There is no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic has permanently impacted our global community, especially in the way that we work and view our jobs in relation to our daily lives. Changes to how we interact with our healthcare providers, and of course how we interact with colleagues, have evolved in several ways. For many organizations, challenges brought about during the last few years have positioned mental health and wellbeing as non-negotiable. Questions shifted from, “Why does workplace wellbeing even matter?” to “How can we positively influence the wellbeing of our employees?” While these questions can seem daunting at first to address in a meaningful way, not doing so will be detrimental to your team members and their mental health.

At Newfront, we take a multidimensional approach to wellbeing that is rooted in health equity. This means that we understand mental health is the product of several factors, including social determinants of health, and employee needs should be considered through the context of their circumstances in and outside of the workplace. In a previous blog we shared the ripple effect of mental wellbeing, and today’s statistics show that nearly 1 in 4 individuals are dealing with a diagnosable mental illness each year. This illuminates a significant opportunity for employers who are committed to employee wellbeing to make a difference by starting with their work environment.

Last year, the U.S. Surgeon General released a comprehensive Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing framework to support workers and help employers implement mental health programming within their organization. Perhaps you already have the report bookmarked but still need to determine how to bring it to life within your organization. The core essentials, based on five key human needs, provide a holistic framework that targets the areas of greatest concern to employees:

Protection from harm – rests upon the human need for safety and security. With the first essential element, protection includes policies to prevent physical injury or danger, such as an Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP). Considering psychological safety, protection includes regular communication of benefit programs that encourage employees to talk about and access mental health resources like self-care, coaching, or therapy services.

Connection and community – rests upon the human need for social support and belonging. The second element prioritizes connectivity and belonging through effective diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programming such as an employee resource group (ERG) for mental health.

Work-life harmony – rests upon the human need for autonomy and flexibility. The third essential offers employees an increased sense of control over work routines through consistent and flexible scheduling. This type of autonomy allows employees to handle emergency or unexpected life situations without fear of penalty which reduces mental distress.

Mattering at work – rests upon the human need for dignity and meaning. The fourth essential suggests employers build purpose into the work being done and let employees know they are valued. At a foundational level, this means creating an equitable compensation plan to eliminate gender and racial wage gaps, known to contribute to mental stress, depression, and anxiety.

Opportunity for growth – rests upon the need for learning and accomplishment. The fifth and final essential prioritizes the value of skill-building and transparent advancement opportunities for those individuals looking to grow within the organization. Consider formalizing a learning and development program to give employees professional training opportunities that benefit all parties.

Actions in each of the framework’s essentials strengthen workplace culture and foster emotional wellbeing for all. Organizations can leverage the framework to create or enhance a strategic approach to culture change and employee emotional wellbeing. Looking at the essentials as a call to action—are there areas within your workplace that need to adjust to build a more supportive and inclusive culture where employees thrive? Perhaps leaders within your company can implement mental health breaks into the workday through walking meetings, 60-second resets at the beginning of a meeting, or even by exploring the benefits of alternative work weeks. Consider the bold steps you can take—what employees need but you have been hesitating to act on—that  will go beyond structural norms to promote mental health and boost employee wellbeing.

Newfront can support your strategic efforts with our dedicated resources that specialize in inclusive benefits, holistic wellbeing, and total rewards. Contact your Newfront Account Executive to learn more.

Organizations committed to employee wellbeing have a significant opportunity to make a difference by starting with their work environment.

Wellbeing Recommendations to Enhance Your Organizational Culture 

May is Mental Health Month and each year more community groups and organizations are using this time to raise awareness and reduce stigma around the challenges that impact more than 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. These statistics can look different depending on your geographic location and population demographics. Regardless, it is important to recognize the reality of mental illness within our communities and workplaces to also understand its ripple effects beyond the individual.

Two years ago, like most of the world, I was home and sheltered in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, I remember being relieved that there was finally a moment to slow down without the guilt or pressure to show up anywhere in-person. Conversely, I was also managing an internal angst with the unknown of what a pandemic really meant for the future. I worried about the stress on family members working in essential services and the burnout of fellow caregivers of loved ones at home. Overall, I worried about the wellbeing of many others with unique living situations that became intolerable or unsafe through the elimination of daily routines and activities during the pandemic. 

