Employee wellness programs have become an important focus for HR and employee experience professionals. Even prior to COVID-19, teams were working hard to prioritize employee well-being. In fact, earlier this year a study by Morneau Sheppell showed that 60% of employees polled would leave their current employer if they were offered less money but better support for personal well-being.
With many employers extending their work from home programs to 2021, the effects of the COVID-19 crisis will continue to have a major impact on employee mental health and well-being. This means that employers who offer comprehensive wellness programs and find ways to communicate these programs through creative Recruitment Marketing will gain a competitive edge when it comes to talent attraction and retention efforts.
Since wellness programs could be a deciding factor for some candidates in today’s uncertain climate, we found 3 great examples of how employers are putting employee wellness programs front and center in their Recruitment Marketing efforts. We hope these examples provide some ideas for how you might incorporate this approach into your own strategy too.
1. Get the word out through internal communications
Lemonly’s Wellness Task Force helps provide team bonding for employees through a focus wellness.
To ensure employee wellness is a top priority, Lemonly created a Wellness Task Force (humorously referred to as the WTF).
The WTF provides a monthly breakfast for everyone in the office and sends their remote team members a stipend to get their own healthy start to the day at home. In addition, the team organizes creative monthly mental health events such as guided meditation sessions, visits from puppy rescues and lunchtime yoga sessions to name a few.
The WTF team uses visually branded internal communications to keep employees engaged and promote upcoming events. We love this approach because a solid internal communications strategy helps to bring your employer brand to life with your employees and ensures that external Recruitment Marketing communications feel aligned with internal perceptions.
Lemonly’s Wellness Task Force sends fun emails like this to engage employees.
2. Amplify your wellness benefits externally
Many employers, like Dream Unlimited, share information about their employee wellness programs on social media.
Benefits are an important factor when candidates are deciding whether to accept a job offer. In fact, in a Glassdoor survey, 48% of job seekers said attractive benefits was a top factor when deciding to apply for a new role. However, oftentimes, recruitment marketers reserve perks and benefits promotions for their careers site only. However, it’s worth extending the reach and showcasing your company’s benefits on other channels too, since this information can actually go a long way in setting your organization apart from the competition!
As you know, one of the more effective ways to reach candidates is through social media. While typically careers social content includes employee spotlights, information on the company culture and job alerts, social also acts as prime real estate to answer burning questions that prospective candidates have about your benefits plan! Rotating this type of content into your content calendar will help you stand out from many of your competitors by delivering answers that candidates are actively seeking out.
Take this example from Dream Unlimited. The company uses its social media channels to promote their new benefits plan. While updates to a company’s benefits plan are typically communicated internally only, by also sharing the news externally it showcases how your organization cares for your employees to a prospective candidate audience too.
By utilizing social media to amplify what benefits and perks you’re giving to your employees, you can also attract and recruit talent.
Rally note: For more insights on how to pivot your employer brand and Recruitment Marketing strategy in response to changing candidate expectations, check out this Rally blog by Arbonne’s Chantell Cooper: What Will Matter to Candidates in a Post-COVID World.
3. Create a wellness resource hub
With the global shift to a work anywhere workforce (WAWF), many organizations have found that work-life balance boundaries have become blurry.
In fact, an article by Bloomberg noted that many employees have stated that they’re actually working longer hours now since they are only steps from their “office.” The same article also listed that 45% of workers are feeling burnt out. Since it doesn’t appear that we’ll be migrating back to the office any time soon, candidates appreciate organizations that prioritize their employee’s mental well-being and encourage work-life balance.
Salesforce’s #BWellTogether is a great example of this. The initiative was started to help Salesforce’s employees and their families stay focused on mental well-being during COVID-19. Framed as “well-being breaks,” the series hosts a number of high-profile speakers and well-being experts who provide tips, resources and insights on many aspects of mental, physical and social well-being.
Salesforce has since opened the program up so that people outside of their organization can also benefit from their resources. Anyone can now access the full collection of B-Well Together well-being breaks on the Employee Health & well-being Resource Center page.
Side note — This type of resource hub is a great way to equip your employees (and other core audiences) with essential information all in one spot. It sends a clear signal that you’re invested in employee health and well-being and is a great spot to communicate elements of your employer brand through the messaging and visuals you use on the hub.
Salesforce has created #BWellTogether to help their employees focus on their mental health during COVID-19.
Today, organizations are under more scrutiny than ever as candidates and the public keep a close eye on how employers are treating their employees during these uncertain times. We hope that these examples have inspired you to encourage the development of more employee wellness programming and to put these initiatives front and center in your Recruitment Marketing content.
