are”.
Organisations are learning that to truly have a positive impact on behaviour, they must treat wellbeing like any other behaviour change initiative. A more strategic, long-term approach must be taken rather than implementing ad hoc, off-the-shelf, templated programs.
Meeting an Organisations Needs Now and into the Future
COVID-19 has also reinforced to organisations that the environment can quickly change at any time.
Organisations will be looking for wellbeing solutions that are responsive and can adapt quickly to new organisational requirements. For example, during a lockdown due to the pandemic, employees should have easy access and be incentivised to participate in programs that boost their immunity, encourage collaboration, educate them on how to work productively while working remotely and how to best balance any parental responsibilities.
How? The Use of Technology
To achieve this, organisations will be seeking out technology that delivers a personalised user experience for the employee to maximise engagement and education opportunities. It will also be looking for technology that allows for the easy integration of programs that are uniquely important to the organisation to ensure business goals and objectives are given the best chance of being met no matter what the business environment looks like.
This is most likely to maximise the benefits achieved by any organisation investing in the wellbeing of their people in 2021.
Summary
“As COVID-19 continues to have an impact on the way we live and work, organisations will be more focused on ensuring any wellbeing initiatives delivered facilitate real behaviour change, remain sustainable in the long-term, and meet the unique needs of each organisation, now and into the future”.
Key takeaways:
• Look broader than traditional templated wellbeing programs to best support your people.
• Integrate initiatives that help guide and support your people to best achieve the organisations key goals and objectives.
• Utilise technology that provides a unique user experience and supports specific organisation needs now and as they change into the future.
