If work-life balance was elusive before, the pandemic made it even more difficult to achieve — even in remote and hybrid work environments. For some, the pandemic has caused the lines between home and work to blur completely; those whose jobs required them to be in person faced the stresses of worrying about their health and safety at work. In one Society of Human Resource Management survey, 40% of employees said they grappled with burnout, exhaustion, and a sense of hopelessness during the pandemic. In response, companies have launched initiatives to address employee mental health challenges by offering more paid time off and free access to mental health, mindfulness, and fitness apps, well-being coaches, and therapy sessions, among other approaches. Across New England, employers are stepping up to improve employee wellness and to reduce the stigma around mental health through more understanding policies and expanded mental health benefits. Turn the page to learn how.
When it comes to employee mental health, these companies put in the work
Learn how some New England employers have stepped up during the pandemic to improve mental health and wellness within their organizations.
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Agios Pharmaceuticals
Featured companies:
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John F. Murphy Homes
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Daily Table
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Health and life sciences companies focus on improving health outcomes, and during the pandemic, their work has taken on an entirely different meaning. At Agios Pharmaceuticals, which creates small-molecule medicines for people with genetic diseases, employees worked to advance potentially lifesaving research and treatments in the midst of a once-in-a-century public health crisis. Discovering innovative therapies is challenging enough during normal times, but the pandemic added a new layer of complexity. To help employees navigate these challenges, Agios conducted regular “pulse” surveys to gather insights on how employees were coping with stress and balancing their work and home life. It also held virtual company-wide meetings with opportunities for live and post-meeting Q&A, as well as regular one-on-one conversations between managers and their reports. All of these efforts helped the company craft more effective strategies for supporting employees through the pandemic. When employees started talking about virtual meeting fatigue, Agios incorporated meeting-free Friday afternoons. With a discretionary vacation model already in place, Agios also encouraged employees to take time off whenever they needed it. Agios adopted two company-wide, weeklong shutdowns in August and December and synchronous, company-wide days off at least once a month to support employees taking time away from work. Partnering with its health benefits team at Harvard Pilgrim — which includes Mind the Moment program managers — Agios launched a series of mindfulness workshops on topics such as dealing with uncertainty and mindful parenting during the pandemic. The company also changed the format of its lunchtime fitness classes to enable employees to participate virtually.
“We fostered a culture that promotes different perspectives, work styles, health and wellness, care of families, and productivity … With a culture that supports individual employee needs already in place, we were able to respond nimbly to the unprecedented challenges that employees faced as a result of the pandemic, including mental health challenges.” – Melissa McLaughlin, chief people officer at Agios
96%
Agios internal surveys found 96% of employees thought Agios leaders demonstrated care and concern for employees during the pandemic, and that the company and its leadership team provided support and benefits to help them better manage their health during this time.
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Health and life sciences companies focus on improving health outcomes, and during the pandemic, their work has taken on an entirely different meaning. At Agios Pharmaceuticals, which creates small-molecule medicines for people with genetic diseases, employees worked to advance potentially lifesaving research and treatments in the midst of a once-in-a-century public health crisis. Discovering innovative therapies is challenging enough during normal times, but the pandemic added a new layer of complexity.
To help employees navigate these challenges, Agios conducted regular “pulse” surveys to gather insights on how employees were coping with stress and balancing their work and home life. It also held virtual company-wide meetings with opportunities for live and post-meeting Q&A, as well as regular one-on-one conversations between managers and their reports. All of these efforts helped the company craft more effective strategies for supporting employees through the pandemic. When employees started talking about virtual meeting fatigue, Agios incorporated meeting-free Friday afternoons. With a discretionary vacation model already in place, Agios also encouraged employees to take time off whenever they needed it. They adopted two company-wide, weeklong shutdowns in August and December and synchronous, company-wide days off at least once a month to support employees taking time away from work.
