Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology - Bringing Together Physical, Mental, and Financial Wellness At Work - Aspect 43
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Co-Authored By:
Mollie Lombardi, Chief Research Officer
Sarah White, Founder and CEO
SUMMER 2021
Guide to Employee
Well-Being
Technology
Bringing Together Physical, Mental,
and Financial Wellness At Work
Sponsored By:
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................... 3
Evolution of Employee Well-Being................................................................... 5
Business Impact.......................................................................................................... 7
Employee Experience..................... ............................................................................................................ . . . . . . . . 7
Hiring and Recruiting.. ................................................................................................................................. . . . . . . . . 8
Diversity and Inclusion............................................................................................................................... . . . . . . . . 8
Compliance...................................................................................................................................................... . . . . . . . . 9
Key Features of The Employee Well-Being Tech Stack ..................... 10
Physical Well-Being. . ................................................................................................................................... . . . . . . . . 11
Mental/Emotional Well-Being............................................................................................................... . . . . . . . . 12
Financial Well-Being. . ...................... ............................................................................................................ . . . . . . . . 15
Personal Well-Being.. ....................... ............................................................................................................ . . . . . . . . 16
Selection.......................................................................................................................... 18
Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 21
Introduction
Employee well-being and wellness awareness
have been growing in the past decade, but as 2020
brought together global health concerns, social
justice issues, and financial crises, growth has
accelerated tremendously.
As levels of job stress increase due to changing work conditions and anxiety has increased around
finances and job security, our entire healthcare system has been overwhelmed with people suffering
serious illnesses.
66%
of respondents to the 2021 Aspect43 Buyer Insights study cite
the health of themselves, family, and friends as a top personal
concern in the coming year.
An astounding two-thirds (66%) of respondents to the 2021 Aspect43 Buyer Insights study cite the health
of themselves, family, and friends as a top personal concern for 2021. For many organizations, this reality
has moved employee well-being from a nice-to-have to a must-have part of their overall people strategy.
Even before the latest round of crises, many organizations started to recognize the impact of the self-
perpetuating cycle of physical, financial, and emotional stress on work. One study found
that workplace stress is linked to 70% of doctor visits and 85% of serious illnesses before the pandemic.1
Physical Financial Emotional
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 3
Workplace stress isn’t only about the culture, leadership, and demands of the job but also about finances.
How employees are compensated, and the benefits offered to them matter. As of February of 2021,
finances were cited by 73% of respondents2 as the number one cause of stress in America. In the US, two-
thirds of personal bankruptcies are due to medical issues, either because of medical bills themselves or
loss of finances due to time away from work.3 Even families with health insurance fall victim to this when
high deductible or out-of-pocket costs are used instead of more comprehensive healthcare plans of years
past.
A study by meQuilibrium found that over a third of respondents reported increases in their
work-related stress levels between December 2019 and June 2020. In addition to increases in
perceived stress, individuals also appear to be facing more significant challenges with related
symptoms of stress such as sleep, motivation, burnout, and positivity. The rate at which
members reported serious difficulties falling asleep and frequently being tired during the day
was up about 9% during the same period.
It is essential to give employees the support, tools, benefits,
and programs to be present at work. The new generation
of employee well-being technology is designed to
address and help organizations support each of
the key areas of wellness - Emotional, Physical,
Personal, and Financial.
In this guide, we will look at:
1. The evolution of the employee well-being marketplace
2. The business impact of employee well-being
3. Insights while selecting or working with a well-being provider
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 4
Evolution of Employee Well-Being:
From Wellness to Whole Person
The origins of today’s employee well-being track participation. For companies, the inclusion in
programs can be found rooted in employer cost these programs was based on lowering statistical
savings, which is not an uncommon place for most health risks for the employer based on health
employee programs to start. In the 1940s and insurance costs.
1950s, many organizations realized the negative
Whatever the motives, the programs did positively
impact of alcoholism on organizational safety and
benefit the employees, but none addressed the
productivity. This led to the formation of EAPs,
overall well-being and whole-person health. Since
or Employee Assistance Programs, to provide a
the late 1990s, there has been increasing public
resource that could help employees deal with their
awareness and acceptance of discussions of mental
addiction and improve business performance.
health as well as physical health and the ways they
Over the years, the EAP programs evolved into intersect. As the 2010s emerged and social media
a resource available to employees seeking help usage became more widely used, there was a much
for other kinds of addiction and mental health more open dialogue around mental health and the
problems. Providers started offering EAPs as a impact it was having.
service to employers, typically running as an 800
From 1999 to 2014, the average annual suicide
number employees could call for help. EAPs often
rate in the US increased by 24%.4 By 2018, the
stepped in in the face of workplace trauma, such
loss of life by “deaths of despair” (drug overdoes,
as accidents or incidents of workplace violence,
alcoholism and suicide due to perceived long-term
to help victims and survivors. While the help was
social and economic outlook) had reached such
individualized, the goal was really about protecting
high levels that the average life expectancy declined
the company. And for the most part, being referred
for the third year in a row.5 The last time the life
to an EAP resulted from something bad happening,
expectancy dropped in such a way was 1915-1918 -
not part of helping employees thrive.
when the US was involved in World War 1.
