Happy workforce, assured growth: services to boost and improve employee wellbeing
Ensuring employee wellbeing is an essential way for companies to scale up, especially in times when concepts like flexibility and the protection of mental health are becoming more important. In this context, proposals developed by high-growth companies such as Payflow, Vitaance or Emocional help improve employee performance through solutions that offer financial flexibility and solutions to boost their wellbeing.
“Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.” This quote is from Anne M. Mulcahy, former CEO of Xerox, the toner and copier accessory supplier, and it gives a good insight into something that is true for every company: behind every successful company are happy and satisfied employees.
This concept embodies a concept known as Employee centricity (an approach that puts people at the centre of company strategy), which is supported by a number of studies. A report by the consulting firm Deloitte indicated that companies that carry out initiatives to improve happiness at work have a 37% higher rate of innovation compared to those companies that do not. Another study, carried out by the University of Warwick (UK), shows that happy workers are 12% more productive.
But these figures stand in stark contrast to reality. According to the study ‘The state of occupational health in companies in Spain in 2022′ carried out by Cobee, winning startup of BBVA Open Talent 2019, four out of ten people consider quitting their job to improve their wellbeing. Another study, carried out by the personalised employee benefits platform Vitaance, shows that 52.4% of employees admit to suffering from high workload and stress that can affect their well-being.
Startups such as Cobee and Vitaance have developed solutions aimed at overcoming this situation. “We spend a third of our lives in the workplace, and it is important for companies to look after the wellbeing of their teams because it will have an economic impact on their bottom line,” says Ana Zamora, founder and CEO of Vitaance.
Mental health, financial flexibility and personalisation, the cornerstones for ensuring employee wellbeing
Among employee welfare solutions, one area that is gaining particular momentum for companies is flexible payment plans. Payflow stands out in this aspect, offering a way for company employees to get paid when they want to. “It is not an advance or a loan. It is a way of creating a direct link between work and reward, especially in times of hardship when an employee may have use overdrafts – when money in the account is not enough to make a certain payment,” said the startup’s co-founder and CEO, Benoit Menardo, at BBVA Open Summit 2023.
In addition to flexible payment plans, another approach that is gaining greater attention among companies is mental health. Emocional is working in this field, developing software that is integrated into video calls which makes it possible to x-ray the emotional health of employees through deep learning technology and computer imaging (a scientific field that includes methods for acquiring, processing and analysing real world images) to determine whether a person is suffering from stress through their facial expressions. “We help people to get to know each other and, from there, to bring out the best version of themselves because this will also benefit the company itself,” says Pedro J. Espinosa, CEO and co-founder of Emocional with Aniol Hervás.
In a scenario where funding for startups has slowed, Payflow, Vitaance and Emocional received the backing from the investment ecosystem in 2023. Payflow secured a financing agreement of up to 20 million euros with BBVA to boost its international growth, while Vitaance and Emocional secured investment funds valued at two million euros and 400,000 euros, respectively. The recipe for success in garnering this support? Immediacy and personalisation.
The CEO of Emocional, Pedro J. Espinosa, points out that his solution allows the company to “instantly” understand an employee’s state of mind, while Ana Zamora, from Vitaance, emphasises the value of personalisation provided by this type of solution: “In these cases, the same recipe does not work for everyone, we have to forget all that and focus on the individual, because we are not all motivated by the same things and we do not all need the same things.”
Looking after the wellbeing of startup founders
Team wellbeing is a crucial part of the success of a high-growth company, but it is just as important that the founders focus on this aspect. According to the seventh edition of the Startup Snapshot report, 44% of startup founders experience high levels of stress, while 37% and 36% show signs of anxiety and burnout. However, in a career that is so closely linked to innovation, only 2% seek professional help.
In order to overcome the stigma surrounding entrepreneurs’ mental health, initiatives such as Ancla.Life, an association aimed at preventing problems of this type among entrepreneurs, have emerged. “In the age of metrics, we help entrepreneurs to take care of what matters most: mental health,” said its co-founder, Carlota Mateos, during her speech at BBVA Open Summit 2023.
Regardless of whether it takes the form of financial benefits or solutions aimed at improving mental or physical health, ensuring employee wellbeing is a crucial way for companies to achieve their goals. Ultimately, a happy team will be the fuel it takes to overcome any challenges and help high-growth businesses continue to evolve.
