At Benefits Canada‘s 2020 Workplace Benefits Awards on Oct. 16, Ericsson was recognized for its comprehensive health and wellness program that helps employees address their physical, mental and social health needs.
“We’ve really focused on a health and wellness program that would benefit employee’s health and overall well-being. . . . I think, for us, it’s always been important. We’ve had an e-health and wellness program in Canada since 2016,” says Laura Glenn, wellness program manager for North America at Ericsson.
“It’s definitely integral to our overall total rewards platform, which is something that employees are looking for more and more, . . . is to have an employer that offers comprehensive benefits and that cares for their well-being.”
Read: Who are the winners of the 2020 Workplace Benefits Awards?
The program offers employees a digital health and wellness platform and app, delivered in both English and French. Options for employees include online yoga class, tracking workouts with a fitness device and chatting virtually with colleagues about health and wellness. Over the past four years, the global telecommunications company has also offered many in-person wellness-focused options, including wireless health stations to monitor blood pressure and weight, quarterly employee information sessions, an array of fitness classes, health fairs and vaccination and biometric screening clinics.
“We certainly want to encourage employees to take care of their health and give them all the tools they need to do so,” she says. “We’ve managed to foster a culture and community where health and wellness are important.”
Read: Ericsson adds sleep, nutrition to online wellness program
The backbone of the program is its long-running digital programs, which made the switch to completely online offerings due to the coronavirus pandemic much easier. The company now offers a mindfulness and meditation app to help employees deal with this stressful time, says Glenn, noting Ericsson also quickly adapted events to online formats to connect with its employees working from home.
“We had our annual wellness fair online and had really high participation, with more than a third of our employees attending. . . . I think it was a success because we already had those virtual channels available.”
Overall, the program has successfully supported a positive work culture — a May 2020 survey found 88 per cent of employees said they think Ericsson has a great culture, while 89 per cent are happy to be working at the company and 87 per cent feel a sense of belonging.
The e-health program is also highly regarded, with 87 per cent of participants reporting satisfaction with the program versus a benchmark of 76 per cent. And since the program’s inception, Ericsson has maintained high engagement. Enrolment for employees reached 50 per cent within one month of the launch and is currently at 69 per cent versus a benchmark of 53 per cent. Meanwhile, the average monthly program engagement is at 65 per cent versus a benchmark of 47 per cent.
Read a full list of the 2020 Workplace Benefits Awards winners.