Given my own understanding of and experiences with mental illness, even before the pandemic, I knew that these stressors had to be affecting other people too. Without proper support, these worries could begin to impact other areas of life including physical health and of course, work. When thinking about the ripple effect, it is important to understand that some individuals may have an increased risk of developing chronic diseases like diabetes or cancer due to serious mental illness. From a global perspective, depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and costs the global economy over $1 trillion each year in lost productivity. All these factors and more were the motivation to develop a Mental Health Month initiative for our organization so that we build awareness and action to support mental wellbeing at work. 

The month-long Mental Health program was built around weekly themes and educational topics to normalize the difficult experiences we face but do not always discuss. Employees were provided with a variety of safe spaces to discuss and learn about mental health. This included live webinars with mental health professionals, mental health Mondays to share facts and coping techniques, along with a resource list to help employees seek help from a counselor or coach. The goal was to bridge the gap between awareness and action by providing the tangible steps that can be taken to start prioritizing mental wellbeing, even during a global pandemic, and to remind individuals that they are not alone. 

Since the launch of our Mental Health Month initiative in 2020, there has been a ripple effect across the organization at all levels to continue prioritizing mental wellbeing. This is possible due to partnership from our Leadership and People Operations teams in collaboration with our employee-led wellbeing committee. In addition to existing benefits, Newfront now offers extra mental health days for employees to take separate from regular time off. To model how to disconnect from work for a mental recharge, we also implemented a companywide Mental Health Day shutdown this year. The feedback from the team was positive in that it allowed folks more time to connect with family, enjoy time in nature, shut down emails and ultimately, relax in whatever way they need. It makes a difference in the way employees utilize the rich benefits offered at work when there is clear support from the C-suite to take time away from work for mental health.

While many organizations offer regular and frequent companywide Mental Health Days, this may not be possible for everyone to implement right away, if at all. In these cases – consider starting small with one or two mental health days a year that coincide with Mental Health Month or even World Mental Health Day in October. We know the negative impacts of mental illness can be widespread, but there is also an opportunity to normalize mental health within an organization to creative positive ripple effects within the company. 

Here are a few questions to consider when creating your mental health strategy:

What does Mental Health Month look like in your organization now? 

What type of support do your employees ask for related to mental health? 

How will you bring the conversation to the executive leadership level? 

How are you currently communicating the importance of mental health and resources available within your company? 

Who is missing from the mental health conversation as you think about individuals and groups to offer support?

Are there benefit vendors or community organizations you can partner with to bring your strategy to life?

Although we are more than halfway through the month of May, there is still time to create impact and drive change toward the normalization of mental wellbeing as a business imperative. Consider forming a cross-functional wellbeing committee to help address some of the above questions. Mental Health Month continues to be more recognized by organizations every year which is a positive sign towards destigmatizing how we talk about mental illness at work and beyond. As you consider your organizational approach, remember that culture shifts to support employee mental health and wellbeing cannot happen without leadership commitment, action, and accountability.

May is Mental Health Month, and this month, it's important to recognize the reality of mental illness within our communities and workplaces to also understand its ripple effects beyond the individual.

Co-authored by Cary Putnal, Innovation Consultant of Newfront.

Facilitating meaningful employee engagement has become a ubiquitous challenge as a result of the pandemic. These challenges have required engagement to evolve in a way that prioritizes the health and wellbeing of employees to a higher degree than ever before. Engaged employees are individuals that feel connected to their organization and its goals, and this definition also includes the awareness and utilization of employee benefits that support individual wellbeing needs. Integrated benefit portals with regularly updated personalized content and communications may be the key to helping your team engage with their employer sponsored benefits. Most employees do not fully understand the fundamentals of their plans and perks. This often results in unutilized benefits, unnecessary out of pocket costs for employees, losses in productivity, and additional time costs for employer People teams. Informed employees tend to make better use of employer-sponsored resources to benefit their lives. This typically leads to better overall engagement and satisfaction within the workplace. Having an organized and consistent year-round approach is essential for supporting engagement surrounding employee benefits that can help take your team to the next level.

