Numerous reports demonstrate that the pandemic has taken a considerable toll on our physical and mental wellbeing over the last six months and, following the Government’s recent announcement to encourage office workers to return to working from home, it looks like it will continue to do so for the long-term.
Previously, employee wellbeing focused almost exclusively on benefits that served employees in the office or during working hours only. However, with the lines between work and home increasingly blurred, employers are having to shift the traditional mindset when it comes to providing benefits and demonstrating their care for the wellbeing of their workforce.
We can now see that the legacy of the pandemic for workplaces is likely to change working patterns more permanently even post-Covid. It’s clear that the traditional five-day working week in the office is no longer the norm.
Not only has this catalysed new ways of working, with companies having to quickly adapt to managing remote teams, but it has also demonstrated that a new employee wellbeing solution is required to replace more traditional in-office wellbeing activities.
This has accelerated digital delivery of benefits, such as virtual GP services or even video consultations for physiotherapy, but the pandemic has also demonstrated the value of in-person contact (when it’s safe). It has also demonstrated that wellness means different things to each of us – where one employee may find calm in a relaxing massage, others may benefit more from HIIT exercise or mindfulness sessions.
As more and more companies like Google, Twitter and Facebook announce permanent changes to ways of working, employers are recognizing that the need to adapt benefits is not just a temporary measure.
Benefits providers are therefore having to adapt their offerings to address this. For example, Urban has combined a digital and in-person solution through the launch of wellpass, which allows companies to provide employees with pre-paid treatments of their choice, all booked through an app. Teams can choose from 50+ wellness services bookable to their home (in-person or virtually), including massages, beauty treatments, fitness sessions, mindfulness classes and more, using credit provided in advance by their employers. In order to make this solution more effective, users can select their own wellbeing goal in the app to receive tailored tips and advice from the app’s community of qualified wellness professionals, to help keep them motivated and on track.
It’s clear the ‘new normal’ is here – how has your company adapted?
You can find out more about wellpass here.
The Business Transformation Network has shared this article in partnership with Urban for Business.
