Getting employees to take advantage of corporate wellness offerings

"I'm so jealous that your job is to pet puppies and kittens all day!" As a veterinarian, I can't tell you how many times I've heard this sentiment from strangers, friends, and family over the course of my career. While well-intentioned, statements like this underscore a widespread lack of awareness and understanding of the unique challenges veterinary professionals face on a daily basis. This profession is a true calling — those of us here couldn't imagine doing anything else. But daily work stressors, compassion fatigue, staggering amounts of student debt, and extreme pressures often take a toll. These feelings, if left unaddressed, can impact people mentally and physically over time.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, female veterinarians were found to be 2.4 times and male veterinarians 1.6 times more likely to die by suicide than members of the general population. Veterinary professionals aren't alone. When looking at human medicine, research has found the suicide risk was twice as high among female nurses compared with other U.S. women, and that was pre-2020.

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Luckily, the veterinary profession has taken strides to break down stigmas and offer resources so that we're better equipped to support the people who care for our beloved pets. As the mental health implications of the pandemic and other world complexities like social justice challenges, supply chain issues and more have become palpable, organizations across other industries are increasingly leaning into addressing wellbeing in the workplace — from expanding benefits to hiring chief wellness officers. This is good news, as research by Oracle found that 88% of workers are prioritizing work-life balance and mental health over a paycheck. But there's a catch: a recent survey found more than half of U.S. workers say they haven't taken advantage of their mental health benefits, and more than 10% are unaware of these benefits.

It's not enough for businesses just to offer free counseling. If your workforce doesn't feel comfortable reaching out for help, they won't. At Banfield, 7% of Associates are currently taking advantage of the company's mental health and wellbeing benefits and resources, which is far above the national average of 3-4%. From helping our doctors pay down their student debt to creating a first-of-its-kind mental health training designed specifically for veterinary professionals, we are committed to the wellbeing of our people and industry.

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The past two years have taught us the importance of a well-laid foundation that provides teams with the right tools, resources, and environment that enables them to seek and receive help. Below are some tested strategies leaders can implement to create a culture of help-seeking behavior and better support their people so they in turn can focus on being their best selves at work and beyond.

Ground up, not top down
The most important component of not just building — but sustaining — a help-seeking work environment is nurturing a culture of health & well-being from the ground up. Business leaders offering the right benefits and access to care is critical, but people need to feel a level of community, psychological safety and support in order to take advantage of them. One way organizations can approach this is by creating grassroots "mini cultures." For example, Diversity Resource Groups (also often referred to as employee resource groups) can help people connect, listen to one another, share ideas, and act. There's power in teammates feeling comfortable enough to share their experiences with one another. In fact, "word of mouth" was the #1-way Banfield Associates reported learning about mental health support resources.

Culturally competent support matters
Outsourcing mental health services is a great way to offer professional help at scale, but if the vendor isn't aware of what culturally competent support means for your industry, you may not be meeting your staff's needs. At Banfield, our licensed mental health experts created customized resources tailored to veterinary professionals that we provided to our vendors. When our people reach out for help, vendors have personalized cues to pull from so they know what's helpful to say to hospital teams — and what might unintentionally discourage someone from seeking help the next time they're feeling overwhelmed. We've been encouraged by the results so far; our providers reported 95% of Associates saw a resolution to the presenting issue they reached out about.

Read more: This veterinary clinic is covering their employees' healthcare in full

Different strategies can have a big impact
Furthermore, how organizations go about reaching employees can be just as important as the type of help they offer. Both high-tech and low-tech strategies can have a big impact — from utilizing employee-facing apps to email benefit reminders. It's about finding the right forms and cadence of communications to successfully reach your people. For example, Banfield is piloting free access to the meditation and mindfulness app Headspace for our Associates — something that I, personally, have found incredibly valuable. Over half of those accessing the app utilize it multiple times a week and report better sleep, a decrease in stress, and feeling more present. Low-tech strategies can be as simple as encouraging a culture of wellbeing and support among the "mini cultures" within your organization. For example, one of Banfield's hospital locations began implementing "pillow talks" at the start of their team huddles to signal when they might need additional emotional support or "cushioning" — or if they have the mental bandwidth to offer a hand, or "pillows," to those who need it most.

It takes a village to break down stigmas and inspire others to seek help. I believe that Banfield's proactive approach demonstrates how seriously we take our responsibility to support the health and wellbeing of not just our people, but the entire industry. It's my hope that you can do the same within your own profession.