In the 1970s and 1980s, there was an increased
Even people working full time didn’t feel like
focus on physical health and exercise. Programs
they had resources - financially, emotionally, and
like weight loss meetings and smoking cessation
physically to improve their lives.
were becoming popular with many employers. As
we progressed into the 1990s and early 2000s we In particular, the links between stress, depression,
started to see employers offering “challenges” or and anxiety and issues like heart disease, chronic
annual wellness checks in the office. Completing pain, fatigue, and workplace safety became more
programs might earn you a rebate on health care widely known and openly discussed6. While the
premiums, or successful participation would earn impact of work stress was seen at all levels of the
you free weight loss programs, gym memberships, organization, the massive disparity in how the
and even cash rewards. As the fitness craze hit full stress impacted lower-income workers and those
steam, third-party providers stepped in to help from racial or ethnic minorities was being missed.7
employers offer programs to help motivate and
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 5
In the shadow of these conversations, the world of work was changing rapidly, and most organizations
were struggling to manage the five generations in the workplace. What “used to work” we realized - never
really did. Having seen their parents bring home work stress that impacted their family life, younger
generations wanted a new relationship with work, which understood their needs holistically.
Younger workers are more open than ever about asking for the support they need to be physically,
mentally, and financially well to live the lives they wanted and
do their work. This more connected approach and desire to
change the narrative have seen the mid-2010s shift to a focus
on mindfulness, meditation, and other programs designed to
63%
reduce stress at work and for the person in general.
This was the stepping stone to understanding the impact that
work has on employees outside of work and caring for the of Americans lived
whole person. paycheck to paycheck
in October 2020, and 47%
Financial well-being was the most recent piece of the puzzle.
were doing so before the
Changing global economic conditions meant that individuals
pandemic.
had more opportunities to increase debt for houses, cars, and
education and participate in financial markets they had never
been exposed to before. Current world market conditions
have only increased financial stress and anxiety, which was
already high. By October 2020, 63% of Americans say they have been living paycheck to paycheck since the
Covid-19 pandemic hit. It is important to note that 47% were doing so before the pandemic.8 This focus on
financial well-being has given rise to a whole host of new providers in the wellness industry, in addition to
new offerings from traditional players.
As organizations think through their investment in employee well-being, most will look at it with two
essential outcomes that must always be balanced. One, the actual physical, mental, financial, and
emotional health and stability of the humans working in your organization. Two, the ROI for organizations
investing in these solutions. Both are important, but if your organization only cares about the dollars and
cents of such an investment, employees will see through it, and you will not get the level of adoption to see
a positive impact.
Analyst Note: Don’t be Creepy
Talking about someone’s health condition or designed with these thoughts in mind. They are a
mental state at work has long been considered a third party and can promise employees anonymity
faux pas. And plenty of employees would not feel when seeking help. They can also provide managers
comfortable talking about their financial issues, training to help leaders point employees to
home life, or addiction with an employer - not to solutions without becoming a therapist or financial
mention the uncomfortable conversations many consultant. People want to be cared for at work, but
managers would want to avoid. So how do you they don’t want to feel like they are being watched.
care for your employees’ well-being without being Solution providers can help you be there for
creepy? Many solution providers in this space are employees without getting creepy.
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 6
Business Impact
It may seem to be an exaggeration to say that nothing could impact overall business performance more
than employee well-being, but it isn’t. It is literally about ensuring that the humans who do the work of
your business day after day and care for your customers, products, and services are as whole and healthy
and ready to work as they can be when they show up. And that they can be whole and healthy at home as
well.
Around 120,000 people die each year from work-related stress, and work-
related stress is responsible for about $190 billion per year - or about 5-8% of
total US healthcare spending.9
We all have personal experiences at times in our lives where worries about money or advancement at
work or health emergencies distract us from getting things done. Multiply that out over every employee,
and you can imagine how both day-to-day well-being and physical, mental, and financial crises can impact
your business. Personal and family health and well-being, along with economic stability, were top of
mind for around half of the respondents to the 2021 Aspect43 Buyer Insights study. Finding balance for
themselves, their families, their employees, and the world around them are all top of mind for 2022.
We look at the business impact in terms of overall performance and four key components of the employee
lifecycle: Employee Experience, Hiring and Recruiting, Diversity and Inclusion, and Compliance.
