How the Pandemic Sparked a Well-being Revolution

The pandemic has been framed as many things — portal, apocalypse, new normal —  but Historian Rebecca L. Spang sees the pandemic as a revolution.      

By Spang’s definition of revolution as a period of extreme disruption, the pandemic is indeed a revolution: one that has ushered in a new collective consciousness. This monumental health event has caused a prismatic shift in the way individuals and organizations prioritize well-being. 

“Pandemics are deeply unsettling, but they are also periods of great creativity,” Spang wrote for The Atlantic. “To claim this moment as a revolution is to claim it for human action.”

Tech has certainly claimed the moment as a cultural revolution — with employee well-being squarely at its center. For New York tech companies, the days of paltry fitness benefits and limited time off are a distant dream. Instead, access to therapy, inclusive healthcare and exhaustive PTO policies reign supreme. 

“We recognize our teammates as more than bodies filling roles — we’re all complex individuals navigating incredibly difficult times,” said SIMON Director of People Operations Meghan Tomzyk. 

Ampersand has banished clock-in-clock-out culture, while Catalyst and SeatGeek have rallied to end the stigma surrounding mental health. Audible, Skillshare and Enigma are among the many companies who have reimagined their organizations as remote and hybrid entities and, in doing so, are reshaping the future of work. 

“Well-being looks different for everyone,” said Skillshare CEO Matt Cooper on the employee-first evolution. “Ensuring employees feel that they can bring their whole selves to work and know their company supports healthy work-life balance are critical.”

When Built In New York sat down with 12 tech companies riding the tides of change, a clear truth emerged: Employee autonomy is the epicenter of the well-being reformation. In this new age, tech companies are empowering employees with tangible resources for pursuing meaningful happiness in and out of the workplace. 

 

 

 

Monday.com is a productivity software company that has developed a work operating system to transform the way teams work together.

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees? 

As a global company, monday.com takes a “glocal” approach to invest in well-being. We aim to support our teammates from a global perspective, but also address their more regional needs as required. We encourage our team to take time to breathe and unplug through our health and wellness reimbursement plan — which helps pay for fitness club memberships or meditation apps, along with discounts to specific vendors we have partnerships with. 

As a global company, monday.com takes a ‘glocal’ approach to invest in well-being.”

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

At monday.com we offer multiple benefits to address every aspect of health, while also providing generous time-off benefits to ensure that work-life flexibility is prioritized.

 

 

Ownership is a key value at monday.com, and we want everyone on our team to feel empowered to make informed decisions. Having funds allocated for the specific needs of our team shows that no matter what is happening throughout the day, we give them the power to decide when, where, and how these funds are best utilized.

 

 

 

 

SIMON is a fintech company that works to build transparency around complex, risk-managed and alternative investments by way of a centralized digital platform. 

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees? 

SIMON understands empowering our team to take care of themselves, and one another, is absolutely necessary. We’re lucky to have a leadership team that values the wellness of our team as a core part of what drives the success of our business.

In 2021, we introduced “Power Up with SIMON!”, our spin on mental, physical and social wellness that challenges our team to be happier, healthier versions of ourselves both in and out of the workplace. This team-driven initiative provides fun, interactive and healthy outlets to achieve individual goals and decompress while connecting with peers and colleagues across the company.

We’ve enjoyed group hybrid wellness activities including meditations, yoga, 5Ks, Peloton rides and runs, dodgeball and kickball leagues, and co-sponsored events with our diversity, equity and inclusion employee resource groups — all captured via a fitness app that feeds our friendly competitive spirit.

Along the way, we have focused on educating our team about the full suite of benefits available and supporting participation in all forms.

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

While many of us have dedicated time to our physical health, it’s equally important to commit to our mental health. Looking after our mental well-being is incredibly hard and often neglected. SIMON recognizes our teammates as more than bodies filling roles — we’re all complex individuals navigating incredibly difficult times. We’ve risen to this challenge together as a team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SeatGeek is a mobile-focused ticket platform that enables fans to buy and sell tickets for sports, concert and theater events.