Many employees lead busy lives, often supported by myriad individual benefit vendors that offer services or tools to aid in daily life and tasks when used. Time and effort can be significant barriers on the way to consistent engagement. Centralized benefit portals (like HealthJoy) tend to help keep things organized so that separate benefits are tracked and accessed through a single dashboard. Having everything in one place can be a significant motivating convenience for engagement and benefit use among employees. Personalized content, employer specific Virtual Benefit fairs, and year-round incentives for benefit education (like on Airbo) can also help employees thrive. Personalized content can be much more engaging as it tends to be more relevant to the individual employee’s needs. For example, it can be very helpful to be able to see your required copay for an appointment and your available HSA funds within the same dashboard. Virtual benefit fairs are also a fantastic way to offer year-round guidance on the variety of benefits available to a specific team member.

Improving your employee engagement will require a strategic and forward-thinking approach. The new year is an opportune time to start formulating an enhanced employee engagement strategy for the year ahead. With adequate planning, it becomes even more possible to provide ongoing employee education around existing and new benefit offerings introduced to the team. If you are interested in solutions that drive employee engagement for your next open enrollment cycle in 2022, please reach out to our team of Newfront benefit consultants to start planning.

Co-authored by Cary Putnal, Innovation Consultant of Newfront. Facilitating meaningful employee engagement has become a ubiquitous challenge as a result of the pandemic. These challenges have required engagement to evolve in a way that prioritizes the health and wellbeing of employees to a higher degree than ever before. Engaged employees are individuals that feel connected […]

New Approaches to Keeping Employees Engaged Year-Round Instead of Just at OE

Employers are becoming even more aware of the benefits of incorporating corporate wellbeing programming in their overall employee engagement strategies. It is no surprise that happier and healthier people can perform better work – and beyond the goal of increased productivity and reduced health claim costs, it is simply good business to nurture your employees in a way that provides resources and support for their lives beyond the 9-5.

Naturally, employers who are ready to jump into wellbeing programming will want to start by planning health fairs and scheduling other related events around the company. This quick start approach certainly signals to employees there is a management focus on their wellbeing, but what happens after those events conclude? What are the grounding principles of your wellbeing program that sustain efforts beyond any single event to promote a culture of wellbeing year-round?

Consider these 3 simple yet effective steps to give your wellbeing program a boost:

Develop a formal strategy. Prior to organizing your first company wellbeing event, take a moment to establish a framework that will serve as the formal program charter. Strategy development should include defined wellbeing program values, a mission statement, along with the overall vision for the program and its impact on your employees.

Enlist others to help. An effective way to increase the success of your wellbeing program is by including others in the program planning, development, and promotion. This can be achieved by forming a Wellbeing Committee made up of employees across various departments and of diverse backgrounds to foster a more inclusive experience.

Once your program charter and committee structure are established, determine the specific needs and interests of your employees by leveraging claim insights, feedback, and vendor partners. These population health trends will help inform 2-3 SMART goals that tie into your wellbeing program values and overall business objectives.

If you’re an employer who wants to take a strategic and structured approach to introducing wellbeing programs to your employees, reach out to your Newfront consultant to discuss how we can support your company in this endeavor.

Employers are becoming even more aware of the benefits of incorporating corporate wellbeing programming in their overall employee engagement strategies. It is no surprise that happier and healthier people can perform better work – and beyond the goal of increased productivity and reduced health claim costs, it is simply good business to nurture your employees.

3 Strategies to Boost Your Employee Wellbeing Program

December has arrived and for many, this will be a time to slow down, begin enjoying the holiday festivities, and spend time surrounded by loved ones. For many others, the thought of the year’s end may trigger feelings of anxiety, stress, and even sadness while processing all that must be done or all that has changed over the course of 2020. Regardless of how you may be entering the season, it is important that we all take care of our emotional well-being to ensure we can thrive well beyond work and into the new year.

So, what is emotional well-being all about? Well, it underscores the ability of an individual to adapt to change and manage life stressors – both of which are integral during a normal holiday season and especially during a global pandemic. An inability to cope can take a negative toll on one’s mental health and wellness over time.

Here are 5 ways to boost emotional well-being during the holidays:

Create Personal Boundaries – establishing emotional and physical space needs can help with navigating pressure from family and friends to celebrate the holidays in usual form. Boundaries are the clearly defined personal limitations one may have and if upfront about them, boundaries can eliminate surprise and confusion to others – resulting in less individual resentment and stress when it comes to safely enjoying the holidays.

Practice Mindfulness and Gratitude – a few deep breaths can connect you to the present moment, create awareness of the body, and aid in reducing mental stress and anxiety that also presents in physical form. Additionally, research has shown that over time, expressing gratitude in a journal can change our brain function and lead to greater feelings of happiness.

