Supporting employee well-being has been and remains one of the key trends in HR management. More and more companies are launching comprehensive and systematic programs to support employee well-being.
Last year, we prepared a detailed white paper with recommendations and ideas for developing comprehensive well-being programs. This is our approach to developing comprehensive employee well-being programs for our clients.
The approach is based on the Gallup well-being model with five dimensions (I wrote about them earlier):
- Professional well-being encompasses the employee’s professional fulfillment, development, and opportunities to build a career and increase their marketability
- Social well-being supports the employee’s social ties within and outside the organization, including friendships and family.
- Physical well-being includes supporting employees’ physical (body) and mental health. This can consist of various activities to prevent illness, support in case of adverse incidents, and, of course, the formation of good habits for the body and mind.
- Public well-being implies opportunities for the employee to contribute to the interests of society at different levels through new approaches and habits to work and life and the realization of various good deeds
- Financial well-being is related to acquiring healthy financial habits, new knowledge, and skills in competent economic management and ensuring confidence in the future.
Each area has different components depending on the culture, employee profile, company objectives, and financial capabilities. We have more than 200+ benefits ideas in our collection, and I want to share some of them, which can help you come up with your find original solutions.
Professional wellbeing
Movie clubs and book clubs. This personal and professional development format for employees is exciting because it simultaneously works for social well-being (and often also for the cultural development of the individual). Reading an interesting (usually fiction book) or watching a specially selected movie, essential topics — from leadership to inclusion — can be discussed much more quickly. The key is choosing quality material, preparing for discussion, moderating, and creating an engaged community.
They are developing employees’ brands. Company investment in training employees to build their brand and increase their relevance is one of the most exciting trends. It has become more popular because companies have started engaging employees as ambassadors.
Social well-being
It was cleaning company services. What prevents women from moving up the career ladder? It’s the need to take care of family members and housekeeping duties. And if a company makes their lives easier, it will help motivate female leaders to move forward. That’s exactly what Burger King did when it paid for cleaning services for the female graduates of its leadership program.
Nanny for the duration of a business trip. I WAS AMAZED when I first heard about this at an international conference. After all, this is also a significant help, especially for women, in building a career. Understanding the restrictions on business trips and supporting the company in this situation is an earnest contribution to equal opportunities.
Paternity leave (for dads). Special leave for dads, paid by the company (regardless of the mom’s leave), lasting from a few days to a few months, is an excellent benefit that supports the social well-being of men and creates conditions for the development of conscious fatherhood (by the way, you can create a «fathers’ club» in the company, which are very popular in Scandinavian countries).
Clubs of interest. This is one of the most promising forms for establishing informal employee relations. Board or computer games, yoga or running treasure hunting, or horseback riding can all be a reason to unite. The company can create a platform for socializing and periodically reward such hobbies with various bonuses. For example, give tickets to theaters or excursions to exhibitions or make beautiful branded T-shirts for marathons.
Financial Wellness
Financial Literacy Marathons. Improving financial literacy is one benefit that may require minimal cost but yield great results. It will give employees maximum utility, reduce their debt load, and keep them out of trouble. This can be done in a variety of formats, but marathons that familiarize employees with the topic and, at the same time, promote the formation of valuable habits are some of the most relevant. Last year, together with the Institute of Financial Literacy at the Financial University, we prepared a detailed guide for companies that want to implement financial literacy programs (including marathons). You can get it for free at this link.
Swap things. You have something you don’t need, yet it could be helpful to your coworkers. Companies (for example, IKEA) create unique corners for exchanging things (and not just the usual bookcrossing). This can save a lot of money (for instance, on buying children’s clothes) and protect our planet simultaneously.
Physical well-being:
Help in getting rid of bad habits or being overweight. Employee health, as mentioned earlier, is one of the factors that employers care about. Some of them have gone even further. Someone launches programs that promote getting rid of bad habits, primarily smoking. After all, this helps reduce the time an employee spends on a smoke break. Usually, such incentives are expressed as additional payments to those who do not smoke or a special bonus to those who quit smoking. Often, it is also special communication programs that support those who eliminate bad habits. There are also programs to combat excess weight. In this case, the company can invite nutritionists, help form a nutritious diet, and give gifts when reaching the planned indicator on the scale. I’ve seen this kind of practice at Agency Contact and Amway.
Free subscriptions to HEA apps. The topic of a healthy lifestyle is gaining more and more fans lately. And now we have a lot of digital helpers — apps for monitoring nutrition, physical activity, and meditation. Many of them are paid, but companies can give access to their employees by purchasing a corporate package. That’s what Unilever did, buying access to its most popular meditation app, Calm.
Ovules freezing. This unusual benefit has become very popular in the West. The fact is that many women prefer to make a career first and take care of the family much later. And so that the problem of the «ticking clock» was not so acute for girls, companies paid for quite expensive procedures to freeze eggs. For example, this is done by Facebook. Naturally, this is all strictly by personal desire 😊
Public well-being
Volunteer programs. Formats that allow employees to do something good for the community are becoming popular. Volunteer community-building programs are a huge trend. They can work together to clean lake shores, plant forests, and go to orphanages or nursing homes. This format simultaneously works for the social well-being of the individual, expanding their circle of contacts. In addition, it creates an opportunity for development — line employees can be the organizational leader of such projects and learn new skills in practice — planning, organization, and communication. One of the leaders in this area is Norilsk Nickel, which has been developing the volunteer movement for many years.
Funding of employee ideas to help the community. A contest of employee ideas aimed at implementing projects that are significant for people is one of the most promising formats. The company supports the best ideas financially, and employees are involved in voting and, in the future, in realizing such tasks. A similar project was launched and successfully implemented by Gazprombank a year ago (this project was one of the winners of the HR-Impact award).
I have shared a few examples of how you can make your employees’ lives unforgettable and exciting. I hope that the number of such non-standard solutions will grow. After all, today, there is an excellent demand for well-being programs because caring about people and paying attention to different aspects of their lives is one of the foundations of creating a human-centered organization.
Please share your examples of favorite and practical benefits for your employees.