Employee Experience
Well-being is core to the overall employee experience. Being physically and mentally
present at work is the foundation of learning, performance, and culture. Being distracted
by well-being issues means that none of the other investments you make in talent
management, learning, engagement, or reward and recognition will be as effective. This
is true for individual contributors and managers. Investment in well-being makes it easier
for managers to do the right things and supports them in getting people to the right
resources. It’s not about putting more onto managers’ plates; it’s about helping them shift
issues to the proper support.
Resilience is also key to well-being. Resilience and adaptability - the way individuals and
organizations respond to and thrive in times of change - are key cultural attributes tied to
overall performance. One study found that between December 2018 and December 2020,
companies with high levels of resilience outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial average by
116%.10 Resilience is a skill that can be learned, and it can help your organization’s culture
adapt to all circumstances.
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 7
Hiring and Recruiting
Throughout the employee lifecycle, well-being has
a real impact. When it comes to hiring and recruiting,
your employer brand is everything, how you
treat people, your organizational culture, all
if it matters. And all of it is out there. People
share experiences online, particularly bad
experiences, so if you are known for having
a negative, cut-throat culture, that is the type
of candidate you will attract. And this isn’t
just about being “nice.” It’s about creating a
culture of respect and being a place where
individuals want to contribute. And never
forget that great employees attract more
of the same. They are your top recruiting
tool, so caring for them is hugely important.
The Limeade Institute found that employees who felt cared
for were likely to recommend their organization as a great
place to work 90% of the time compared to just 9% of those
who didn’t feel their company cared.11
Diversity and Inclusion
Employee well-being is about making people feel cared for in all parts of their lives.
The attitude that drives an organization to focus on well-being can also support overall
diversity and inclusion. And inclusion is the critical part of that phrase. You can count
people to try and “prove” diversity, but to include people is a value statement. It says we
recognize you come to work as a whole person and support your many facets.
When we look at the documented disparity and impact of financial inequality and stress on
people from minority backgrounds, it is clear that as a society and at work, we are missing
something in supporting them. Programs need to be created for all of your employees
- not just the college-educated white male from an upper-middle-class background that
doesn’t “need” that type of solution.
Providing the financial, physical, mental, and personal tools to enable employees from all
backgrounds the opportunity to come to work as a whole person - and ensuring we are
equitably paying them to do so - is fundamental.
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 8GENDER AND AGE GAPS IN JOB STRESS
Women have borne a more significant burden of the observed increase in job stress during the
pandemic. Recent research found that while the rate of high job stress increased just 2% among
men from December 2019 to June 2020, the number of women experiencing high job stress
increased by nearly 20% over the same period. The young also appear to bear a disproportionate
share of the burden. Studies indicate that those under 40 are experiencing disordered sleep,
burnout, high stress, and decreased motivation at levels that far exceed the rate of these
conditions among their older colleagues.12
Compliance
Physical and emotional wellness can play a huge role in compliance and safety. Physical
conditions like sleep apnea, chronic pain, or heartburn are common causes of sleep
issues, as are anxiety and depression. Insufficient sleep is a critical issue for productivity
and safety. The National Institute of Health found that overly sleepy employees are 70%
more likely to be involved in workplace accidents than colleagues who are not sleep-
deprived.13 And being sleep-deprived can contribute to physical issues like weight gain or
mental health issues like addiction. Programs that screen for sleep issues as part of overall
wellness are critical.
Compliance is also crucial in managing and rolling out these programs and why working
with a partner who specializes in them is vital for your organization.
Increases in disordered sleep, symptoms of burnout, and motivation
difficulties were also all markedly higher (1.9X to almost 30X) among
those who reported low employer support than among the well-
supported in a survey conducted by meQuilibrium.
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 9Key Features of The Employee
Well-Being Tech Stack
When we talk about well-being, it can be really easy to get overwhelmed. This is a new tech stack for
most organizations and one that makes them confront areas of work that they have traditionally liked to
overlook.
Selecting the right employee well-being technology is all about focusing on the services and functionality
that matter most to your organization and understanding that you likely won’t find everything you want
from one provider. Think about your employees and what may work for them. What is the “right” stack for
a consulting organization with all college-educated employees and an average age of 36 will be different
from a hospitality company with high turnover and a large hourly workforce. Both need solutions; they
just need them in different priority orders.
The purpose of the tech stack model is to give an overview of available technology for you to consider.
This list is not inclusive of every technology that could exist in employee well-being categories - but
highlights the ones that we see innovation and adoption in. This can be used as a starting point to
understand the general landscape of well-being tech, divided into four main areas; physical, mental/
emotional, financial, and personal.
