Related news
A new concept of employee welfare gains space in the agendas of the directors of Human Resources in Spain. It does not matter the size of the company, the sector in which it operates or the year the company was founded.
This revolution, although slow and uneven, is advancing steadily among a business fabric that is beginning to accept that investment in the mental health of the workforce does not only bring moral or holistic satisfactionbut also a quantifiable economic return.
The pandemic and its accelerating effect on the digitization of the economy has allowed disruptive projects that were already on the market to offer psychological counseling services to companies and individuals have experienced a notable increase in demand.
It’s all about platforms online B2B companies that already care for the mental health and emotional well-being of workers at leading companies in their sector, such as Glovo, Pfizer, PC Components, Travelperk, Colvin or Heura Food.
All of them have internalized the value of having “content” and “happy” employees, not only for moral reasons, but also for its monetary impact -avoid sick leave- and talent loyaltyone of the handicaps of the digital age.
43% of Spanish professionals have a certain feeling of exhaustion or fatigue at work, and 70% of them state that this feeling has increased since the covid pandemic.
“There are people who move only for money. That is how it is. But, increasingly, there is a worker, closely linked to digitization, who wants more. He wants to be identified with the company’s philosophy, share values and, precisely, It is that talent profile that is hard to find. Their well-being is key to the organization”.
This is Rafael San Roman, Content & PR Manager en la startup Ifeel. “Our impression is that these worker care strategies are here to stay. On the one hand, because the pandemic is not over, there are still needs and problems to attend to and, on the other, companies are beginning to see its advantages, not only from a human or ethical point of view, but also economically.”
The data is so hoarded. According to the Labor Market Guide 2022, 43% of Spanish professionals have a certain feeling of exhaustion or fatigue at work, and 70% of them state that this feeling has increased since the covid pandemic.
Neglecting the well-being of the templates has its cost. Work stress causes almost 30% of sick leaveswhich last for an average of 83 days, and 24% of Spanish workers acknowledge taking tranquilizers on a regular basis, according to official data from the National Social Security Institute.
From the diet and gym bonus to comprehensive care
“40 years ago, the well-being of the employee was achieved with the diet bonus, parking and the gym in the company. Now, this new reformulated concept involves the implementation of cross-cutting strategic plans in the companies. It is not a one-off action like before, otherwise a project that is part of the same company strategy“, explains Marina Ruiz to D + I, HR Manager at Psonríe.
Ruiz focuses on the consequences that it has had for the emotional stability of the templates the return to face-to-face or semi-face-to-face classes after the ‘new normality’ and the new hybrid working models.
“It’s hard to keep that emotional bond with workers who are not physically close to the company and that, in some cases, they are very specialized profiles that it is not easy to gain loyalty because they are going to demand much more than a good salary”, affirms Marina Ruiz.
In addition, Adrián Viñuales, head of Mindgram in Spain, emphasizes the role that the generational change of the templates is playing in this whole process. “Young people are increasingly looking for personal fulfillment, happiness, well-being, elements that are no longer solved with a after workbut are aimed at filling your life more in a more enriching way”.
Greater visibility of mental health
As allies in this process of change is the greater visibility of mental illness and the openness on the part of society to treating psychological therapy with the same naturalness as taking care of physical health.
“Thanks to platforms like ours, which allow us to enter the day-to-day life of companies and workers, we believe that we are helping de-stigmatize mental health, but there is a long way to go“And there the role of these startups is decisive.
The return to presence after the pandemic has increased anxiety in work teams.
On the one hand, through workshops, webinar and actions that have continuity throughout the yearthese companies provide the employee with tools to get to know themselves better and be interested in responding to those aspects related to their mental well-being that may concern them.
In a second stage, when the worker has detected a specific problem, the platforms offer specific content to deal with it and, if necessary, in a more advanced step, you can access therapy with a professional who will treat the employee personally.
AI and ‘big data’ to x-ray the situation
On the part of the companies, the Human Resources departments receive in a totally confidential way the feedback of your template for be able to adopt guidelines that correct those deficiencies detected.
“The certainty that this information is not going to be published, that it is treated in a totally confidential by a company external to oursis a point in favor of the worker’s confidence in the solution,” says Adrián Viñuales from Mindgram.
“Mindgram and platforms like us we manage all this aggregated data and thanks to artificial intelligence and the big data we offer the company a very accurate x-ray of the welfare situation of its workers”.