Think Positively – easier said than done, right? Studies suggest that reframing negative thoughts to focus on the positive can impact well-being by improving the body’s immune response and overall health. If you’re feeling down about canceled holiday travel plans, for example, think about the positive of saving money towards a future vacation or the peace of mind knowing you cannot possibly expose loved ones to a virus from home.

Make Time for Sleep – the mind-body connection reminds us how our physical health is linked to mental and emotional well-being. Diminished sleep is associated with several chronic conditions, brain fogginess, and negative moods and behavior. Sleep is time for our brain and body to rejuvenate. Introduce a sleep routine to ensure you receive the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep as an adult to sharpen mental clarity, better adapt to stress, and navigate challenges.

Reduce Stress – stress presents differently in everyone – it could be jaw pain, sleep disturbance, depression and more. Exercise, proper diet, and the reduction of the specific triggers with mindfulness and therapy can all enhance an individual’s emotional well-being.

For employers looking to support your workforce – consider reminding your team of the mental health benefits and resources available to help with coping during stressful situations. This may include a counselor, coach, or psychotherapist – all of which are often part of the Employee Assistance Program and group medical health plans. In some cases, personal coping mechanisms are not enough, and it is key to engage outside professionals and medical providers for mental health support.

Have strategies that work for you? Leave a comment to share your own emotional well-being tips. If you would like support from ABD on how to integrate more well-being practices within your organization, reach out to a member of our OH&S team to discuss further.

How to Set Healthy Boundaries – PositivePsychology.com

How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain – Greater Good Magazine

The Power of Positive Thinking – Johns Hopkins Medicine

Managing Stress – National Alliance on Mental Illness

Stress and Coping: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Emotional Wellness Toolkit – National Institutes of Health

Content Disclaimer:  The information provided herein is for informational, educational and discussion purposes only and shall serve solely as a resource to be used together with your ABD professional insurance advisors in making risk management decisions.  While ABD endeavors to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the information contained in this document.   The information provided herein does not constitute professional advice, nor does ABD provide professional advice beyond our current or prospective broker-client relationship. If you have legal, tax or financial planning questions, we advise you to contact a licensed professional.  If any actions or decisions are made based solely on the information provided herein without consultation with a licensed professional, you do so at your own risk and ABD shall have no liability resulting from such action or decisions.

December has arrived and for many, this will be a time to slow down, begin enjoying the holiday festivities, and spend time surrounded by loved ones. For many others, the thought of the year’s end may trigger feelings of anxiety, stress, and even sadness while processing all that must be done or all that has […]

Well Beyond Work: Emotional Well-Being During the Holidays

May is recognized as Mental Health Month – which couldn’t be more timely, as our teams are currently tasked with balancing Work, Love, & Play during these unprecedented circumstances. Mental Health Month started over 70 years ago and has been vital in bringing awareness to the millions of people suffering in silence due to mental illness. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness nearly 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. live with a mental health condition. Unfortunately, the average time between symptoms beginning and treatment is 11 years. The delay is due to many factors, including social stigma towards mental health that ultimately prevents individuals from seeking the care they need.

ABD is committed to normalizing mental health in the workplace. Whether it is mild stress or depression, mental health is directly tied to an employee’s ability to be present and productive at work. In fact, depression is estimated to cost employers over 4 billion each year due to absenteeism and presenteeism, an expense that can be reduced through health promotion programs and treatment. If employees are not well and feel unsupported when it comes to managing mental health symptoms, everyone suffers. We want to raise awareness around mental health issues impacting our team to mental wellness, reduce employee stress, and create mental health support systems within the workplace. Our goal is simple: minimize burnout and build resiliency while continuing to navigate the stressors of life – especially during a global pandemic.

For Mental Health Month at ABD, we are sharing with our team various ways to cope during COVID-19. This includes weekly mental health Monday topics, educational webinars and practical sessions focused on mindfulness, and more. Employees are navigating virtual meeting fatigue, social isolation, caregiving responsibilities, heightened stress, and anxiety due to the constant change and uncertainty of COVID-19. These are just a few reasons why it is important to have conversations that acknowledge mental health as real. Discussing mental health destigmatizes mental illness. We encourage you to join us in championing Mental Health Month and supporting employees to live happy and healthy lives.