Employee Well-Being Tech Stack
Employee Well-Being Tech Stack
Physical Well-Being Emotional Well-Being
Disease Screening/ Nutrition Self-Care Mindfulness &
Assessment Programs Tools Meditation
Sleep Mental Health Resilience
Fitness
Management On Demand Training
Well-Being
Platform
Social Connection
Financial Earned Wage Employee Communication Home
Family Care
Education Access Analytics Management
Investment & Giving & Education Support/ Employee Resource
Retirement Volunteerism Consulting Groups (ERGs)
Financial Well-Being Personal Well-Being
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 10Physical Well-Being
Physical well-being technologies and solutions are some of the most established in the overall well-being
category. Sometimes these tools are available as part of the services offered by your health insurance
provider. In order to help maintain health care costs, a focus on prevention has emerged. They may
also be available as suites or stand-alone solutions focused on just one element of physical well-being.
Physical wellness typically will focus on specific risk factors such as smoking cessation, diabetes care and
prevention, overall physical fitness, and weight control.
Many physical wellness programs focus on using technology like fitness trackers (like FitBit, the Apple
Watch, etc.) Currently, about one in five Americans are using a fitness tracker.14 By tapping into this
growing trend, these programs help individuals monitor behaviors and progress. Some employers
provide devices, but most programs are designed to allow employees to use their own preferred device
and integrate it with their employer’s health and wellness programs.
Disease Screening/Assessment
This technology delivers web or app-based quizzes or surveys to help individuals self-diagnose potential
areas of concern regarding their health. Employees themselves must drive this kind of support. No one
wants to feel like their employer is questioning or criticizing their personal health decisions. By letting
people access these tools via technology, it can be easier for an individual to seek help or consider
lifestyle changes that will improve their overall health.
Based on these types of screening and assessments, providers can help guide employees to the right
content based on their individual needs. Again, by using technology to put information at the fingertips
of individuals who may be thinking about making changes to improve their health, you are more likely to
find a receptive audience than a more general physical well-being program. Often these programs include
written content or videos to help people understand their health concerns and risks, along with behavior
modification programs.
Technology is also used to create incentives and positive peer pressure to help make these changes stick.
By tracking participation, companies or departments can post leader boards and run contests to help
employees motivate each other. They can also award points or prizes based on participation. They can
also provide support through social engagement by letting participants give “high fives” or other positive
feedback for each other.
Nutrition and Fitness
Today many weight loss and fitness technology solutions center around biometric devices. These tools
can help track steps, nutrition information, and sleep patterns to help individuals manage their health.
Using biofeedback, these solutions can also offer personalized recommendations to improve nutrition
impact, or built toward fitness goals, like getting your “10,000 steps” each day. Depending on goals and
progress, these solutions can offer customized journeys to help individuals change habits and reduce
their weight, build strength, and improve cardiovascular health.
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 11This technology can track individual performance and offer tailored contests or challenges to help
motivate groups across the organization to participate in behavior change initiatives around health and
nutrition. Maintaining a healthy weight and fitness level is often considered the foundation of physical
wellness. A fit and healthy workforce are more likely to result in fewer absences due to health issues and
lower organizational healthcare costs.
Sleep Management
Web and app-based questionnaires and diagnostics designed to identify key sleep issues like apnea
and insomnia can point employees to resources for help with these issues and provide sleep-related
content to users. The rising recognition of sleep as a critical wellness issue has made it an essential part
of many physical wellness programs. Sleep not only improves coordination and reflex response but helps
with learning retention and improved mood. Research has shown that increases in disordered sleep,
symptoms of burnout, and motivation difficulties were much higher (1.9X to almost 30X) among those
who reported low employer support for physical and mental well-being than among the well-supported.15
Mental/Emotional Well-Being
Mental and emotional well-being tools have become a focus not only for employers but for society at
large. The rise of direct-to-consumer apps like TalkSpace (an online therapy provider) and social media
connections to therapists through the likes of TikTok have made apps a go-to for mental health. Providers
have tapped into this trend and are helping employers provide valid, science-based programs to improve
employee mental health. An employee’s mental and emotional state can impact every aspect of their job
performance at work and their life at home. It’s not surprising that over a third (34%) of organizations
responding to the 2021 Aspect43 Buyer Insights study are seriously concerned about employee wellness
and mental health.
Self-Care Tools
As with physical health, this technology delivers web or app-based quizzes or surveys to help individuals
self-diagnose potential areas of concern regarding their mental and emotional health. These screenings
can help individuals identify current issues such as depression and anxiety and their likelihood to
experience some form of cognitive impairment in the near future. It is important to know that mental
health screening should be done on an ongoing basis because while everyone is susceptible to varying
degrees of cognitive impairment, they are not always permanent. And mental health issues don’t have to
be a full-on clinical diagnosis. The level of assessment is meant to help guide employees to the right help
at the time of need.
This technology also includes insights about the individual that can tailor content on an ongoing basis
to employees. Some solutions will customize the type of content based on user preferences, previous
screening, assessment results, or even offer integration with other information sources like benefits
selection to push appropriate content. For example, someone adding a child to their insurance may be
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 12sent parenting content. The goal is to offer the right content at the time of need.
