Holistic health: Is your strategy up to par?

When it comes to holistic health, wellbeing strategies are the key to your success. Since the pandemic, employers have realised that flimsy, unrealistic health benefits aren’t going to cut it anymore. COVID-19 made the C-suite see that their people want tangible benefits – ones which make the difference when called upon.

HRD spoke to Morneau Shepell’s Paula Allen, global leader and senior vice president, research and total wellbeing, who talked us through what a real holistic strategy looks like.

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“Employers who asked themselves that question are actually doing better,” she told HRD. “In our research, we've seen that employers who focus on mental health are much more successful. It doesn’t need to be complicated - that's the important thing.”

This has been a difficult time and one that’s going on for longer than anticipated. Our lives have been disrupted - work is more stressful for many different reasons. For employers, just demonstrating that empathy is important - speaking about how it's impacting our collective mental health is essential.

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Another aspect of this strategy is helping employees to feel seen and recognized – and making recommendations when people actually approach you with issues.

“We often forget about the resources that employers have available,” added Allen. “We don't use them on a daily basis. However, employee assistance programs and public resources are super important.”

To hear more on how to protect your employees’ wellbeing during these difficult times, read HRD’s recent feature on mental health in times of COVID here.