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How does Helping Hand define the concept of employee wellbeing, and which elements are considered crucial in the context of ESG regulations?

Helping Hand approaches employee wellbeing holistically. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), our mental health consists of three components: mental well-being, physical health, and good, supportive social relationships. Everything that affects a person's well-being in private life translates into their quality and efficiency at work. Conversely, situations in the professional life that can negatively impact well-being also affect mental health and can consequently lead to somatic illnesses.

Increased levels of stress, lack of motivation and a sense of purpose in work, illnesses (one’s own or those of loved ones), inadequate or absent communication within the company/team, lack of psychological safety at the workplace, and uncertainty about the financial situation—such daily issues can deteriorate well-being, intensify anxieties, cause burnout or depression, and affect work quality, absenteeism, presenteeism, and conflicts with colleagues.

Experts from Helping Hand, during training sessions and discussion panels, emphasize that employee well-being is inextricably linked to work culture, influencing employee productivity and creativity, and consequently the impressions of clients and the business environment of a given organization.

It's worth noting that when building an ESG strategy, companies often attach the least importance to the "S." Gareth Staglin (co-founder and CEO of One Mind at Work) highlighted in an article published in Forbes in October 2021 that too little emphasis is placed on employee mental health when discussing the "S" in ESG strategy.

Human Capital Management (HCM), recognized as a significant part of the scoring criteria by leading ESG rating agencies, requires an integrated approach to:

employee well-being (wellbeing),
diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI),
employee experience (EX),
customer experience (CX).

Issues related to DEI, preventing bullying, strengthening mental resilience, coping with stress, anxieties, isolation, burnout, depression, as well as non-violent communication are essential actions that contribute to creating a safe, inclusive culture in the workplace and are crucial elements of good employee relations policies.

How do Helping Hand's employee wellbeing programs contribute to companies' compliance with ESG regulations?

For many employers, actions within the "S" primarily concern DEI and equality of access for women to management positions; more conscious companies also implement procedures to prevent bullying in the workplace.

The benefits of implementing an ESG strategy in a company, which places equal emphasis on the "S" as on the "E" and "G," include:

increasing operational efficiency and reducing costs (e.g., absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover, legal costs related to employee disputes, and lost opportunity costs),
improving company reputation and customer loyalty,
increasing innovation and competitiveness (including through employee creativity and engagement),
easier access to financing and support from public and private institutions.

Helping Hand – Mental Health Program offers holistic support, taking care of the wellbeing of our clients' employees.

Through the HH24 platform and app, employees have access to online consultations and therapy, over 1,000 psychoeducational materials (videos, podcasts, articles, a Mindfulness zone), and live events conducted by experts in psychology, eating disorders, sexology, and business psychology. Additionally, we organize online and in-person training tailored to the expectations of a given client.

We support managers and their teams in coping with stress, difficult situations, combating burnout (both professional and parental), depression, addictions, communication, and motivation, as well as building relationships within multi-generational teams. We provide practical knowledge that helps newly appointed managers develop leadership skills—all with respect for an inclusive culture.

Furthermore, to popularize the importance of well-being and a safe work culture in the context of ESG among companies, we organize several open, free online events each year aimed primarily at HR departments, OHS, managers, and employers. We invite Helping Hand experts, entrepreneurs, stock exchange representatives, and our partners specializing in specific topics to participate in discussion panels.

Events we have organized include: "ESG: Human Capital as the Pillar of the Future Business," "OHS – Safety and Health in the Workplace," "Bullying is Not Your Business? (presenting solutions we offer to companies)."

What are the main benefits that companies can gain from investing in employee wellbeing in the context of sustainable development and social responsibility?

With comprehensive tools supporting employee wellbeing holistically, organizations can increase employee engagement and motivation, which in turn reduces costs associated with absenteeism and presenteeism, as well as safety-related costs in the workplace. It is worth mentioning that accidents occur not only due to the lack of proper technical/physical safeguards in the workplace but also due to reduced concentration—excessive stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, and experiences of bullying cause fatigue, distraction, and psychosomatic symptoms. In the most severe cases, this can lead to fatalities or even suicide attempts.

