feature
the original perks companyTM
the original perks companyTM
A Venngo program is a core element
of a complete compensation and
benefi tsstrategy.
fi nancial
well–being
tune up your fi nances
with 1200+ savings
opportunities
physical
fi tness
tone up with up
to 50% off gym
memberships
mental
wellness
zen out with
350+ Health &
Wellness partners
Find out more...
venngo.com/hrpro 1.866.383.6646 ext.202
©Copyright 2016 Venngo Inc. All
rights reserved. WorkPerks® is a
registered trade-mark of Venngo
Inc. All other trade-marks are
the property of their respective
owners. V1_20160426
strengthen
your core
20160426_HRprofessional_julAug2016_hlfPg_001.indd 1 2016-04-26 4:44 PM
“The first thing is to evaluate where an
organization is in their journey around
workplace wellness – are they new to this,
or have they been doing programming for
years?” said Jelic.
Next, she says, is setting goals.
“That’s a partnership; that’s understand-ing
the needs from the employer side to
the employee side and identifying which
types of programs might be a good fit,”
she said. “They should consult a wellness
professional; very often their insurer will
offer built-in programs as part of the ben-efit
plan.”
She names four main areas that tech-nology
can assist with. The first of these
is “biometric and productivity feedback to
help people reach their personal or other
goals.” Next are educational information
and access to professional advice and
counselling.
“The kind of gains we’re going to see in
the next 10 years will eclipse what we’ve
seen in the past 10 years: social and profes-sional
connection in the workplace where
employees and employees gather around
competitions and cultural events that
support health and wellbeing,” said Jelic.
“Technology allows HR professionals to
quickly poll the employees: would you
rather have healthy snacks in the work-room
for lunch-and-learn sessions? It has
huge potential, and we’re already starting
to see some of the benefits today with the
early adopters.”
CHOOSING PARTNERS
Boese names Virgin Pulse as one ex-ample
of a potential partner in wellness
technology.
“They’ve moved past how many steps
you take in a week to more holistic views
of wellbeing,” he said. Last February,
Virgin Pulse joined forces with ShapeUp
and Global Corporate Challenge.
“We have employees working around
the globe in many types of settings; all the
functionality will be available through a
mobile application,” said Dr. Rajiv Kumar,
president and chief medical officer at
Virgin Pulse. “Members use their smart-phone
and never have to log in through
their desktop computer.”
There’s more to wellness than counting
steps and calories, and new technologies
are including more and more in their
offerings.
“We take a whole person approach to
wellbeing assessment, so at the very be-ginning,
we ask questions about physical,
mental and financial health and make rec-ommendations
on ways to improve. Then
we ask users to do things in small steps,”
said Limeade vice president of product,
Justin Jed. Employees work towards differ-ent
motivational goals, which could range
from improving their sleep to engaging in
volunteerism.
No matter which type of program a
company chooses, it will require “com-mitment
of the organization and their
leadership to the goals of the program, and
the willingness to stick it out,” said Boese.
“You’ve got to be willing to build slow-ly,
and you need a clear value proposition:
how does the employee see the value in it
for himself or herself? And you need regu-lar
check-ins to make sure things are going
in the right direction.”
Above all, he said, “These things take
time.” ■
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2016 ❚ 27