In the comments, share how you’re advocating for mental wellness and reach out to The ABD team if you need wellbeing resources to support your team during this time.

Powerful tools for raising public awareness provided by National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI):

Download the Warning Signs of Mental Illness

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) at any time for help.

May is recognized as Mental Health Month – which couldn’t be more timely, as our teams are currently tasked with balancing Work, Love, & Play during these unprecedented circumstances. Mental Health Month started over 70 years ago and has been vital in bringing awareness to the millions of people suffering in silence due to mental […]

Mental Health Month: Supporting Employees to Live Happy and Healthy Lives

It’s becoming more apparent to employers that happy and healthy employees make for a more productive workforce. Helping employees navigate life in and outside of the workplace will benefit both your business and bottom line.

Let’s look at three wellbeing programs that should be given consideration when planning for 2019:

Mindfulness Training. With an increasing interest in offering mental support services in the workplace, mindfulness training is a creative approach to help people focus on the present moment, thoughts, feelings, and body through meditation, breathing and yoga. It can help reduce stress and increase focus, meaning more attention dedicated to performing work duties.

Flexible Schedules. Long gone are the days of rigidity being accepted in the workplace. Many employees find the ability to vary their schedule helps reduce personal stress, allowing for better time management to accomplish personal and professional responsibilities. With proper communication between managers and employees, you can determine whether allowing a flex schedule works for your business.

The love of the work itself may keep employees showing up every day, but we can also agree the consistent paycheck is a key factor, too. Therefore, it makes sense to provide employees with tools to better manage their money, pay down large debts, plan for retirement, and more. This training is the perfect opportunity for employers to support the growth and development of employees through financial wellbeing education programs.

At ABD, we’re proud to offer our revolutionary vision for the future of workers’ compensation – an integrated workers’ compensation and wellness service model referred to as (CoC).

CoC embraces an innovative concept of reducing workers’ compensation and health care costs by taking a strategic, integrated and multidisciplinary approach to employee health and safety management, based on three core service areas:

Helping organizations avoid injuries before they occur by engaging resources in advance of any potential workplace injury or illness.

Guiding employers through the complex workers’ compensation system in real time, ensuring the best advocates are involved.

Keeping the employee a priority while developing a plan to return to and stay healthy at work.

For more information, we invite you to check out more on ABD’s Circle of Care here.

Robyn E. Cross
Senior Claims and Health Advocate
Robyn.cross@theabdteam.com

It’s becoming more apparent to employers that happy and healthy employees make for a more productive workforce. Helping employees navigate life in and outside of the workplace will benefit both your business and bottom line. Let’s look at three wellbeing programs that should be given consideration when planning for 2019: Mindfulness Training. With an increasing […]

Employee Wellbeing Programs to Consider in 2019

Blog ‍

Connect ‍
with ‍
us. ‍

Articles from Robyn Cross

Wellbeing Recommendations to Enhance Your Organizational Culture

The Ripple Effect of Mental Wellbeing

New Approaches to Keeping Employees Engaged Year-Round Instead of Just at OE

3 Strategies to Boost Your Employee Wellbeing Program

Well Beyond Work: Emotional Well-Being During the Holidays

Mental Health Month: Supporting Employees to Live Happy and Healthy Lives

Employee Wellbeing Programs to Consider in 2019

Newfront for Businesses

Newfront for Employee Benefits

Newfront for Private Clients

.css-ehl63z{overflow:hidden;display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;}.css-k6gryc{display:inline-block;word-break:keep-all;}Blog ‍Connect ‍with ‍us. ‍

Articles from Robyn Cross

.css-13o7eu2{display:block;}Wellbeing Recommendations to Enhance Your Organizational Culture

The Ripple Effect of Mental Wellbeing

New Approaches to Keeping Employees Engaged Year-Round Instead of Just at OE

3 Strategies to Boost Your Employee Wellbeing Program

Well Beyond Work: Emotional Well-Being During the Holidays

Mental Health Month: Supporting Employees to Live Happy and Healthy Lives

Employee Wellbeing Programs to Consider in 2019

Newfront for Businesses

Newfront for Employee Benefits

Newfront for Private Clients

Blog ‍

Connect ‍
with ‍
us. ‍

Wellbeing Recommendations to Enhance Your Organizational Culture