We don’t need to tell you how life changed because of the pandemic, but we’d love to share what MJ did to keep our employees engaged and focused on their own health and wellbeing.
Supporting employee wellbeing is nothing new to us. A lot of our approach was more of the same—offering physical, mental, spiritual and financial wellbeing support and resources—but in a different format and with a decidedly more urgent message because we understood that many of our associates were facing brand new challenges. On top of mental health webinars and discussions about handling stress, free training sessions surrounding financial wellness and more, we also developed a robust COVID-19 Resource Center filled with the latest news and information so our team—and our clients—would have a reliable, go-to source. We’ve been offering lots of free training to provide our associates a continued career path forward, both during and after the pandemic. Our leadership team participated in special sessions with a mental health expert to learn how to spot red flags if someone on their team was struggling, as well as the best ways to offer support. We also made some significant enhancements to our own benefits package to make sure even more wellness options were covered and additional mental health support, in particular, was part of our new Employee Assistance Program.
Most importantly, we tried to be proactive. We didn’t wait for the effects of isolation to settle in or minimize the very real day-to-day issues caused by remote work or new family dynamics. We recognized that professional challenges and personal challenges were more intertwined than ever. Fortunately, we were able to react quickly because we already had an active employee wellbeing program in place—it’s a familiar topic around here and something we’ve long espoused for both our clients and our own organization. It’s even formally addressed in our Purpose Statement: “MJ exists to inspire the success, fulfillment and wellbeing of each person we serve.”
It looks like we’re on the downside of this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, and we look forward to having our teams back to in-person collaboration. Any chance you’d like to join us?
As our Chief People Officer Ryan Michalowski said in a recent blog, “MJ didn’t need a pandemic to put our people and our purpose first, but it proved a valuable test of our resolve. I’m pleased to say it’s a test we have passed.”