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees? 

There are so many vendors popping up in the well-being space, and we’re constantly vetting new options to ensure our program meets employee needs. We try to differentiate ourselves by taking a holistic approach to well-being that allows us to tell a compelling story on how our benefits support overall health. In order to tell this story, we conceptualized our benefits in a four-pillar approach to well-being: physical, mental, financial and social.

Mental health is a huge priority for us, especially in the wake of the pandemic. We invest in a variety of avenues for mental health support at no cost to employees: Ginger, Headspace, UPrise and Sanvello to name a few. These benefits cover a broad spectrum of mental health needs, from maintaining good health through meditation to seeking clinical treatment through therapy.

All facets of well-being are intrinsically linked, so telling a clear story about how our benefits support different aspects of life has given us a great way to support our employees’ mental health.

Categorizing carriers by severity of need — thriving, coping or seeking support — has given employees a much better sense of which carrier is best in times of need.”

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

Building our four-pillar well-being approach in combination with analytical reviews and surveys helped identify where to focus further investment. Over the past year, we’ve implemented several changes in support of holistic well-being.

 

 

Adding and expanding can only take you so far, and one of the best ways to meet employees where they are is through clear and consistent communication. Helping employees understand what benefits are available and how to access them when needs arise is an important way to help remove barriers to accessing care. 

One way we’ve done this is by revamping our mental health page. We have several partners for mental health support, and it can be hard to know who to reach out to in times of mental distress. Categorizing carriers by severity of need — thriving, coping or seeking support — has given employees a much better sense of which carrier is best in times of need.

 

 

 

 

Audible is an entertainment company that is changing the way people access stories through audio storytelling. 

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees? 

At Audible, we’re committed to an inclusive workplace that cares for employees in the most holistic way possible. We provide a broad array of benefits and perks (which vary by location) to support employees in living full, healthy lives.

Employee Assistance 

Our expanded program provides access to care partners that help connect employees to various services like mental health providers, legal and financial services, or even help with adopting a pet! 

Maternity, Paternity and Adoptive Leave 

We offer pre- and post-partum maternity leave, fully paid parental leave, and a program to help parents transition back to a full-time schedule to experience a fulfilling career and a healthy family life.

Wellness Days

What began as a one-time offering in 2021 turned into a quarterly time off perk to help employees disconnect and recharge. 

Nutritional Well-being

On top of the complimentary (and exceptional) lunch provided daily, there is grab-n-go breakfast and pantry snacks, weekly made-to-order breakfast, and an onsite barista. Audible’s registered dietician offers personalized nutrition advice and recipes, and hosts workshops focused on topics like emotional eating.

At Audible, we’re committed to an inclusive workplace that cares for employees in the most holistic way possible.”

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

In 2020 we began our journey of reimagining what the future of work and connection could look like at Audible and recently launched our hybrid way of working, Hub+Home, which provides flexibility and remote work options to meet employee’s lifestyles and family needs. As our workplace continues to evolve, so does our approach to supporting our employees and their well-being. 

Meet Better

This initiative asks us to rethink the time needed to come together to achieve great things and to build a truly collaborative workplace. Meet-free afternoons once a week allow for heads down work and have been such a success that we now also hold a meet-free day each month.

Hub Health

With convenient quality urgent care available at no-cost to Audible employees in select hubs, feeling better is just around the corner. 

Mindfulness & Movement Sessions

What started as small weekly meditation sessions, led by me, when we first started working from home, has grown to a company-wide series. 

We just launched our visual and audio-immersive space, where weekly well-being programming will take place and include employee-led meditation, yoga and sound bath sessions and workshops.

 

 

 

Ampersand is an adtech company that helps advertisers create audience-first planning using viewership data. 

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees? 

Ampersand has a company-wide culture council — an employee resource group — as well as local culture councils in each office focused on building the cultural competence of our employees. The goal of every culture council is to amplify the experiences and cultures of underrepresented groups. This programming is both internal and external and spans across racial, cultural, and LGBTQ focus. 

