Working Well: Annie Edwards Of Bamboo Health On How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support & Sustain Mental, Emotional, Social, Physical & Financial Wellness
An Interview with Karen Mangia
Embracing employee individuality. Companies and managers are starting to think about the workplace differently and they can create a bespoke experience for each employee. By staying agile and offering perks like flexible work hours and unlimited paid time off, employers are staying more relevant and agile.
The pandemic pause brought us to a moment of collective reckoning about what it means to live well and to work well. As a result, employees are sending employers an urgent signal that they are no longer willing to choose one — life or work — at the cost of the other. Working from home brought life literally into our work. And as the world now goes hybrid, employees are drawing firmer boundaries about how much of their work comes into their life. Where does this leave employers? And which perspectives and programs contribute most to progress? In our newest interview series, Working Well: How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support & Sustain Mental, Emotional, Social, Physical & Financial Wellness, we are talking to successful executives, entrepreneurs, managers, leaders, and thought leaders across all industries to share ideas about how to shift company cultures in light of this new expectation. We’re discovering strategies and steps employers and employees can take together to live well and to work well.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Annie Edwards, chief people officer at Bamboo Health.
Annie Edwards is a dynamic, multi-faceted HR executive with infectious energy and a heart for leading and inspiring people through transformative change. Edwards is currently the Chief People Officer at Bamboo Health, a leader in cloud-based care coordination software and analytics solutions focused on patients with complex needs, including those suffering from physical and mental health issues and substance use disorders. Edwards has more than 20 years’ experience in commercial and civil law and human resources management, blending her legal general counsel background with strategic talent and culture initiatives in the interest of driving revenue for data and technology businesses going through rapid growth or change.
Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Our readers would like to get to know you better. Tell us about a formative experience that prompted you to change your relationship with work and how work shows up in your life.
When 9/11 happened, I was working as an attorney on the top floor of a building in Boston. I watched live as the plane hit the second tower, and worried about my two small children at home. Many of us were concerned Boston would be the next target and the city was in utter chaos with people scrambling to get home while public transit buses and trains were shut down for the emergency. Though this experience was jarring for our world and myself, it also gave me time to reflect and take stock of my life. As I thought about my family, I realized how little time I had in my day to spend time with them and hear about their lives. I was constantly running — dropping them at school, taking an early train into the office, and a late one home. I loved my work as an attorney, but there was no room for my personal and family life. That’s when we decided to sell our house, leave our jobs, and move to a rural area in Maine. I had no idea how this would impact my career, but we were determined to make a change in our lives. With almost no experience in HR, I altered my career path and joined a bank as their Vice President of HR. Our cost of living in Maine was almost half of what it was in Boston, I walked to work, and rekindled my love for open spaces. I found my passion for HR and was able to spend more time with the people I loved. It clicked for me that we all have options, and we can have both a fulfilling career and personal life if we are willing to take some risks and be comfortable with change.
Harvard Business Review predicts that wellness will become the newest metric employers will use to analyze and to assess their employees’ mental, physical and financial health. How does your organization define wellness, and how does your organization measure wellness?
At Bamboo Health, one way we measure wellness is by our teammates’ happiness, sometimes referred to as engagement or a happiness index. Happiness and the ability to be happy is directly impacted by whether someone feels well in their body and mind. While we consistently have teammates complete engagement and pulse surveys to measure this, we also pay attention to our teammates’ behaviors and needs. During the pandemic, Bamboo Health embraced remote working as an option, and today, we are a remote-first employer. We offer a variety of different social activities for teammates to take part in, such as sustainable cocktail making or trivia. We notice who consistently shows up at these activities and who doesn’t, and we don’t stop there. We make a point to reach out to those who aren’t participating to ensure they’re okay and fulfilled by their work life and their home life. We also are aware that teammate happiness isn’t “one size fits all.” We have two beautiful offices that act as hubs for our employees wishing to work in the office and offer flexible time off and leave policies. Under our “Results Only Work Environment” (ROWE) policy, employees can take time off as needed. There are no banks or onerous reporting requirements, so you take off when you need to reboot and recharge. We offer free memberships to Headspace and fitness and gym reimbursements for whole person health. Wellness is all about teammates’ happiness and that starts with paying attention and meeting them where they are.
