Blackmores Group

Michelle Fernandez

It is no secret that employees’ well-being has taken a toll following the COVID-19 pandemic, and companies, large and small, are increasingly looking for ways to build a more robust well-being program to cater to the rising needs of their employees.  

As a healthcare company founded more than 90 years ago on naturopathic principles, empowering people to take control of and invest in their well-being has always been the heart of our business, including looking after our employees' well-being.  

At Blackmores, our range of well-being offerings and opportunities for connection has evolved into our ‘RISE’ promise -- a holistic range of health and well-being initiatives designed to empower 1200+ employees across Asia Pacific to achieve and maintain a sense of well-being in every aspect of their lives.  

Knowing that the notion of well-being varies from people to people and from different cultural backgrounds, we built our well-being program based on the following principles:  

Well-being is Individual  

Every employee has unique well-being needs. Celebrate this within your company because this diversity of thought fosters creativity and innovation. Blackmores RISE program is anchored in the concept that well-being means different things to different people. Building a library with a wide variety of offerings where employees can pull tools, resources, and experiences based on what they need and when they need it will help employees feel comfortable setting their own pace and balancing their work, home, and well-being priorities.  

A strong communication plan also supports successful well-being programs. Employees need to know what is on offer to support them and how to access each aspect of the program. To add a layer of complexity, people’s needs change, so be ready to pivot often to continue progressing forward.  

"At Blackmores, our range of well-being offerings and opportunities for connection has evolved into our ‘RISE’ promise -- a holistic range of health and well-being initiatives designed to empower 1200+ employees."

Explore unexplored territories 

Give yourself a bit of grace and understand that your program will never be complete. Recognize that your people, work environments, and the external environment are rapidly changing, so what worked for your employees last year might not be right for them this year. Don’t be afraid to try new ideas, take risks, try new things, and willingly accept feedback as your program grows. And don’t be afraid to stop something that isn’t working, and keep your finger on the pulse to know what others are doing in this space.  

External stressors count 

With the rising cost of living, some people are concerned about financial stress. While these stresses are outside the company’s control, we must provide them with tools and resources to support them. This year, we will implement a program for people around the psychology of wealth. We want to reframe how our people view, experience, and interact with the concept of personal wealth. 

Be employee-led 

Employees lead a good well-being program. Just as companies would conduct multiple consumer surveys before launching a product, the same can be said for your well-being program. In this case, your employees are your consumers.  

You must ask your people what they need to be well in the workplace. Consider engaging with your employees across multiple channels to gain insights, including trending reports from your EAP provider or employee feedback through your HR department.  

At Blackmores, we have an additional and unique channel through our naturopaths. We provide employees with universal access to in-house naturopathic experts to get health coaching and naturopathic guidance to enhance their well-being in and out of the office. High-level insights gained from these coaching sessions would then be fed back to us to help us improve existing programs so that any emerging need from our employees can be addressed at an early stage.  

Final words 

Regardless of where your company is on the journey to well-being, listening to and adapting to the needs of your people and the external environment is key.  

If your company is at the early stages of designing your program, start small and focus on creating opportunities for meaningful and authentic connections between your people. Connection is one of the greatest drivers for engagement and belonging. If your program is more mature, focus on leaning into your employees' voices to finetune it to keep pace with their emerging needs.  

There is no magic formula for a successful well-being program. Give yourself grace as you evolve your program; great things take time to build.