Christine Stein, Wellbeing Expert and Bettye Baldwin, Managing Principal In a recent interview with Manage HR magazine, Bettye Baldwin, Managing Principal and Christine Stein, Wellbeing Expert of Retention Strategies, shed light on how they overcome workforce challenges in the corporate wellness market. They also share their insights on their consultative approach to helping businesses attain low-cost, bespoke workforce wellbeing resources – delivered in both English and Spanish.
How is Retention Strategies making a difference in the corporate wellness space?
Baldwin: We have developed a unique approach to wellbeing for corporations with various logistical complications such as geographically spread, hybrid and flexible work schedules, DEIB challenges, with a variety of cultural and corporate structures.
Our game changer is our consultative, customized approach to enhancing wellbeing initiatives that may already exist within the client organizations and making them more appealing. It is about understanding the organization’s business model and objectives to meet its needs. What truly differentiates us is our ability to customize the program design and then pivot whenever there is a lack of employee participation and engagement, on behalf of our clients.
Another ingredient to the success of our wellness programs is our brand ambassadors that are part of our exceptional leadership team. We conduct assessments and pulse surveys to ascertain what works for employees and what does not. It is all about the holistic wellness of employees, who are the lifeblood and most important asset of companies. In this regard, our ambassadors are passionate about offering help to successfully implement these wellness programs and health measures for our clients, and that passion is infectious.
How does Retention Strategies help its clients overcome the typical challenges in the corporate wellness space?
Stein: The challenges that organizations face are directly linked to how wellbeing initiatives are developed and deployed. The five key reasons why wellbeing programs oftentimes fail include (1) non-evident leadership support, (2) non-existent and unappealing incentives, (3) lack of awareness, (4) programs that are not well structured or communicated, and (5) do not address employee needs.
This is where we are consultative in our approach and take our clients through a process that builds a successful wellbeing program. Having worked with multiple companies and implemented numerous wellbeing programs, we know what works and what does not. We understand the company’s need to participate in making a difference in its wellness programs. Leadership support does not exist in every company where our wellbeing experts need to get the leadership buy-in. For this, we understand where their employees are and nurture wellbeing culture in a step-bystep manner.
Our deep focus goes into the three key success factors, namely culture, communication, and rewards, and we accomplish that for our clients. First, we build programs mapped to the company’s culture. By looking at an organization’s culture, its leaders’ culture can be understood. Then, our leaders and champions maintain consistent communication with our clients via electronic and paper messaging – i.e. constant reinforcement. Finally, we offer rewards and incentives to make employees actively participate in taking care of their wellbeing. For example, one of our clients established a wellbeing fund of $800 per employee per year that can be used for a variety of initiatives ranging from gym memberships, massages, and even entrance fees for marathons.
Can you elaborate on your solution and service portfolio and the core functionalities and benefits they provide?
Baldwin: We provide multinational consulting, global wellbeing initiatives, and leading-edge coaching to save costs in insurance expenses for companies in Puerto Rico. We encourage the utilization of wellbeing apps and build out programs to augment the most applicable app to our clients. Our consulting also includes an RFP process to find the appropriate app.
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Our deep focus goes into the three key success factors, namely culture, communication, and rewards, and we accomplish that for our clients
As a selected benefits insurance provider, we develop programs that deliver financially feasible wellbeing support with best-in-class customization for insurance brokerage clients, including their families. These are consultative, rather than cookie cutter programs, focused on three key components: a core program provided to all clients, a customized program for larger clients, and success metrics.
All wellbeing initiatives are specifically built around four pillars which are physical, mental, social, and financial fitness. We offer this core program as a value-added service to companies with budget concerns and encourage them at each opportunity to expand into more robust wellbeing. It ranges from exercise programs to mindfulness meditation, relaxation interventions, and gym facilities to build the mental and emotional fitness of the workforce. Aside from this, we run captivating events such as happy hours and nutritional cooking classes for employees, with team participation. We also have remote workshops to offer psychological support and stress resiliency. The purpose of these core programs is to deliver constant reminders, information, and wellbeing support to employees at low cost via electronic newsletters, TV messages, and video clips in WhatsApp and core groups. They are cost-wise and mutually supportive, unlike highly customized in-person wellbeing programs that are expensive.
Stein: These core programs deliver four key metrics within an organization: (1) control medical by focusing on the exact needs of the people; (2) reducing absenteeism, (3) reducing both short and long term disabilities, and (4) increasing the productivity. Apart from these competencies, our wellness programs improve employee engagement and experience. We also take into consideration the significance of being aware of incorporating all the health measures within the company, as investing in employees’ health and wellness, with a particular focus on mental fitness, has become more imperative than ever in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please cite some of your customer success stories.
Stein: One of our clients had very high medical claims with employees facing muscular skeletal issues. We stepped in to implement a program focused on musculoskeletal health, including frequent ergonomic breaks, setting up desks correctly and education on maintaining proper body rest. This helped us greatly reduce our client’s medical claims, ensuring optimal functioning of the employees’ health system. We also provided recommendations to visit chiropractors and take regular blood tests to prevent musculoskeletal health issues.
Baldwin: Another case in point is where we helped a large pharmaceutical client with enthusiastic social events to enhance their overall workforce wellness. As socialization is one of the pillars of employee wellbeing, we encouraged them to integrate socially and understand each other for a truly healthy organization. In a number of recent large magnitude studies, socialization has come of the top rated factor to mental fitness and retention of key talent. This, however, is not a one-initiative success – it requires sustained attention and communication to ensure the desired level of participation.