Based on your experience or research, how do you correlate and quantify the impact of a well workforce on your organization’s productivity and profitability?
It’s been proven time and time again that an engaged workforce is a productive workforce, and wellness ties directly to engagement. If employees feel appreciated and seen, they’re ready to show up to work and put their best foot forward. It’s also important to note that while you can measure attributes like employee turnover, not everything can be quantified. HR isn’t an exact science; rather, it’s an art. It’s important to believe and trust in the things we know are true. For example, people who feel well and healthy are going to be more productive and engaged than those who aren’t fulfilled. That’s true whether you look at the workforce or life — that’s what our grandparents have been telling us for years.
Even though most leaders have good intentions when it comes to employee wellness, programs that require funding are beholden to business cases like any other initiative. The World Health Organization estimates for every $1 invested into treatment for common mental health disorders, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity. That sounds like a great ROI. And, yet many employers struggle to fund wellness programs that seem to come “at the cost of the business.” What advice do you have to offer to other organizations and leaders who feel stuck between intention and impact?
I would encourage these leaders to think about employee wellness as a strong foundation for their company, just as they would a home or building. If you build a home on a weak foundation, it will crumble over time. The same is true for companies. If you don’t invest in your employees’ whole health wellness, the company won’t succeed in the long-term. You may see short-term gains on the balance sheet by cutting wellness programs, but they will be long term losses. In my experience, most leaders have come around to seeing this, but a decade or so ago, everyone focused on the ROI on wellness initiatives, thinking costs spent today would impact productivity and medical claims within the same year. Wellness programs focused primarily on physical benchmarks like BMI, cholesterol, and blood pressure, but left mental and emotional health out of the equation entirely. That’s why it’s so important for companies to think about their employees’ wellness holistically, offering flexible leave policies and initiatives designed to support physical and mental health.
Speaking of money matters, a recent Gallup study reveals employees of all generations rank wellbeing as one of their top three employer search criteria. How are you incorporating wellness programs into your talent recruitment and hiring processes?
Bamboo Health’s mission, as a company, is focused on fostering whole person health and particularly offering solutions that help a patients’ care team connect to necessary behavioral health treatments. This mission runs deep in our DNA, and it translates to how we treat each other as fellow teammates. Our solutions support whole person care, so providing employee wellness policies are natural to us.
We’ve all heard of the four-day work week, unlimited PTO, mental health days, and on demand mental health services. What innovative new programs and pilots are you launching to address employee wellness? And, what are you discovering? We would benefit from an example in each of these areas.
- Mental Wellness:
- Emotional Wellness:
- Social Wellness:
- Physical Wellness:
- Financial Wellness:
Bamboo Health is committed to supporting teammates’ whole person health, which is why we provide benefits across the wellness spectrum. One of our most valued social wellness benefits is our flexible work hours and time off policies. If a parent wants to go watch their child’s play or basketball game in the middle of a workday, they’re free to do so. We trust our teammates to get the work done, regardless of which hours they spend online. In addition to flexible time, our policies allow for uncapped paid time off and mental health days. We’ve discovered that by offering this perk, we’re attracting top talent and the right kind of talent. Mentally and emotionally, we offer teammates the ability to speak to a counselor 24/7 and company-funded subscriptions to mental health apps like Headspace. We know that teammates’ mental health is just as important as their physical health, and we found that they appreciate these perks. Physically, in addition to our robust wellness program that offers teammates’ tools to better care of their holistic health, we reimburse employees for gym memberships and fitness events, like running a 5k. Financially, we offer the mainstays like a 401k match, but we also offer the ability for teammates to speak to a financial advisor to help them plan for their future. What we’ve found across the board is that the flexible and highly valuable policies that we’ve put into play are never the problem if you’re hiring the right kind of talent.
Can you please tell us more about a couple of specific ways workplaces would benefit from investing in your ideas above to improve employee wellness?
