For anyone employed in the early months of 2020, the chaos that COVID-19 wrought upon the global workforce won’t be forgotten for years, even decades, to come: closed offices, makeshift work areas at home, and a deluge of Zoom meetings which resulted in Zoom fatigue.
Three years later, the situation is still rapidly evolving, particularly in the areas of mental health and well-being. Studies show that in 2020, anxiety disorders grew to about 25% while depressive symptoms grew to about 28% as a direct result of the pandemic. There was also a noted increase in the mental health workforce despite low-income countries still experiencing a shortage of mental health workers and support.
The fact of the matter is that mental health has now become an even more serious business challenge. Studies show that 12 billion working days or $1 trillion annually is lost in productivity due to depression and anxiety. According to the World Health Organization, creating effective mental health programs can yield a high return on investment for the business.
Building a Supportive Community at Work
As a BPO company that constantly prioritizes employee welfare, TaskUs relies on its own dedicated Wellness + Resiliency (W+R) department with 100+ in-house life coaches, clinicians, and researchers, offering a wide range of company wellness solutions and resources to its employees and clients.
In 2022, TaskUs’ Wellness + Resiliency (W+R) team took it one step further by creating the Wellness Hero Certification Program.
The program enlists volunteer employees across all TaskUs locations across 13 countries and trains them to become Wellness Heroes: individuals who advocate for their own wellness and, at the same time, prioritize and look out for the wellness of others on a daily basis. To earn the title, participants must accomplish various coaching sessions, online classes, and assessments. This ensures that they are well-versed and proficient in the programs, services, and initiatives offered by the W+R team. The Wellness Hero certification is valid for 12 months to ensure people’s safety and service quality, and requires additional assessments for those who wish to renew their badge.
By opening the program to everybody, TaskUs creates a global, diverse network of wellness advocates from different backgrounds, abilities, and cultures who share a common goal: to advance wellness at work.
“If we have more people actively practicing and promoting the use of our wellness resources, we’re expanding the reach of our Wellness + Resiliency team and making the topic of mental health discussions ubiquitous in the workplace,” said Rachel Lutz Guevara, TaskUs’ Vice President for Global Wellness + Resiliency. “We’re removing any shame, guilt, or punishment that a lot of people often associate with mental wellness. As an organization, we have a responsibility to protect and support our employees’ well-being and continue to create a space where they feel safe to talk about their mental health.”
Working hand in hand with the W+R department, Wellness Heroes play a crucial role in nurturing psychological safety in the workplace by acting as bridges between employees and wellness resources. They help normalize the conversation surrounding mental health, which is key to destigmatizing the issue—a challenge that is still present across the globe.
Making a Positive Impact
“Being a Wellness Hero gives my identity another dimension at work,” Rhonda George, TaskUs Senior Director for Global Corporate Recruitment shared. “When you're able to show up and allow others to be vulnerable with no judgment, it really can make the connection you cannot break.”
Abby Alcoser, a Teammate from Lizzy’s Nook in Cavite, Philippines, was truly delighted and grateful for the positive changes in herself after regular sessions with a Wellness Hero.
Abby Alcoser, a Teammate from Lizzy’s Nook in Cavite, Philippines, was truly delighted and grateful for the positive changes in herself after regular sessions with a Wellness Hero.
“When I found a safe space in our Wellness Heroes, I started to feel happier, lighter, and felt like I could keep going despite life’s turbulence,” she said. “It’s also motivating to have someone at work who sees you more than the numbers you can offer to the team.”
TaskUs is committed to being one of the companies with happy employees by fostering a supportive and positive workplace and using wellness tooling and technology to assist employees in more specialized roles like content moderation. It also offers consulting and external research, helping other companies effectively address workplace concerns stemming from mental health issues and building a safer environment for all employees worldwide.
Because of its focus on employee wellness, TaskUs has been named a gold winner in the Best Health & Wellbeing Programme category of the European Contact Centre & Customer Service Awards 2022. It also received Comparably’s Best Global Culture (2023) and Best Company Outlook (2023) awards, an honorable mention from Ragan’s Platinum HR Awards for its Wellness + Resiliency team (2022), and Great Place to Work Certification (2022) in the Philippines.