As a leading direct support and education provider for adults and children with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders, most of John F. Murphy Homes’ (JFM) 900 employees didn’t have the option to work remotely. Realizing its frontline workers needed as much support as possible throughout the pandemic, JFM worked to understand critical stressors for employees. The organization, which serves Maine’s greater Lewiston-Auburn area, discovered child care and distance learning were the two biggest sources of stress for staff, so it created an emergency child care program. Employees’ children, from preschoolers to 8th graders, could attend the program in the event of a school or daycare closure and receive tutoring and other support resources. The organization also provided six extra days of paid leave for employees and expanded access to mental health services, including therapy. In addition, JFM took steps to educate employees about mental health services, holding video information sessions and sharing information in its newsletters, emails, and facilities. As a result, more employees felt empowered to find the care they needed, says Michelle Hathaway, JFM’s senior director of children’s services. “Mental health services have a lot of gray area to them,” Hathaway says. “There were a lot of people who didn't understand the difference between what a psychiatrist could do versus what your general practitioner could do, so we talked about [the fact that] sometimes there's a level of need to see a specialist versus a general practitioner. That was a huge game changer for some of our staff.”
"The mental health issues that were brought front and center during the pandemic have really opened people’s eyes. Mental health is health. There should be no distinction between what that is and what a broken bone is, so we [employers] need to be more holistic about our health approaches.” – Bob Ouellette, director of human resources at John F. Murphy Homes
JFM’s turnover is usually around 7% annually (compared to an industry average around 50%, Hathaway notes). Turnover at the company doubled over the course of the pandemic, Hathaway says, due to challenges like child care and school closures. But Hathaway believes more employees would have left if JFM hadn’t listened and adapted benefits to their needs. “Our numbers could have been much worse had we not done some of the things we’re doing,” she says.
7%
As a leading direct support and education provider for adults and children with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder, most of John F. Murphy Homes’ (JFM) 900 employees didn’t have the option to work remotely. Realizing its frontline workers needed as much support as possible throughout the pandemic, JFM worked to understand critical stressors for employees. The organization, which serves Maine’s greater Lewiston-Auburn area, discovered child care and distance learning were the two biggest sources of stress for staff, so it created an emergency child care program. Employees’ children, from preschoolers to 8th graders, could attend the program in the event of a school or daycare closure and receive tutoring and other support resources.
The organization also provided six extra days of paid leave for employees and expanded access to mental health services, including therapy. In addition, JFM took steps to educate employees about mental health services, holding video information sessions and sharing information in its newsletters, emails, and facilities. As a result, more employees felt empowered to find the care they needed, says Michelle Hathaway, JFM’s senior director of children’s services. “Mental health services have a lot of gray area to them,” Hathaway says. “There were a lot of people who didn't understand the difference between what a psychiatrist could do versus what your general practitioner could do, so we talked about [the fact that] sometimes there's a level of need to see a specialist versus a general practitioner. That was a huge game changer for some of our staff.”
Grocery stores are essential businesses, especially during times of crisis. Daily Table, a nonprofit community grocer with a mission to expand access to affordable, nutritious foods in underserved communities, grappled with the unique mental health challenges its frontline workers faced. “We made a commitment because as a grocery company — and in particular, as a nonprofit fighting food insecurity — it was critical for us to be there for our communities,” says Doug Rauch, Daily Table’s founder and president. “We were open seven days a week, but it put a lot of stress on our staff.” Knowing employees needed to feel both psychologically and physically safe at work, the company worked diligently to protect employee health, including providing workers with masks, installing plexiglass barriers, and implementing new cleaning procedures. Daily Table also offered an additional $2 per hour in emergency pay and encouraged employees to stay home if they were sick, which the company supported with a new two-week paid sick leave policy. This helped ensure employees didn’t have to make a choice between their health and their paycheck.
