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3 min readCreuna skipped the wellness allowance and chose Wellr instead
The risk that the wellness allowance ends up going toward an unused gym membership or just a few measly hours of badminton is a problem many companies struggle with. Creuna solved the problem with the service Wellr and a few other direct measures to improve health in the company.
The risk that the wellness allowance ends up paying for an unused gym membership or a few measly hours of badminton is a problem many companies struggle with. Creuna solved the problem with the service Wellr and a few other direct measures to improve health in the company. “We believe this will have a genuinely positive effect on our staff’s health,” says Creuna’s HR Director, Niclas Giertz.
“To be completely honest, the wellness allowance doesn’t have that much to do with wellness; it’s primarily a tax benefit. It almost seems to have become something sacred that’s too sensitive to criticize. But if we really want the money we invest in health initiatives to be useful and to have a real impact, we have to think differently!”
These are the words of Niclas Giertz, SVP Human Resources at Creuna, responsible for HR matters. In a widely praised blog post titled “Goodbye wellness allowance!” he describes how the digital agency has rethought things to help its roughly 160 employees feel even better.
How did Creuna think about it?
They chose to remove the wellness allowance and instead started using the web- and app-based service Wellr. With Wellr, employees can assess themselves in the areas of alcohol habits, physical activity, nutrition, sleep, ergonomics, mental health & stress, pain & injuries, and tobacco use. The system then compiles a health profile, highlights any risk areas, and provides action plans.
“We believe this will have a genuinely positive effect on our staff’s health. We’ve also made sure that we can measure the impact of our initiatives and track the development of employees’ health status to see that our efforts are actually working. An important part of this work has been broadening our view from associating wellness only with exercise to talking about wellness from a more holistic perspective. Wellr also evaluates the organizational and social work environment, which I consider to be an equally important factor in improving well-being in the company,” says Niclas Giertz.
Giertz says that 90 percent of Creuna’s employees have completed Wellr’s assessments.