We use awareness days and months to celebrate and educate on the contributions of our communities as well as fundraising: including PRIDE Month, International Women’s Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Black History Month. 

Now in its second year, our external multicultural campaign highlights Ampersand employees throughout the year, and ranges in topics from culture to industry to service.

Ampersand harnesses the power of external partnerships: We are a founding partner in the Boyd Initiative, a foundation that helps young Black professionals discover careers in marketing and advertising. We are also a corporate sponsor of She Runs, a non-profit organization that promotes women’s roles in leading at every level of advertising and marketing.

We are not a clock in, clock out culture.”

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

We utilize an employer-sponsored employee assistance program (EAP) that supplies counseling for marital, parental, or financial problems, and aid for specific conditions — such as substance abuse, smoking, gambling, productivity, time management workshops and many more.  

We also highlight the importance of taking a break. If a break is needed during the day for a walk, meditation or whatever an individual needs to ensure they feel healthy, we encourage it. We are not a clock in, clock out culture. 

 

 

 

 

 

Bread Financial is a tech-forward financial services company that provides payment, lending and saving solutions. 

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees? 

Through “LivingWell” — our holistic well-being program — Bread Financial offers a range of programming and resources aimed at empowering associates to eat smart, move more, focus on self-care and live well at work. 

We are hyper focused on the associate experience, offering low-to-no-cost solutions that meet people wherever they are on their wellness journey. 

 

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

We pride ourselves on being dialed into the unique and ever-changing stressors that our associates are experiencing. Recognizing that personal finances are a top stressor for our associates, we implemented an employer-sponsored financial wellness platform that offers goals-based financial planning and unlimited access to free fiduciary-level advisors. 

The pandemic also reinforced the need for Bread Financial to move beyond the traditional Employee Assistance Program (EAP). In 2022, we launched a new and vastly more robust, personalized mental health solution at no cost to associates and their family members.

We implemented an employer-sponsored financial wellness platform that offers goals-based financial planning and unlimited access to free fiduciary-level advisors.”

 

 

 

Biz2Credit is a fintech company that leverages data, cash flow insights and the latest tech to give business owners an automated small business funding platform.

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees? 

The well-being of our team members has always been a point of focus at Biz2Credit. We have a wide and diverse range of stakeholders, with our employees being a major piece of this equation. We place their interests at the center of what we do and the decisions that we make.

To accomplish this, we invest in our employees, with what we call giving them C.R.E.D.I.T. Each one of these letters represents our core values: collaboration, responsibility, empowerment, disruption, innovation and trust. When we provide recognition, we always tie the employee’s efforts back to these values. 

Having to navigate through a global pandemic reinforced the importance of offering an employee-centered work environment. At Biz2Credit we don’t look at employee well-being through a single lens; we approach it through a multi-dimensional strategy. 

The first step we take is to create a safe, comfortable, and accommodating physical work environment for those that are in the office. We feel that it should be fun to come to work, and we have successfully made an environment that fosters that. 

Next, we create an environment in which our team members can develop supportive relationships with their peers, which acts to improve mental health. We recognize that employee sentiment is vital in understanding employee well-being. However, this is often fluid, and capturing timely feedback is not always easy to achieve.  

To solve for this, we made the decision to invest in an employee engagement platform that uses AI to ask relevant questions, via multiple channels, to learn employee sentiment and gather insight regarding their overall well-being. 

Finally, Biz2Credit has invested heavily in learning and development, to help our team members grow personally and professionally. Research has shown that learning has a strong correlation to the overall well-being of an individual. We have maintained a robust tuition reimbursement program and sponsorship for continuing education outside of work. 

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

Biz2Credit has always maintained robust benefit offerings that include medical, dental, vision, HSA, and 401k with company match.  We recognized the impact that the COVID pandemic played on the lives of our team members and looked for ways in which we could relieve their physical, mental, and financial stress.  

 

 

The pandemic taught us that the needs of our employees are ever changing. To best meet those needs, we must gather their feedback and continue to evaluate our offerings so we may provide them with the right mix of benefits.

