Interview with Marie Simon from #You

Challenge

“Partly due to Covid-19, working from home resulted in (too) little contact with employees and less control over their well-being.”

Solution

Everyone had to work from home at once and the company grew rapidly. The timing was ideal and today around 90 employees benefit from OpenUp services.

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 such as #You, are on the same mission to make mental health accessible for all their employees. Marie Simon, Junior People & Culture Manager at #You, shared with us her experience with OpenUp and the outcomes of this strategic partnership. 

How did you hear about OpenUp?

 

Svenja from the OpenUp Partnership Management contacted me on LinkedIn and we exchanged ideas about OpenUp. After I brought the topic to our team, the project then took its course. When we first heard about OpenUp, mental health was already on our radar and we wanted to focus on it at a later stage, but had not yet actively sought support in this area. Then came the pandemic. Everyone had to work from home at once and the company grew rapidly. The timing was ideal and today around 90 employees benefit from OpenUp services.

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How does your company work towards ensuring the well-being and long-term viability of its employees?

 

We are an ambitious company that provides direct-to-consumer e-commerce solutions and specialises in building successful lifestyle brands. We are result-oriented and foster our team member’s personal growth regularly. We have an open culture and mental health is discussed honestly. We run surveys twice a year where we ask employees what they need and we try to find ways to support their mental wellbeing.

“We initially choose OpenUp thanks to your quick sign-up process and your friendly and uncomplicated support.”

What challenge were you trying to solve when you chose to partner with OpenUp?

 

Before joining OpenUp, we used to support our employees with their mental health challenges by offering (HR) open hours and by maintaining an open and honest culture to speak up (e.g. through quarterly feedback and happiness surveys). However, we saw that the need for mental health support had increased rapidly. Partly due to Covid-19, working from home resulted in (too) little contact with employees and less control over their well-being. This is when we got in touch with external mental health service providers.

 

What Made You Choose OpenUp Over the Other Options?

 

We initially choose OpenUp thanks to your quick sign-up process and your friendly and uncomplicated support. Of course, OpenUp offered an attractive mental health package (1:1s, Webinars, etc.) that matched our needs and provided an expert setup (e.g. female/male psychologists) to benefit our employees from different backgrounds. The probation period and the competitive price were a plus point. Our main goal, besides supporting our employees’ well-being and strengthening their mental health is to give a safe feeling about having the opportunity to speak up. At #You we are actively taking action to make a positive change in the workplace environment.

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“For #You, it was fundamental to put a face to the OpenUp product, so people had the chance to actually identify with it.”

How did you launch OpenUp with your employees?

 

Once it was decided to start with OpenUp, we dropped hints that we were working on something related to mental health support. This was followed by a big announcement about the partnership between #You and OpenUp. Then, Eva (*OpenUp psychologist) presented the service once more from a psychologist’s point of view, including some of the most frequent questions she gets in her sessions. Employees attended this session on a voluntary basis. For #You, it was fundamental to put a face to the OpenUp product, so people had the chance to actually identify with it.

 

 

Did you get any feedback from your employees so far?

 

Since we offered OpenUp services, we received positive feedback from our employees. Employees are liking the “cool offer”. The engagement is quite high and consistent. This is very fulfilling.

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