In the London-based startup I was a former intern at (not sure if I can name it?), we had a few perks to encourage employees to keep healthy habits, although I didn't get to benefit from them myself:
Preferential tariff at a local gym club.
Health insurance with a "reward practicing" system. The more you practice (cycling, running, gym… as detected via their app), the more points you get which can get you 50% off transport fares and the like. The app also had XP levels, so it encouraged a form of healthy competition for practicing the most.
Free fruits delivered to the office about twice per week — apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, easy peelers and more, depending on the time of year.
As everyone in the office worked on a computer (whether it be engineering, sales or marketing), everyone had an ergonomic desk chair and could ask for extra computer screens if needed. There were plans to get standing desks as well.
As for wellness, I noticed a few interesting things:
Employees had the ability to work from home, as long as they noticed their team. For example, a team member sometimes took a work-from-home Friday so he could get back to France and see his family over an extended weekend.
We had plenty of opportunities for social activities, including a so called "Ministry of Fun" (clever reference to the Ministry of Silly Walks) organising events such as Pub Quizzes, a yearly Summer Party. There was also a World Cup betting in which bets were donated to a charity.
Volunteers also organised smaller-scale events, such as poker nights or outings. For example, I went to cinemas, an amusement park and had minigolf with colleagues — great fun.
All in all, it made the workplace very enjoyable to work at, and bonded employees like no other place I've worked at before. :) So health and wellness are definitely terribly important.
Well, it was! I’m on campus right now for my final year of study, so I am not working. But I did another internship (in France) before that one, and there were a lot of benefits too. But it was a bigger company so I didn’t find the team bonding to be so great.
The tradeoff between being in a big established organisation with history, benefits, security and where you can become a specialist is that you may feel like a number. Makes it a tough call when you can be a generalist and see more parts of the business in a startup.
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Hi, interesting topic!
In the London-based startup I was a former intern at (not sure if I can name it?), we had a few perks to encourage employees to keep healthy habits, although I didn't get to benefit from them myself:
As for wellness, I noticed a few interesting things:
All in all, it made the workplace very enjoyable to work at, and bonded employees like no other place I've worked at before. :) So health and wellness are definitely terribly important.
Sounds like a great place to be. What is your current workplace like in comparison?
Well, it was! I’m on campus right now for my final year of study, so I am not working. But I did another internship (in France) before that one, and there were a lot of benefits too. But it was a bigger company so I didn’t find the team bonding to be so great.
That's a really good point.
The tradeoff between being in a big established organisation with history, benefits, security and where you can become a specialist is that you may feel like a number. Makes it a tough call when you can be a generalist and see more parts of the business in a startup.