Wellness at Work Collaboration Takeaways
The Global Wellness Collaborations bring industry leaders together in meaningful dialogue to share ideas and best practices for navigating the COVID-19 crisis around a specific industry segment.
Topic: Wellness at Work
Date of Discussion: March 24, 2020
Countries/Regions Represented: Andorra, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, UK, US
- My biggest challenge now is how to keep up the morale of my team because we’re a seasonal hotel. What can we do, in terms of practical tools, to keep up the morale and support for the people who are at home with no salary and with no idea of how and when they’re going to start working again?
- For some of our employees that live paycheck to paycheck, we have an emergency fund set up. And we’re doing the best we can to make sure, if anyone is in distress, that we are there for them in every way possible.
- Communication is key. Be honest. Don’t try to give anyone false hope. Have a creative mindset. In the last crisis that I went through with my company, we didn’t have any work, so we created a new brand that’s now a multimillion-dollar entity; that would not have come about unless the crisis had happened.
- In this crisis, we’ve launched a whole new campaign of at-home experiences. We’re giving at-home tips. We’re doing Facebook Live meditations, we’re recording videos of how to work out at home, and we’re engaging all our staff because you have to start looking forward. We’ve put together a whole strategy of working forward and creatively and making lemonade out of lemons.
- It’s not the same for everyone. Think about the biggest pain points for your employees because some of them will be more stressed than others. Some of them will have bigger financial stressors than others, so you can build some strategy around that to pinpoint and help so everybody gets the resources and the support they need.
- Not only do we have our team meetings, which we have changed from just being project-based to having a central focus on a holistic solution and we invite ideas, we also have individual time once or twice a week where employees choose the time and the topic, and we work together in a deep dive on whatever is important to them. That’s actually created a tighter connection.
- I see that’s what’s coming out from this crisis is that there’s a real need to connect to purpose. There’s no ticking the boxes anymore. It has to be honest and authentic; your company needs to be aligned with a social purpose.
- Sharing a word of encouragement each day. A small meditation.
- There needs to be a component of calls and meetings now that are more heart-focused, more about how people are feeling. Give people a chance to share things that are not work-related. That’s what helps keeps people together at a time like this.
- Some questions we are addressing are how are we going to reinvent services, how will our guests overcome their fears? How can we remain physically fit but also mentally?
- Some traditional business models can be turned into an online site.
- Pivoting from B2B to B2C. How can we translate a brick and mortar business into the virtual world? As more and more people stay home, maybe they’re going to do virtual vacations.
- Go and spend at least an hour a day just sitting on a balcony, being outside and deep breathing; it’s better than looking at walls. Think about if you have access to a window, a balcony, a small outdoor space, and just do some activity that will make you feel better.
- You have to be very creative and incredibly collaborative.
- I think this is quite a coaching opportunity, particularly for younger colleagues, those who have not gone through the business cycles or challenges that many of us have experienced: post-911, SARS, financial crisis, etc.
- I’m talking to a lot of people that I work with in hotel sales and spa representatives about how to manage oneself at home, how to set up a schedule, how to arrange appointments, what is the messaging that they’re comfortable with, when to reach out to clients, etc. I emphasize that people should offer support and help, be caring and sincere, and of course, not be inappropriate or solicit business at this time. I am reinforcing the importance of being flexible and not charging for cancellations or things of that nature. Now is the time to build partnerships and relationships and be there for others.
- What’s going to come after this crisis when it comes to wellness at work? How is the workplace going to change? Working remotely, while creating challenges, is also creating opportunities. How will health, wellbeing, safety and sustainability affect the future of the workplace?
- What we’re going to see in the future is more caring leadership and a focus on health and wellbeing safety, as well as new remote working strategies; also, how we actually design our workspaces.