Many content-based technology platforms employ gamification or other aspects of consumer-facing
technology to make their solutions and apps “sticky” to keep people coming back. Combining gaming with
clinical psychology allows users of some such apps like those offered by Equoo to learn and practice skills
that can help them ease anxiety in everyday life. Many other mental health content providers focus on
drip-feeding self-care content, much like marketers do to external customers, which can help employees
learn new habits and change behaviors that might not serve them well.
Mindfulness and Meditation
Mindfulness technology gives employees access to tools and guided programs designed to help them
refocus, reduce stress, and be more productive both personally and professionally. They allow the
employee to decide the area of focus and use tools such as meditation and guided breathing to alleviate
stress in the moment and bring a personal sense of calm that can improve decision-making and
productivity. This may be part of an overall wellness program or as short interventions in the moment
of stress.
Analyst Note: The Power of Breath
Breathing is the most natural thing in the world, but learning
how to harness the power of the breath can make a positive
difference in your physical and emotional health. Slowing
your breathing rate and focusing on it for as little as
60 seconds can slow your heart rate, lower blood
pressure, alleviate fear and anxiety, and allow for
better emotional control. You can prove it to yourself
right now by closing your eyes and taking three deep
breaths. Many providers now offer breathing-
based apps or content to help employees reap
these benefits for their mental health.
Mental Health On Demand
Individual therapy or counseling can be expensive and
time-consuming, but both individual practitioners and large
healthcare organizations have started to see the benefits
of on-demand mental health services. By answering a few
questions about yourself and your situation, these tools will
match individuals to a therapist and set up an appointment for a
virtual session. This allows an individual to access mental health
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 13providers from much wider geography, which means that it may take hours to get an appointment versus
weeks. Employees can do a session on a lunch break or after work without commuting to a doctor’s
office. In addition, lowering the barriers to access means more people are likely to take advantage of this
important help when they need it.
Resilience Training
Resilience training programs are focused, science-based, technology-enabled programs to help develop
individual and organizational resilience. Through apps or web-based tools, individuals can self-guide
through content and behavioral change designed to build resilience. Many solutions also offer team-
based programs that help give teams a common language to talk about their work styles and emotions,
allowing them to work together better and allowing leaders to understand their teams better. These
solutions can aggregate individual data around stress, burnout, change readiness, and other critical
issues for managers without exposing personal information. This kind of insight and reporting can help
leaders get out in front of the organizational problems instead of just reacting to them.
The Mayo Clinic defines resilience as “your ability to adapt well and recover quickly after stress, adversity,
trauma or tragedy.”16 Resilience is essential to individuals and organizations in today’s world. Many of us
think of resilience as an innate characteristic, but it is a capacity that can be increased through attention,
and amplified through practice and focus. Many resilience training apps and programs help individuals
practice their resilience skills, like gratitude, for just minutes a day, which can have a significant overall
impact on individual and team performance. Providers focus on helping employees improve resilience at
home and work.
EAP
EAP technology was the beginning of the corporate well-being market. These solutions began with call
centers or on-site counselors that could refer employees to resources to help with addiction or other
mental health issues. Typically, however, these resources were a place of last resort, and the perception
has often been that seeking help from an EAP meant your boss or employer would find out. EAP
programs tend to be responsive as opposed to preventative. When employees used them, the “free” 4, 6,
or 8 sessions were rarely enough to help manage the issue.
Unfortunately, buying an EAP solution is where many organizations have stopped regarding mental and
emotional well-being. Research has shown that 79% of organizations have an EAP in place, but in 2019,
usage was below 10%.17 A 2021 study found that usage was up by 70%18, which may sound impressive,
but that level of growth would still place use below 17%. However, it shows that organizations are seeing
an increase in the need for mental health support and will still utilize traditional EAP services.
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 14Financial Well-Being
Financial well-being tools are one of the latest additions
to the employee well-being marketplace. These solutions
help organizations respond to growing personal
financial problems in a way that doesn’t feel invasive or
embarrassing to employees. Often, part of these solutions’
benefit is that they are developed and run by a third party,
so individuals don’t feel like they are bringing their financial
issues into work. Employees and managers are saved from
the embarrassment of talking about money issues and
helps eliminate money problems as a significant distraction
for individuals.
The problems for many employees when it comes to their
financial well-being are genuine. In the US today, 6 in 10
adults listed work and money as a significant source of
stress19, and if faced with a $500 emergency, roughly 8 out
of 10 report they would not be able to cover the cost.20
Financial stress at work is a growing concern for individuals
and employers and can contribute to stress-related physical
and mental health problems.
Financial Education
Using technology to deliver education alongside other
financial information like pay statements or retirement
statements is critical to help employees make better
financial choices. Web and app-based content are essential, but technology that proactively delivers
education can be even more critical. A significant portion of wealth inequality has to do with how we
teach (or, how we DON’T teach) people about money. If you don’t come from generational wealth, it’s
unlikely that you have had much exposure to financial literacy by the time you graduate high school.
