WorkLife by OpenMoney, the employee benefits platform, has partnered with ShinyMind and Wellness Cloud to help employers offer extra mental health support to their employees, as well as advice and support to working parents through Parent Cloud, as part of the Wellness Cloud benefits package.
A significant, and growing, number of employees (39%) are going to their employers with concerns about their mental wellbeing, according to recent findings from the WorkLife Small Business Monitor 2022*. The platform, which champions access to benefits for SMEs, has responded swiftly to that increased demand by bolstering its mental wellbeing offering.
Through their collaboration with ShinyMind, leaders in the resilience and wellness field, WorkLife customers will now be able to provide their employees with over 100 interactive activities and resources to help them manage stress, anxiety, relationships, and self-awareness, while giving them the chance to create their own positive community within the app.
ShinyMind was co-designed with NHS workers to provide masterclasses and exercises to support the mental health of each individual at work. Research including independent longitudinal studies have shown ShinyMind works – improving positivity, resilience and performance as well as improving staff retention and absence rates. ShinyMind is now showcased as a ‘Proven Innovation’ on Innovation Agency Exchange, the online resource managed by the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) established by NHS England to spread innovation in health at pace and scale.
Meanwhile, Wellness Cloud is the most comprehensive wellbeing platform on the market, partnering with forward thinking organisations to simplify their employee support and achieve better wellbeing, better mental health and better business. Wellness Cloud specialises in offering expert one-to-one consultations with the user’s choice of specialist, along with providing engaging resources and a personalised mental health app to help employees through a wide range of life events and challenges, such as menopause, fertility, mental health, career development, and parenting though Parent Cloud.
These latest additions to WorkLife’s comprehensive package of mental wellbeing support is testimony to its commitment to helping SME employers support their employees at all stages and in all areas of their lives. The platform firmly believes doing so is not only the right thing to do for employees, it also makes sound business sense – reducing the losses incurred when employees’ mental health is not supported, which is reflected in absence rates and productivity slumps.
Paul Chedzey, WorkLife by OpenMoney Commercial Director, said: “The last 12 months have been a huge test for everyone. We understand how tough it’s been on resilience and mental health – the findings from our recent Small Business Monitor show just how challenging things have been for SMEs and their employees.
“Our response to what the Small Business Monitor exposed has been to build even more support into our employee wellness offer. We are extremely proud to have partnered with some amazing organisations in that endeavour.”
Rebecca Howard, CEO and Founder of ShinyMind, said: “We believe everyone has the right to good mental health. We can’t change the world around you, but we can help you change the way you respond to it. The problem is that mental wellbeing isn’t something that 99% of us are ever taught how to achieve. By developing a greater understanding of ourselves we can improve our positivity, performance and quality of life, benefitting not just us but our family, friends, colleagues and wider society.”
Karen Taylor, Founding Director at Wellness Cloud, added: “Organisations are now responsible for supporting many aspects of their employees’ health and wellbeing. As a result, it can be hard for HR to maintain engagement, with the amount of providers needed to fully support their employees, as well as expensive and challenging to manage. Our mission is to simplify wellbeing support by offering an affordable comprehensive platform that HR teams can rely on to help their people with all of life’s challenges. We’re excited to be working with WorkLife to help more organisations fully support their employees at work and home.”