What 2020 has taught us about Wellness
2020, despite its uncertainties and volatility, has been a year where wellness has been brought to the forefront of our daily lives. This year has been the turning point where wellness has gone from being a buzzword to a key priority for most individuals and businesses.
As a Wellbeing Tech provider, we went from being initially quite nervous to surprised and even inspired by the steps taken by our clients and users to focus on their wellbeing. As the team at Springday and I have worked with several businesses across Australia and NZ on improving employee wellbeing, I’ve had some reflections on what this year has taught us about wellness.
• Wellness is a team effort: 2020 has reset our lives and presented a new normal. While this has meant drastically changing how we live, work and travel, it has reinstated the focus on the greater good. Our clients have made several sacrifices to react to the external context – be it quickly changing ways of working, payment structure and even business models or sacrificing social interactions on a personal level. Australia has managed the pandemic fairly well compared to other countries, mainly because of these sacrifices of several businesses and individuals. We’ve all learnt to play as one big team and reaped the benefits of compromise and adaptability.
• People matter and businesses care: 2020 has also made businesses value people more so than even before and genuinely care for their wellbeing. Companies have had to rethink engagement, as interactions moved from a physical to virtual space. It has made topics like physical and mental wellbeing, social connection, financial stability etc. become more than just a tick box exercise. Be it an airline that’s still prioritising its employee wellness program despite disruption in the travel industry or a healthcare provider that’s trying to engage its employees through a step challenge, our clients are trying to be creative and effective in putting their focus on people first. This not only helps employees navigate through a challenging 2020 but also has long term implications on their overall wellbeing, performance, and loyalty to their employers.
• Being proactive is key: This year has been a hard test of our physical and emotional resilience. It’s pushed our boundaries and disrupted our normal lives. However, there has been a surge in proactive initiatives to use this disruption as an opportunity for growth and change. Be it new hobbies, a new-found zeal for exercise or a push to reconnect with family and friends virtually, these proactive measures have all helped to build resilience. We can see this amongst our clients too. Those who have been more proactive with engagement programs for employees have seen improved results in wellbeing through a challenging time. Proactivity means we are well-equipped to better our wellbeing in 2020 and beyond.
It’s difficult to predict what 2021 would be like but if we continue working as a team, put people first and take a proactive approach to wellness, we would be braced to have a better and stronger new year.
With that, I wish you a safe and happy holiday season and a great start to the new year!
Dipra Ray
CEO, Springday