Providing employees not only with financial benefits but insights and education about financial options
and decision-making can significantly impact their near-term and long-term financial success.
Earned Wage Access
Earned wage access technology allows individuals to access a percentage of their wages for hours
worked before the traditional payday. These tools help calculate wages earned, provide an interface for
individuals to request cash, and solutions like cash cards or payment transfers to move wages into the
hands of employees. The ability to access earned wages will impact workers who may have otherwise
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 15turned to payday loans or other high-interest programs. There has been significant growth of this
employee benefit in the United States and Europe, and the global pandemic has only increased demand.
The ability to access earned wages immediately has been called the most essential benefit in the post-
COVID-19 world.21 It can also be a competitive advantage in businesses like retail or hospitality, where
faster access to pay, tips, and commissions can make you a desirable employer.
Student Loan Repayment
Much like the technology used to manage retirement fund matching, recent legislative changes have
allowed US employers to make student loan payments for employees. These tools manage participation,
handle payments, and calculate taxation impact for the individual and the employer. These kinds of
programs are helping employers serve the needs of younger employees who have lots of school debt and
would rather pay that off than start saving for retirement just yet.
Giving and Volunteerism
These solutions focus on automating individual employee giving and making it easier for employees to
help direct corporate giving. A big part of financial education is about deciding how you want to spend
your money, and for many people, this goes beyond taking care of their own basic needs and extends
into the causes they believe in and want to support. Through tools that help employees make ongoing
or one-time donations to important causes, and easily applying for matching funds that many employers
offer, employers get more visibility into programs they are already funding anyway.
These tools also contribute to your organization’s employer brand by bringing focus to your corporate
citizenship. It increases exposure for causes your organization supports, and with tools that help manage
corporate volunteer programs, help employees feel a connection to the organization. This technology
facilitates paycheck deduction of financial giving and the associated tax benefits through integration with
payroll and time and attendance solutions. And if your organization allows employees to donate hours to
charitable causes, they can track those hours in your timekeeping system for reporting purposes.
Personal Well-Being
Solutions that fall under personal wellness have to do less with work-related issues than they do with
providing support at home to alleviate life stress from time spent working and commuting and worrying
about issues at home.
Family Care
Apps to coordinate family care are central to this offering. From interviewing and selecting providers to
managing payment, these solutions take the frustration out of care. Moving beyond just child care, more
and more providers are seeing the need for all kinds of family care for children, senior adults, or family
members with special needs. It can also include emergency backup care. By providing a safe environment
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 16for an employee’s loved ones, organizations are helping those workers to eliminate a huge source of
stress and guilt that may be impairing their work performance.
Home Management
Much like the tools used to support family care, these apps help users pick, pay, and schedule the
help they need. Users can screen the skills and qualifications of providers and pay them securely and
compliantly. Busy families have many priorities, and no matter who makes up an employee’s family,
solution providers can offer assistance from scheduling plumbers and finding an HVAC repair service to
pet sitting to house cleaning. This isn’t just about management perks, it’s about taking genuine care of
families and acknowledging the impact that work has on an employee’s family.
Education Support / Consulting
These tools help organizations manage and administer programs like tuition reimbursement, ongoing
education incentives, and even help with tutors and college counseling for family members. Individuals
and parents often spend a considerable amount of time focused on education for themselves or family
members. Again these solutions are there to make it easier for organizations and individuals to use the
programs your company may have in place and improve the performance of employees by providing
solutions that are meaningful to them.
Employee Resource Groups
Better known as ERGs, these groups are self-led by members of the organization that share some kind of
affinity. From support for different groups seeking to improve their careers to groups centered around
common causes or life-stages, many well-being providers can provide a technology framework to help
them find and connect with other members.
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 17Selection
There are many types of solutions in the well-being tech stack. What is important in selection is not to
pick all of them but to design the right mix of tools and technologies that respond to your organization’s
needs and your employees.
If you aren’t sure where to start, start by listening. Ask your employees what is missing for them. Look at
engagement survey results and find out if people feel heard, supported, or have their needs met. Also,
well-being is deeply personal. Don’t look for instant results and overnight success. Look for sustained
use. And keep asking questions and listening to your employees while allowing them to manage their
own journey with the tools.
While there are many considerations when selecting technology partners for employee well-being,
specific core capabilities are important to look at no matter what tools your organization is considering.
Consumerized Experiences. Simply put, this is all about how technology looks and feels. In the tech
world, we call it the UI (User Interface) or the UX (User Experience). The only thing you should care
about is if it is simple and easy for your employees to use.
73% of respondents to the 2021 Aspect43 Buyer Insights study
cited usability as a top selection criterion for HR technology.
