Integrated employee wellbeing: The key to success in the future of work

Human Resources: In an ever-changing business landscape,  professional development of hard and soft skills isn’t a ‘nice to have’. It’s a necessity. Investing in ongoing upskilling is important to employers as it helps their business remain competitive, boosts productivity and facilitates employee engagement. It is also imperative to empower employees to own their career and self development to stay relevant in the industry, agile and employable.

Sophie Althans, HR Director at Organon joined Health Industry Hub to reflect on the recent World Health Day theme of ‘Our planet, Our Health’, how this is relevant to the current ecosystem and why it is prioritised through Organon’s engagement with its employees.

Sophie said “It is so important to focus on health and wellbeing which goes beyond the COVID pandemic. With a a ‘people first’ culture, it’s about taking that time to step back, reflect and make sure that you have enough fuel and energy to be bringing your whole self to work, in your personal life and in serving your communities.

“How we support that as a company is vital. For instance, providing the gift of time for individuals to focus on their health and wellbeing, and also the flexibility in the approach to work which has moved well beyond the traditional model of working nine to five. The flexible nature of work focusses on outcomes and prioritisation, and how we work smarter as a business rather than harder. This ties in really well with our diversity and inclusion strategy on belonging and for everyone having their own perspectives.”

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The half-life of skills is rapidly falling, placing huge demands on learning in the digital age. The good news is that an explosion of high-quality content and digital delivery models offers employees on-demand access to continuous learning. In fact, according to PwC and Beyond Blue, companies can reap $2.30 for every $1 spent on workplace wellbeing strategies.

Sophie said “In assisting employees of all ages and spectrums, our investment in the Circle In platform aims to support individuals throughout their whole journey, including caregivers, parents and employees planning to have a baby. It provides manager capability building to support our employees on their journey as well as provide the tools to support them in their everyday lives, inside and outside of work.”

Experts and advisors write different articles which is the difference between just Googling the information. It is also interactive. For instance, a manager gets prompts and tools as they go through the journey of supporting their team member going on maternity leave. There are also interactive stories where employees are able to be vulnerable about difficult and personal challenges such as miscarriage or menopause.

Sophie added “We are tracking the metrics on a monthly basis to understand which sites have been visited the most and start seeing trends in what people want to see more of.

“It helps create that psychological safety for everybody to open up the conversation and talk about what is happening inside and outside of work. This is really timely for Organon as we are a new company and we can shape it by bringing these initiatives in quite early to help build the culture that we want.”

Sophie has navigated through FMCG and retail positions in the past and has observed the focus on wellbeing evolve over time including “taking ownership and carving out the time”. The focus on the employee base driving their own learning and skill development is critical.

“We are driving ‘meeting free’ Fridays across the business allowing us to focus on our own development and carving time out to reflect, think and focus on upskilling,” Sophie said.

She added “We have also launched a People Leaders Forum a couple of months ago to drive leader capability on how they set the scene for their teams and how they role model these Organon initiatives.

“As we move back into the hybrid working environment, we are providing people the support they need to navigate the changes. This evolution means keeping agile and up to speed with wellbeing and all of these different initiatives as we move through the journey together over the next few months.”