“From our experience, what we’ve learned is, one, keep open lines of communication [with employees]. Two is, don’t just have communication, but make sure it’s two-way and that you’re listening. Three is, be as flexible as possible. Just err on the side of caution and be human. Treat your team as you would want to be treated.” – Doug Rauch, founder and president of Daily Table
Rauch says Daily Table has experienced extremely low turnover during the last 18 months, adding that only two staff members have left since the pandemic began.
Grocery stores are essential businesses, especially during times of crisis. Daily Table, a nonprofit community grocer with a mission to expand access to affordable, nutritious foods in underserved communities, grappled with the unique mental health challenges their frontline workers faced.
“We made a commitment because as a grocery company — and in particular, as a nonprofit fighting food insecurity — it was critical for us to be there for our communities,” says Doug Rauch, Daily Table’s founder and president. “We were open seven days a week, but it put a lot of stress on our staff.” Knowing employees needed to feel both psychologically and physically safe at work, the company worked diligently to protect employee health, including providing workers with masks, installing plexiglass barriers, and implementing new cleaning procedures.
“Given our role as a health plan, we must ensure that our workforce feels supported so they can best guide and empower our members to achieve healthier lives, whether during a pandemic or normal times. It’s just like the airplane oxygen mask analogy: You have to first make sure your mask is on and that you’re getting oxygen before you can help others.” – Jonathan D. Villaire, head of employee experience at Point32Health.
Point32Health says employee feedback is one of the most valuable metrics it uses to gauge the effectiveness of its mental health programs. Jonathan D. Villaire, head of employee experience at Point32Health, shares the example of an email he received from a colleague after the company launched a virtual therapy pilot program last December: The person told him their family was recovering from a traumatic medical experience and that finding a therapist had been impossible. However, the virtual therapy program allowed them to access the services they needed immediately. “This was just one touching example of the feedback we have received about our programs and efforts aimed at supporting colleagues’ mental health,” Villaire says.
Point32Health
Point32Health, the parent company of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, has made understanding its employees’ mental health needs and challenges a top priority, especially during the pandemic. The company has used a number of tools and approaches — including surveys, frequent communication from leaders, “Courageous Conversation” forums, town halls, and CEO listening sessions — to guide its leadership team in establishing new operating standards to support employees’ mental well-being. Some of the mental well-being strategies the company has implemented during the pandemic include summer wellness days, summer early release days, mindfulness and meditation sessions, art classes for employees and their families, and flexible work hours. It has also offered enhanced sick time, created meeting-free time periods, and expanded employees’ access to teletherapy and virtual therapy services. Most recently, the company encouraged all employees to experience the numerous mental health benefits of giving back to others through the inaugural Point32Health Volunteer Week. Over the course of five business days, employees worked hand-in-hand with nearly 40 nonprofits to take part in more than 50 projects to help support communities across New England.
Point32Health CEO Cain Hayes, taking part in a recent community service employee event.
The company has used a number of tools and approaches — including surveys, frequent communication from leaders, “Courageous Conversation” forums, town halls, and CEO listening sessions — to guide its leadership team in establishing new operating standards to support employees’ mental well-being. Some of the mental well-being strategies the company has implemented during the pandemic include summer wellness days, summer early release days, mindfulness and meditation sessions, art classes for employees and their families, and flexible work hours. It has also offered enhanced sick time, created meeting-free time periods, and expanded employees’ access to teletherapy and virtual therapy services. Most recently, the company encouraged all employees to experience the numerous mental health benefits of giving back to others through the inaugural Point32Health Volunteer Week. Over the course of five business days, employees worked hand-in-hand with nearly 40 nonprofits to take part in more than 50 projects to help support communities across New England.
Mental stress is real and can have a profound impact on an employee’s ability to be productive, healthy, and happy at work and at home. But addressing mental health can’t be a solitary endeavor and shouldn’t be the sole responsibility of employees. Companies can play a vital role in helping their teams access the support and resources they need to improve their mental health and well-being.
Learn more about how Point32Health companies, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, offer behavioral health support to their members.
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