When you evaluate the technology, remember to think about
it from the perspective of the employee, a manager, a payroll
administrator, a finance leader, and an executive for the
insights and reporting.
73%
of respondents to the 2021
An easy way to evaluate any HR product for the employee Aspect43 Buyer Insights
is to think of it in terms of any app you might download onto study cited usability as a
top selection criterion for
your phone. Any employee-facing tech should be that easy to
HR technology.
use and not require a lot (if any) training. If a vendor disagrees,
it is likely because they have not put much thought into the
user experience. Making technology simple to use, valuable
and secure is the key to a great consumer and employee
experience.
Personalization. If we take consumerized technology one step further, we get personalization. It is
already driving consumer experience on sites like Netflix and Amazon, where content is served up based
on what is known about the user. In an organization, it’s about taking what we know about employees
and delivering content specific to who they are, their role, and what they are likely to need to do in
the product. One of the difficulties with HR tech software in recent years is the tendency to confuse
standardization with personalization. Having a consistent, secure, equitable process for every aspect of
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 18HR is necessary but not sufficient. The ability to use that standard process
and data to surface usable insights and power personalized journeys through
these processes is key to genuinely modern HR technology.
Physical and mental health and financial well-being are very personal topics,
so any feeling of mass marketing or generic messaging will likely go unheard.
It’s important to meet individuals where they are, with just-in-time information
when looking for help.
Analytics. You may see this referred to as reporting or metrics, but analytics
is simply about putting together information to allow for easy review and to
find insights. Reporting is a top frustration with HR technology, cited by 65%
of organizations responding to the 2021 Aspect43 Buyer Insights study. The
entire goal of HR technology and automation is to make processes more
efficient and then use the data from these processes to drive better data-
driven decision-making. Basic reporting is a minimum requirement of HR
technology today, as is some level of custom reporting accessible to your
organization without engaging your vendor.
Social Connection. A big part of well-being is seeing yourself as belonging
to a group. While much of well-being is highly personal, knowing you are
“normal” and feeling seen are also important. A sense of recognition for
your whole self can contribute to this sense of inclusion and pride. The most
successful solutions leverage their well-being platforms as this kind of hub,
which is increasingly important as teams are spread across the globe. We
continue to see remote workers as a significant portion of the workplace. Look
for solution providers that address this need.
Employee Communication. This important element of well-being was one
of the most prominent support for many organizations during the 2020-
2021 global pandemic. Providers had created a destination for information
related to how organizations responded to health issues, no matter what
part of the organization people were coming from. Many solutions also
offered direct lines of communication between leaders and employees. As
many organizations stick with remote or hybrid work models, this sort of
communication will remain essential.
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 19CASE-IN-POINT
A large disaster-response and temporary housing provider found unexpected benefits from their
HCM platform during the Covid-19 pandemic. While the organization was used to helping others
in crisis, when dealing with it themselves, the ability to rapidly shift to employees working from
home while maintaining social connection and a sense of stability was a welcome outcome. One
of the organization’s HR leaders said, “Our UKG solution helped us provide a welcome level of
normalcy for our people in a not-so-normal year.”
Keep in Mind:
1. Employee well-being is about a focus on the whole person. It requires organizations to
acknowledge and accept the humanity of their employees and their leaders. Whatever solutions you
choose to put in place to support your well-being efforts, remember that they are the backbone of
your overall employee experience and will not be sustainable if not backed up by your culture and
leadership. If you are not authentic in how you approach these efforts, they will only be viewed as lip
service and you will not see sustained results.
2. Make sure employee well-being is focused on the employees. Employees may have very different
needs and perceptions around what is causing them stress at work and home. Different demographics
will have different needs as well. Be sure to listen as you implement these programs and adjust as you
ensure relevance to all employees.
3. Find solution partners that push your organization forward. Ensure they have access to research
and content that will not just deliver the same old solutions in a pretty package. Use partners with a
science-based approach, a forward-thinking approach to consumer technology, and align with your
organization’s culture.
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 20Conclusion
Companies are realizing that the new world of work is requiring new approaches.
The relationship with well-being is a natural extension of the engagement and
recognition programs that have already started to address the individual at
work. This new approach allows ways to help people bring their whole selves
to work - not just bring the parts of themselves that would be productive
and not inconvenience anyone else too much. For the most part in the past,
organizations have been happy to ignore the entire realities of their employees’
lives, expecting them to show up at work, keep their problems to themselves,
and perform.
What we ignored is the “messier” side of people - the parts struggling with
mental or physical illness, the parts worried about child care or elder care, the
parts managing debt and financial insecurity, or struggling with addiction - we
missed the fact that these human issues were hurting our organizations.