 

 

 

 

Skillshare is an edtech company that hosts an online learning community with classes on topics like illustration, design, photography, video and freelancing. 

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees?

Well-being looks different for everyone. At Skillshare, we’ve tried to craft a strategy that serves our team universally. Being a remote-first company, we offer a level of flexibility where our employees don’t have to choose between their work and personal commitments.

Wellness stipends, perks and learning and development are all important to supporting employee well-being. It’s also important to build a culture of empathetic leadership and psychological safety.

We encourage folks to take advantage of our wellness budget, which can be used for apps like Headspace and Calm. We also offer a learning and creativity fund aimed at professional and personal development. Many employees use this to purchase supplies for Skillshare courses and deep dive into their own creative skills.

Beyond perks, we partner with COA to offer monthly workshops to employees on topics such as empathy, curiosity, mindfulness and resilience. These workshops are led by therapists, and feature interactive exercises and tactical techniques to apply the learnings after the workshops are complete.

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

In 2020, we decided to become a fully remote company. During the switch, we introduced programming and perks to ensure folks were set up for success. 

 

 

Ensuring employees feel that they can bring their whole selves to work, talk to their managers about their needs and know that the company supports a healthy work-life balance are all critical pieces of the puzzle. All around, we try our best to offer resources and real-time support for our employees to ensure they are set up for consistent wellness both personally and professionally. 

 

 

 

Catalyst is a software company that helps organizations turn customer success into a company-wide mission.

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees? 

We care deeply about the well-being of our employees: physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. We consistently solicit feedback from employees to ensure that our benefits offerings are reflective of what they actually care about and need. 

One key benefit that we offer is a monthly wellness stipend, which folks are encouraged to use at their discretion — whether that’s for live therapy, fitness classes or anything in between. 

We work hard to create an environment in which authenticity and emotional vulnerability are celebrated. One application of this environment is our weekly “be raw” sessions, where employees share wins and losses and thank each other for their support over the past week.

We work hard to create an environment in which authenticity and emotional vulnerability are celebrated.”

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

We value people holistically. We see them as more than just employees, but rather as multifaceted humans with needs and interests outside of work. 

In order to ensure that members of the team are taking the time they need, we offer monthly mental health days: one working day per month where the entire company is offline with no internal meetings, customer calls or interviews.

In addition to unlimited PTO, we provide two paid weeks off per year: one in August, and one between Christmas and New Year’s. When Covid-19 initially started, Catalyst identified itself as a New York-centered, in-office company. Pretty early on into the pandemic, we realized that this approach was not allowing us to cast the widest possible net to bring on top talent and not welcoming to disadvantaged candidates and prospects who didn’t have the option of a daily commute. 

For the past two years, we’ve identified as a remote-first company, and we will never require employees to either be NY-based or to work in the office — though that office will remain for those who are interested. We’re intentional about building a remote-first culture that employees feel supported by, regardless of where they’re based.

 

 

 

 

Powered by data science and machine learning, Enigma is a big data company that transforms online and offline sources into reliable data on the identity and risk profile of small businesses.

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees? 

Wellness benefits for physical, mental and emotional health are table stakes at Enigma. I’ll mention two programs that get rave reviews.

We launched a grassroots annual effort to gauge what’s going on with people’s work-life balance and well-being. Committee members meet one-on-one with fellow employees to talk for 30 plus minutes about what we’re doing well as a company to support well-being and where we can improve. Every single employee gets an invitation and feedback stays anonymous. We synthesize feedback into themes and recommend improvements to leadership. 

These sessions have a wildly better completion rate than weekly surveys and uncover feedback we never would have received digitally. Based on the feedback, we’ve already made several changes — like no recurring meeting blocks on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to give people more time for heads-down work. 

Employees also expressed that they wanted more ways to get health and wellness expenses reimbursed. Now, we grant everyone a monthly $100 wellness stipend. People get creative. We see expenses for massage, acupuncture, healthy meals and snacks, workout gear – even payments toward a treadmill. It’s a choose-your-own-wellness adventure.

