Embracing A Digital Mindset For Employee Well-Being

Bernie Knobbe, Sr. Vice President, Global Benefits & Well-being, AECOM

In 2022, HR Tech Outlook generously offered me the opportunity to provide my thoughts on AECOM’s investment in digital resources to support the well-being of our employees around the world. At the time, I shared this sentiment:

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us in HR could see the unquestionable impact that a strong culture of well-being can have on a company’s performance. What the pandemic, great reshuffle, and so many other lessons of the past two years have taught us – we need to continue adapting and evolving at speeds like never before. And at every step of the way, technology will help shape the way our teams connect, adapt, perform, succeed and unwind.

Two years later, as the old saying goes – the more things change the more they stay the same. The speed at which we’re evolving continues to be rapid. MetLife's 2023 Employee Benefit Trends Study found that 54 percent of all employees said they wish they had personalized benefit recommendations, while half would feel more cared for if their employer improved its benefits communications. What this says to me is that the “what” is still important, but the “how” behind engaging our employees in their well-being can’t be overlooked or undervalued.

Employees continue to expect a more personalized experience when it comes to their benefits and well-being. Look no further than MetLife’s study on why we should all be paying attention to this need. Their findings showed 76% of employees who understand their benefits are happy, compared to 47% who don’t understand their benefits.

"But let’s not forget that change takes time, and the opportunity to find new ways to invest in our teams is always within reach and worth the effort, every time"

We’ve continued to focus on raising the bar at AECOM when it comes to how we support our employees and their families. In the past year, we’ve continued to offer hundreds of resources through our Global Well-Being website. We expanded the site to include dedicated pages for every country where we operate – making sure our employees have easier access to the benefits and programs available to them, all in one place.

For every “pillar” of well-being, we’ve created easy to access one-page resource guides to help employees easily find and navigate the benefits and resources available for that well-being pillar. We’ve also aligned closely with our internal Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives to create similar resource guides for many groups within our population – from Veterans and the LGBTQ+ community to new parents and people with neurodiversity. We continued to host several global and local “challenges,” all digitally, to create fun moment in time activities and competitions where employees can focus on different aspects of their well-being.

And we’re continuing to innovate. Last year, we launched our Mental Health Allies network around the world – creating a trained group of AECOM employees who are available to help point employees in need to different emotional well-being resources and support channels. While this community creates opportunities for 1-1 engagement either in person or virtually, we’ve invested in a digital experience to make our Allies easier to access regardless of where you live or work.

Two years from now, I expect we’ll still be sharing thoughts and best practices on how we can embrace a digital mindset for the well-being of our employees and their loved ones. As AI and emerging technologies continue to be more robust and sophisticated, the pace of change will likely only increase. But let’s not forget that change takes time, and the opportunity to find new ways to invest in our teams is always within reach and worth the effort, every time. 

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