Human beings are complex, and all of us deal with these issues. From a bad cold
keeping you in bed to a chronic illness like MS, we all have health issues. From
buying a car to deciding what bill gets paid and what is skipped, to crushing
levels of student loans and personal debt due to a divorce, medical care, or being
underpaid by our employer, we’ve all experienced financial stress. Or from a bad
day when pressure made us snap at colleagues and family members to social
anxiety or cyclical bouts of clinical depression, we have all dealt with the impact
of mental health on our lives and work. As the world has brought more of the
outside world - natural disasters, political unrest, health crises - into our jobs it
has made gaps in well-being programs evident and highlighted the importance
of focusing on whole-person health to create resilient organizations that don’t
just survive but come out better than before.
Investing in your employees as whole people is not only the right thing to do
as humans, it has real economic benefits too, as illustrated throughout this
paper. Some organizations struggle with the “softer” elements of the employer/
employee relationship, so even if the idea of mental health or financial education
is a struggle for your company, there is plenty of research to support ROI. But
the real benefit of supporting all aspects of your employees is that it will help
bring whole humans into focus, flaws, struggles, brilliance, dedication, and all.
There are so many reasons that your organization’s investment in people is not
complete without addressing whole-person wellness as part of that strategy.
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 21Aspect43 believes the biggest influencers in HR technology should be the people that use it and the
companies that build it. We designed our research group to improve HR tech by giving practitioners a voice
through our buyer and market research, targeted focus groups, and roundtables and providing all of our
market education for free to practitioner teams. Our strategic services group partners with solution providers
and investors focused on building a new generation of work technology through better products, stronger go-
to-market, positioning, and growth strategies that move the future of work forward.
Mollie Lombardi
Chief Research Officer, Aspect43
Mollie Lombardi is a top industry analyst with extensive experience gathering
and interpreting new data, but she also moves beyond the numbers,
translating them into real decisions and actionable insights. She has
interviewed & surveyed tens of thousands of organizations, and her dedication
to creating better conversations between buyers and sellers of HR Tech drives
her work. She has appeared in Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, Inc.,
and other industry trade publications. She has also presented at HR Events
globally. Prior to Aspect43, Mollie has held leadership roles at industry analyst
firms including Brandon Hall and The Aberdeen Group.
Sarah White
Founder and CEO, Aspect43
Sarah White is an industry veteran with a passion to improve how people
buy, sell and use technology at work. Her first start-up, focused on vendor
education and selection, was acquired in 2006 and helped educate more than
750 companies on buying new software. Since then, she has continued to focus
on improving the market - working with more than 300 vendor and investment
teams, publishing dozens of analyst reports and new frameworks, and speaking
on HR, Recruiting & Technology at events around the world. Prior to Aspect43
she has held executive leadership and principal level roles at Cornerstone,
Bersin, Clear Company (formerly HRMDirect), and founded Accelir Insights.
Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 22About Our Sponsors
Make no mistake, becoming resilient is a science. meQuilibrium has built a system of solutions and analytics
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data unique to your workforce to provide insights that will drive better performance and allow for better
decision-making. meQuilibrium is changing the way organizations adapt for the now and prepare for the future.
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Employers are facing a wave of employees that have entered their workforce with a vastly different set of values,
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perform at their peak, but need to cater to these new sets of needs and expectations. eQuoo is pioneering a new
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employees work together to gain more control over overall emotional health and unlock full employee potential
while protecting them from mental health issues.
Limeade is an employee experience software company on a mission to transform work into a source of positivity,
energy, humanity and purpose. Founded in 2006, Limeade is a pioneer in the HR technology industry and is
consistently recognized for its own award-winning culture. Today, Limeade solutions are used in approximately 100
countries around the globe. We help every employee know their company cares – and deliver people and business
results that matter. Limeade partners with its customers to transform the overall employee experience by helping
to improve employee well-being, engagement and sense of inclusion – in addition to reducing the risk of unwanted
turnover and burnout. limeade.com
At UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group), our purpose is people. UKG believes organizations succeed when they focus
on their people. As a leading global provider of HCM, payroll, HR service delivery, and workforce management
solutions, UKG delivers award-winning solutions to help tens of thousands of organizations worldwide to drive
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more connected experience for everyone. With 13,000 employees globally, the company has earned numerous
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Guide to Employee Well-Being Technology | © Aspect43, LLC 2021 23References
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3. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304901
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mental-health-crisis
6. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-20050987
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known%20to,drug%20use%20and%20physical%20inactivity.
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11. Limeade Institute, 2019
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fitness-tracker/
15. https://www.mequilibrium.com/
16. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/resilience-training/about/pac-20394943
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age-of-employee-assistance-programs.aspx
18. https://hrexecutive.com/number-of-the-day-eap-reliance
19. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2019/stress-america-2019.pdf
20. https://highlandsolutions.com/blog/survey-reveals-spending-habits-during-covid-19
21. https://www.benefitnews.com/opinion/earned-wage-access-the-most-important-benefit-in-a-post-covid-
19-world
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