Morneau Shepell is leveraging its sponsorship of the Canadian Olympic Team by launching a new employee engagement program called ‘Getting to Your Gold.’
Through the program, participating employers are matched with an Olympian as their workplace health ambassador. “We became the official mental health partner of the Canadian Olympic team last September,” said Tricia Doyle, director of brand at Morneau Shepell.
“We saw that we were in a unique position to support Olympic athletes in a way that hadn’t been done before. Providing mental health support or workplace mental health training is what we do for employers every single day, so it felt like a really exciting synergy.”
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Morneau Shepell will work directly with each participating employer to find the right athlete for their organization. “The primary objective is to maximize employee engagement, so it has to be the right fit,” added Doyle, “whether they want a winter or summer Olympian, or someone who is from their province. It isn’t a one-size-fits-all.”
The program provides participating employers with an interactive online portal, which will host: Olympic-themed challenges, including leaderboards and wellness points; athlete videos; expert blogs; and team contests.
The challenges will fit into a series of health and wellness themes, such as physical activity, nutrition, rest/sleep, and mental wellness.
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“The athletes will be interacting with the employees via social media, videos and messages, especially in this year leading up to the training and going to Rio,” said Doyle. “The Olympians are supporting employees, but firsthand, Canadians are supporting our Olympians.”