Flight Centre Travel Group’s pair of wins at the 2025 Workplace Benefits Awards is supporting the employer’s benefits communications strategy by reminding employees of available wellness offerings, says Anna Fisher, the organization’s health and wellness director.
“The [Workplace Benefits Awards] are a big deal to us, because they give us a moment to pause and reflect on how our wellness initiatives are actually impacting our people. It really does create a lot of positive momentum for us because it sparks conversations across the teams. It reminds employees their well-being is actually at the heart of our company culture.”
Read: Flight Centre wins award for holistic employee mental-health strategy
The travel company won in the Mental Health Program category for employers with fewer than 1,000 employees and tied for top honours in the Health/Wellness Program category for employers with fewer than 1,000 employees. Flight Centre also won these categories in the 2023 edition of the awards.
Its Healthwise program supports the physical, mental, emotional and social well-being of employees. It includes numerous well-being supports, such as on-demand fitness classes, meditations, wellness and nutrition resources and ergonomic stretches and workstation set-ups. New content is communicated to employees through video updates and posts on the company intranet.
In addition, the employer’s ‘Hour of Power’ program gives employees one paid hour each week to focus on their mental health through activities such as meditation, walking and journaling. Currently, nearly 500 employees are regularly taking part in the program.
Read: Flight Centre wins for wide-ranging support of employee well-being
Since the awards recognition, Flight Centre has also seen an uptick in employee participation among the various wellness programs. “It definitely has a ripple effect through the organization,” says Fisher. “More people are doing the Hour of Power initiative and there’s been more participation in our wellness challenges. It gives us a platform to amplify our wellness message internally and we can use that recognition to re-engage employees with the benefits that maybe they forgot about.”
The awards also support the employer’s talent management strategy, including attraction and retention. “The awards provide external validation [of our wellness programs] and that resonates deeply with the employees. When people see Flight Centre recognized for our wellness efforts, it reinforces that we’re not just talking about well-being, we’re genuinely invested in creating programs that support our people.”
Enter the 2026 Workplace Benefits Awards here. The deadline is June 30.