First and foremost, ROWE and flexible leave policies are key. Again, the policies aren’t the issue so long as you’re hiring the right kind of talent. It’s also imperative that leaders and managers take the time to listen to what employees want out of their roles. Typically, companies take a top-down approach but if we listen and hear what employees need, whether that be through feedback sessions or weekly one-on-ones, we’ll better meet their needs. The pandemic taught us that the workplace is evolving, which means our employees’ needs and wants are, too.
How are you reskilling leaders in your organization to support a “Work Well” culture?
Awareness is number one. It’s imperative to make sure everyone understands wellness is a strategy in itself and it’s as important as strategy around a new product or project. It’s also necessary that managers understand how important their team’s wellness is. Wellness isn’t an HR issue; it needs to be top of mind for all employees.
Ideas take time to implement. What is one small step every individual, team or organization can take to get started on these ideas — to get well?
Making time for one another is key to creating a “work well” culture. If your company is remote, as many are now, “water cooler talk” no longer exists. It’s especially important to carve out time for video one-on-ones or bi-weekly video team meetings so people can get to know each other. This also provides the space and time for employees to share feedback and let their managers know what they need in that moment.
What are your “Top 5 Trends To Track In the Future of Workplace Wellness?”
- Employee focus times. We used to see a tick in productivity around 10:00 a.m. and then again at 3:00 p.m. Today, we’re seeing a shift to 10:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. since many employees are working from home. Oftentimes, those with children in their homes follow this trend to a T because they’re picking up kids and running to activities in the afternoons. I love seeing this because it means workplaces — like Bamboo Health — are allowing their employees to be “online” when it works for them and their lives.
- Embracing employee individuality. Companies and managers are starting to think about the workplace differently and they can create a bespoke experience for each employee. By staying agile and offering perks like flexible work hours and unlimited paid time off, employers are staying more relevant and agile.
- Investing in technology. Apart from providing employees with the technological tools that set them up for success wherever they’re working from, employers are starting to think about collaboration in the remote workforce across time zones and continents. Investing in tools and platforms like Workboard, Mural, and Asana, employers are furthering collaboration and making it easier for employees feel connected and engage with one another, whether that be on a work project or a 1:1 between a manager and their direct report.
- Simplified wellness programs. Gone are the days of mandatory submissions and receipts to hit wellness goals and reduce premiums. Many wellness programs — like the one we utilize with our teammates — connect directly with employees’ fitness wearables like Apple watches and Fitbits. This data gets integrated into employee wellness platforms so by completing activities they already would, employees reap the rewards, whether that be a 20-minute walk or a 5-minute meditation.
- Mental health as a priority. We’re finally seeing that employers are starting to prioritize employee’s mental health as much as their physical health. For Bamboo Health, the importance of mental health is part of our DNA, which is why from our inception, teammates’ mental health has always been a priority. But even employers not as privy to the mental health space are starting to take notice and offer employees benefits like Employee Assistance Programs and subscriptions to meditation apps that prioritize overall employee wellbeing.
What is your greatest source of optimism about the future of workplace wellness?
This younger generation of employees give me so much optimism. I know they often get a lot of bad press, but they are the ones pushing up on policies, practices, and cultural norms that need to change. They raise awareness and demand change when change is needed. I am energized by this demographic and love working with them; they’re outspoken, confident, and smart.
Our readers often like to continue the conversation with our featured interviewees. How can they best connect with you and stay current on what you’re discovering?
Readers can find me and connect with me on LinkedIn (@Anne Edwards).
Thank you for sharing your insights and predictions. We appreciate the gift of your time and wish you continued success and wellness.
About The Interviewer: Karen Mangia is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the world, sharing her thought leadership with over 10,000 organizations during the course of her career. As Vice President of Customer and Market Insights at Salesforce, she helps individuals and organizations define, design and deliver the future. Discover her proven strategies to access your own success in her fourth book Success A Success From Anywhere and by connecting with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Working Well: Annie Edwards Of Bamboo Health On How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support &… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.