Here are some data examples illustrating how employees' mental condition affects their productivity and quality of work:

According to the FT-Vitality Britain's Healthiest Workplace report for 2023, British employers lost the equivalent of 50 workdays per employee in 2023 due to poor physical and mental health.

In 2023, ZUS recorded an increase in the number of sick leave days due to mental disorders and behavioral disorders by 9.5% compared to 2022. The total absenteeism in 2023 amounted to 26.1 million days, with most sick leave being caused by reactions to severe stress, and adjustment, depressive, and anxiety disorders.

In turn, the Gallup Institute in the report "Help employees improve well-being and performance" states that due to poor mental health of employees in 2023:

75% of sick leave expenses resulted from neglecting mental health prevention,
$20 million in lost opportunities for every 10,000 employees resulted from reduced efficiency of employees struggling with health problems,
$322 billion in turnover and lost productivity costs worldwide were due to employee burnout,
costs associated with voluntary turnover caused by burnout (e.g., recruitment, training, etc.) amounted to between 15% and 20% of the total remuneration of a given employee.

According to a CBRE study, after introducing a wellbeing program in 2023, task efficiency increased from 10% to 30%, and employee engagement from 65% to 75%.

What are the biggest challenges companies face when implementing employee wellbeing policies in line with ESG principles?

The biggest challenge for an organization consciously building a wellbeing plan is:

convincing the employer of the merit of bearing the cost of such a benefit,
understanding the importance of employee well-being's impact on the company's business results,
creating a space and constructive communication regarding the introduced mental health support program and assuring employees of the benefits they gain from using such anonymous solutions (the example set by leaders is extremely important),
finding a solution that can support not only office workers (who have easy access to the platform via corporate email) but also production workers.

Helping Hand supports companies from the very beginning, preparing communication for HR departments and users (newsletters, introductory webinars, support materials facilitating login via the platform or app), indicating simple solutions tailored to the realities of a given organization (ease of access to consultations, knowledge base, live events), and offering practical and dedicated training aimed at managers and employees. Together with our clients, we also carry out comprehensive projects on preventing bullying and discrimination, providing access to consultations and online therapy not only for employees but also for their families.

We regularly survey the employees of our clients and can show these results to HR departments, suggesting additional actions or comparing the situation with other industries, which sometimes inspires our clients.

In the global world we live in, an inclusive culture that respects the diversity of colleagues, creates psychologically safe workplaces where conflicts are resolved at an early stage to prevent negative behaviors (bullying, discrimination) sends a positive signal:

within the organization (e.g., attracting and retaining talent, promoting employee engagement),
externally (perception of the company as a safe, conscious, and socially responsible employer and business partner).

This image of the company is of great importance to shareholders, investors, and partners connected in the supply chain, known in the ESG strategy as the value chain. Helping Hand is a partner that helps companies build a safe work culture through psychoeducation, training, and support in crisis situations. We have solutions for small and global companies, service and production sectors. Together with our clients, we also develop interactive forms of support for their business partners or customers.

How does Helping Hand monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of its employee wellbeing programs and their impact on ESG compliance?

Human Capital Management (HCM) covers issues related to human resources:

employee training,
compensation, turnover,
attracting, and retaining employees,
health and safety,
preventing bullying and discrimination,
gender pay equality,
diversity and inclusion, and corporate culture.

Helping Hand not only supports employers in providing support through access to a holistic wellbeing tool, e-learning on preventing bullying and discrimination, online and in-person training, but also by providing data.

Every month, we send anonymized reports with data on the scope and frequency of the use of the psychoeducational resources of the platform by the employees of a given company.

The numerical data received can be directly used by the company as an element of the annual ESG report, in terms of spreading knowledge among employees about taking care of their own mental wellbeing. By working with Helping Hand, the employer can also easily build an "S" strategy within ESG, planning actions for the coming years in advance.

Interview with Anną Kruszczyńską, Program Manager at Helping Hand

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