How ADP’s new approach to employee wellness turned into something much bigger

In 2021, with many of its people working remotely – and not knowing for how long – ADP decided it was time to address employee wellness, including mental and emotional well-being.

But according to Amy Freshman, the senior director of global HR for the well-known HR management services and software company, reminding employees about available mental health resources wasn’t enough.

“People just weren’t going out and using them. They didn’t want to be the one to use the employee assistance program because there’s stigma attached,” she said during an episode of HRMorning’s “Voices of HR” podcast, titled “Supporting Mental Health and Wellness in Today’s Hybrid Work Environment.”

The company launched an “ADP it’s OK” hashtag to provide a safe space for employees in an unfamiliar remote work environment to acknowledge moments when they weren’t feeling OK – perhaps struggling with burnout or feelings of isolation. “We needed to make sure that our associates knew that we were there for them and we were there to support them,” she said.

Month of employee wellness

To maintain a dialog about employee wellness, and to ensure the company was preparing and providing adequate mental health resources, ADP declared May (which is Mental Health Awareness Month) to be the company’s “Month of Wellness.” A keynote wellness advocate guest speaker, who Freshman described as “phenomenal,” spoke openly (and virtually, of course) about his own mental health issues.

“So our focus, and the purpose of the Month of Wellness, is to say, ‘Hey, we care about you. You’re important to us. Your wellness is important to us and we want to create opportunities to the best of our ability to ensure that you are able to carve out time for your own wellness,’” Freshman said.

ADP’s HR team and leadership realized that instead of “taking people out of their seats” to get in touch with their wellness needs one month of the year, it would benefit the entire company to thread employee wellness into its culture.

The company encourages its people to seize what Freshman described as “little nuggets of opportunities” for wellness, such as taking two-minute stretch breaks during the workday or taking a walk while on a business call to get some fresh air.

“We don’t just care about your wellness in the month of May. It really happens throughout the given year,” she said. “Wellness is such a popular topic within so many parts of our organization. I know leaders are having conversations and, more and more in partnership with our benefits organization, (are) continuing to think of different ways how we can be there for our associates.”

Wellness for all

Freshman said that ADP recognized its client partners also wanted to make a commitment to employee wellness as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to be disruptive.

As a result, talking about the various employee wellness resources that are out there became a part of everyday client conversations.

On its “Spark” blog, the company posted a few links to downloadable resources for all leaders and employees to take advantage of.