EcoVadis

At OpenUp, we strongly believe that a key component in the workplace is to create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings. We are proud to say that we are not the only ones working based on this philosophy.

 

Companies like EcoVadis, which prioritise the sense of belonging of all employees share the same mission: to make mental well-being accessible to all employees. Julie Dorleac, People Experience Partner & Well-being Lead, explains the company’s challenges and gives us some insights into the partnership with OpenUp.

In general, how does your company work towards ensuring the well-being of its employees?

 

We aim to create a healthy and inclusive environment where employees feel empowered to manage and nurture their professional and personal life. To achieve this objective, we want to make sure that our wellness solutions are diverse, personalised, and accessible as employees experience the work environment differently. In fact, one of our greatest assets is having employees from different nationalities, but being a multicultural company also brings the responsibility to take care of each person’s individuality.

 

We provide a global wellness allowance where we cover employees’ expenses on activities that benefit their physical and mental health. The flexibility of our working model also contributes fully to the well-being of our employees, who have the opportunity to work from home or at the office. Through this benefit for example, parents and carers can better organise their schedule if they have obligations and employees with visible or invisible disabilities can adapt the way they work to their needs. Furthermore, we offer the possibility to work from abroad up to 3 months per year, making sure that employees can enjoy enough time with their families and loved ones.

 

 

What was the main challenge (or multiple challenges) you were trying to solve when you chose to partner with OpenUp?

 

Ensuring our well-being benefits are accessible and providing personalised support was key and that’s one of the main reasons we decided to partner with OpenUp. Here is what was behind this decision: on a company level, ours is a fast-paced and growing environment, on a global level we live in a world full of uncertainties, so some employees can experience anxiety or stress at different levels. So we want to ensure that they can seek support for their mental health professionally and personally.

 

What’s more, EcoVadis’ environment is very international, with representation from over 70 nationalities and a presence in multiple countries. We needed a tool that would provide flexibility and OpenUp fits perfectly with our geographical and diversity challenge: employees can schedule 1:1 sessions with a psychologist selecting the language they feel more comfortable with, location, and time zone and/ or use other resources asynchronously. 

 

Finally, the platform is very user-friendly and simple to use. What I’d like to highlight is that the OpenUp team stays customer-oriented and tries their best to meet our needs while being supportive to answer our challenges and needs as a company. Our experience collaborating with OpenUp confirms everyday the reasons why we chose them.

 

How did you implement OpenUp? Any tips for a successful implementation?

 

Promoting OpenUp meant promoting a positive outlook on taking care of one’s mental well-being. Mental health is still a taboo topic for many. The adoption phase of the new platform was then a key success factor for us. OpenUp was very supportive of proposing strategies, branding, and communication templates. We got inspired a lot from them and it simplified the preparation process. 

 

Through monthly posts on our internal communication tools, we encouraged employees to break together barriers to mental well-being and to advance together towards normalising, talking about, and taking care of one’s mental well-being without fear. Daring and sharing were the key ways of encouraging employees to use the platform for their wellness.

 

 

What changes have you noticed since OpenUp was introduced to your organisation?

 

I’ve seen many improvements in the way we talk about mental well-being within the company. Employees feel progressively more confident to open up about it. The platform lives up to its name, it encourages this trend of breaking down the barriers of stigmatisation. After 6 months, we have found that more than 20% of the company has used OpenUp and we have received a lot of positive feedback from those who have tried it. They don’t hesitate to share their experience of using the platform publicly or in more private conversations with teammates.  Group sessions were also promoted and discovered thanks to conversations on our internal communication channels.

 

The recurring positive feedback I’ve received from Ecovadians is about the panel of psychologists available and the various resources the platform offers, so you can find the right support for your needs. What’s more, there’s plenty of availability, so employees can book a 1:1 session with a psychologist within the same week, and that’s an advantage compared to the difficulty today of meeting a psychologist quickly.

What does mental well-being personally mean to you? What advice would you give to those who will follow this conversation?

 

From my point of view, to be healthy, both mental and physical health must be taken care of. You can do all the sports you want, but you can still suffer if your mental health is not good. 

 

I see that attitudes about the perception of mental well-being are changing these days, and I’m very happy to see the trend. Seeing friends and colleagues around me bravely go to see a psychologist and see them progress towards better mental well-being is the best thing I can witness. It also gave me the courage to consult a psychologist on the OpenUp platform as I felt the need over the last semester. The first step is most commonly the hardest but I’m very happy to have taken it as I already noticed improvements in my health.

 

My advice would be that we don’t have to wait until we’re burned out or depressed before consulting. I strongly believe that everyone should see a psychologist at some point in their lives, even if they feel mentally healthy. It allows us to find even more peace and love within ourselves. Happiness isn’t something big and inaccessible, it’s a collection of everyday moments of joy. It’s already there, but we just need to look at it from a different perspective.