It’s a choose-your-own-wellness adventure.”

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

The biggest adaptation was adopting a fully hybrid-remote policy in fall of 2020 to embrace the seismic shift in how people work. We offer a generous productivity tool budget to make sure folks have the gear they need — like an ergonomic chair or noise-canceling headphones — to work comfortably. Folks craving office time can work onsite at our Manhattan and LA offices or book time at a co-working space in their area.

We had an unlimited PTO policy pre-pandemic. Now, teams are adopting minimums and quarterly audits to encourage people to take time away from work. We also look for small ways to support our people. When at-home Covid tests were getting scarce, we sent employees four Detect test kits for their peace of mind.

Working remotely can make it more challenging to build community, so we’ve introduced ways to foster connection.

 

 

 

 

 

Ribbon Health is a healthcare data platform that provides infrastructure for payers, providers and digital health solutions.

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees? 

Employee mental health is a year-round focus for our people team, but during Mental Health Awareness Month, we’ve launched a few special programs to dedicate time to these important conversations. We’ve created a dedicated mental health Slack channel where team members can share mental health resources and tips and cultivate a sense of community around well-being. 

We’ve launched “Wellness Wednesdays” where every team member has 4 to 5 PM blocked off and is encouraged to log off and prioritize their mental health in whatever way works best for them. 

We’re excited to offer several virtual and in-person workshops, including breath work, meditation and yoga. Beyond Mental Health Awareness month, Ribbon has an incredible suite of benefits that help employees invest in their own well-being.

We’ve launched ‘Wellness Wednesdays’ where every team member has 4 to 5 PM blocked off.”

 

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

Last year Ribbon launched a company-wide survey to gather feedback on our benefits. As a result, we upgraded our medical, dental and vision benefits to better meet the needs of what our employees care about. We also understand that the ability for employees to find a strong work-life integration is a huge benefit and contributor to positive mental and physical health. To support this, all employees fill out a “working norms” document that allows them to share how they best manage their schedules, their biggest motivators and stressors, their most important lifestyle goals and more.

All employees share these expectations over an interactive Q&A session, and we encourage everyone to hold each other accountable and set healthy boundaries. In order to support employees from wherever they choose to work, Ribbon has launched a few new programs. All new team members are offered a liberal stipend for purchasing home office equipment. For employees that do choose to come into our SoHo office, we provide and encourage Covid testing. We also offer healthy snacks and a daily in-office lunch program to support our employee’s overall well-being.

 

 

 

Zipari is a healthtech startup that develops products for health insurance carriers to engage with consumers in new ways.

 

What are some of the key ways your company invests in the well-being of your employees?

At Zipari, we’ve taken a holistic approach when it comes to investing in the well-being and wellness of our employees. As part of Mental Health Awareness month, we’re launching a few initiatives to support employees now and into the future.

In May, we’re launching an education campaign to make sure employees know about the mental health-related benefits available to them and their family members through both our medical insurance and employee assistance program.

We’ve also recently launched a cross-functional wellness committee to help plan our year-round wellness initiatives related to mental, physical and financial health. This committee helps ensure our programs, offerings and content are relevant and meaningful to our employees. It provides another avenue for employees to combat the stigma around mental health. 

In 2021, we also started offering regular workshops with leaders in the mental health field, such as Michelle Wax of American Happiness and organizational psychologist, Melissa Doman.

 

The last couple of years have been especially taxing on people’s physical and mental health. How has your company adapted or expanded your benefits offerings to support employees’ needs and meet them where they are?

At Zipari, we’ve adopted more flexible workplace policies over the past couple years. Our workforce has gone fully remote. Last year, we began offering unlimited time off to our employees: allowing employees greater flexibility to take the time off they need without worrying about balances or accruals. For 2022, we also began closing the office for additional company holidays and added the all-company Mental Health Day this May.

Zipari supports our corporate social responsibility committees, who focus on employee-driven initiatives to make a difference locally and globally. Creating these spaces allows employees to share causes they’re passionate about and help ensure our offerings are meaningful to our employee population.