We had to deal with many new situations and respond to unknown challenges while continuing to deliver results.
Many companies were already focusing on employee wellbeing before the pandemic, but this topic became one of the most important in the last two years. Having wellbeing programmes in place was a great baseline to build on, but in this new situation no one could be sure it was sufficient for these uncertain times.
At Zurich Bratislava, we want to make sure that we properly understand the needs of our colleagues and ensure that what we offer really has an impact. Now more than ever, we want to be a stable pillar in lives of our employees.
Flexible work time to reduce stress
One of the biggest challenges brought by the pandemic is time management. We understand that managing work and a personal life can be hard, especially now. So when schools and kindergartens closed, we ensured our employees that they could organise their time during the day in a more flexible way. An open discussion with a line manager always helps when looking for a suitable solution.
Updating the benefits is key
We also responded to the Covid-19 situation by adjusting our benefits.
The compensation of salary loss during sick leave or sick family member care enables our colleagues to recover without having to worry about their financial stability.
To make it easier for our employees to maintain their wellbeing, we also extended the number of sick/personal days and continued to offer them extra vacation days. Even when the workday is organized in a flexible way, there are moments when the number of obligations and duties can still be really tiring. That is why we encourage colleagues to regularly take days off, even if it’s just for shorter periods.
We also introduced a concentrated work week that enables our colleagues to concentrate their weekly work time into 4 days and thus have 3 days off.
Getting support from others
Sometimes, having time off from work is not enough. For this reason, we also give our employees opportunities to share their experiences with other colleagues or with specialists and learn some of the best practices on how to handle stressful situations. Letting our employees know that they are not alone in this is crucial for us.
We offer free individual psychological support as well. One of the most appreciated initiatives is our series of online sessions focused on mental and physical health led by professional psychologists, a nutrition expert and a physiotherapist.
While all of our initiatives have helped our employees maintain their wellbeing, the most important thing is that it is not about one tool only, but about having options to choose from and use what best fits each individual.
