Implementing wellness technology in the modern workplace

Wellness or wellness tech in the workplace isn’t a new concept — some of the world’s most forward-thinking employers have been offering initiatives in this realm for years — but what’s changed is the requirement to devise a robust strategy that guides the technology being deployed.

In the pre-COVID-19 days, it wasn’t uncommon for companies to host yoga sessions, offer online subscriptions to meditation apps, or have unlimited paid time off schemes. To the outside world, such offerings, or perks, signaled that an employer cared about its people. It was also a smart (and let’s face it) relatively inexpensive way to attract and retain talent.

Then, the outbreak of COVID-19 blurred the lines between personal and professional and it soon became clear that the world of work — forever changed — needed to become much more people-centric.

Change the culture

Employees are continually told to bring their whole selves to work but for this to happen, employers and HR teams must take meaningful action. However, rolling out this technology will require a culture shift across the entire organization.

Sheri Jacobson, the founder of Harley Therapy, advises today’s HR leaders to go beyond expectations and avoid simply ticking boxes when it comes to wellness. She also acknowledges that the task in front of them is “hard, so hard, because it’s not a one size fits all approach.”

Despite the wide range of innovative wellbeing solutions, her view is that the technology is currently unable to deliver the same experience or care as a human would:

“There’s nothing to replace someone listening to you.”

For this reason, it’s essential that HR leaders continue to establish relationships with employees. This, Jacobson adds, will continue to be one of the most powerful interventions to help pick up signs and cues that point to something being untoward or signal that further assistance is necessary.

“The relationship aspect is probably one of the key drivers of employee wellbeing,” Jacobson explains.

Ask the questions

Like the broader HR technology market, the wellness sector is fragmented. According to McKinsey, the market is valued at more than $1.5 trillion and is expected to grow annually by five to 10 percent. It’s this overabundance of choice that makes HR’s challenge even more overwhelming.

Gethin Nadin, the chief innovation officer at Benefex, tells UNLEASH that over 900,000 digital health apps were released as the pandemic took hold in 2020.

“The total figure now sits at more than 350,000 across various app stores,” he says, adding that worryingly —  despite the huge rise in and adoption of mental health apps globally — it’s clear from the research that most of them are potentially clinically unproven and ineffective.

In fact, a 2019 study in Nature Digital Medicine found that 64% of mental health apps claimed efficacy, but only 14% included any evidence. For this reason, it’s important that HR undergo a robust due diligence process with vendors.

“Employers shouldn’t be afraid to ask bold questions and ask for proof. For example, asking what medical professionals were involved in the creation of their tech and what research proves the tech actually makes a difference,” Nadin adds.

Get strategy right

Due diligence aside, the key to getting wellbeing technology in the workplace right in 2022 is, quite unsurprisingly, strategy.

“The evidence on how to make a workplace wellbeing technology strategy successful is very clear,” says Nadin, “there are a common set of things that need to happen in an organization for any wellbeing initiative to succeed.”

First and foremost, Nadin says, wellbeing technology strategies must be designed with the employee in mind. “Wellbeing at work fails when it’s designed for the employer —  for example, to reduce absence rates — rather than for the employee,” he adds.

Getting senior buy-in is also essential but for this to work, Nadin notes that senior leaders must showcase how they are using the technology in their own lives.

“Then, really think about your HR existing technology stack and how your wellbeing tech, or strategy, will integrate into it.

“To remove any entry barriers, HR must make it easy for people to improve their wellbeing. Make sure the wellbeing tech experience is joined up. Don’t hide different tools behind multiple logins or different places,” Nadin advises.

Measure success

The modern workplace calls for fluidity, flexibility, and feedback. The need to measure strategy’s success rate is undeniable — it is, after all, the only way HR departments have of knowing if uptake is happening.

“The wellbeing tech industry will lead you to believe that a login on its own is a measure of success, but it’s far more complex than that,” Nadin says.

“Employers should be looking at who is logging in and if they are returning users? What parts of the tech are they using? How often do they use the app and if there is content available, what are the themes your employees are looking at the most?,” he adds.

This wellbeing technology data, Nadin says, can tell a much more compelling story when used with other objective data points.

“When combined with subjective data like employee surveys, this rich data set can tell you far more about the wellbeing of your people than traditional turnover or absence data can — or indeed wellbeing tech on its own,” he concludes.

Wellness technology in the workplace has never been more important. The main things for HR to remember are that its rollout will depend on many variables — including due diligence and strategy —  and that uptake will largely come down to having authentic interactions with employees and the acknowledgment that people really are the most important asset within the organization.