Ep. 7: Nurturing employee well-being during COVID-19
April 14, 2020
Episode details
Laurie Mitchell is a national thought leader on well-being and health management. She discusses how Unum’s HR organization is helping to foster employee well-being during the coronavirus pandemic. We discuss resources organizations can tap into to support their workforce and how leadership can communicate in humanizing ways.
- The foundation for emotional and physical resilience is self-care. Be intentional and deliberate around building your own wellness: from your diet and regular meals, to physical activity and sleep. [03:38]
- Don’t underestimate the importance of social support. Employees will appreciate hearing from leaders in personal and humanizing ways — explore informal gatherings as well as company updates. [06:00]
- Businesses with smaller HR functions have access to important resources: Start with your medical plan — what resources can you tap into there? An employee assistance program (EAP) can also provide resources for mental health or emotional support. Finally, organizations can look to community resources through their state’s 211 program. [12:10]
- For all your communications, aim to use a designated HR point of contact. This ensures that all employees get consistent information. [14:02]
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Featured speaker
Laurie Mitchell
Assistant Vice President, Global Wellbeing & Health Management at Unum
Laurie Mitchell took a slightly nontraditional career path for a registered dietitian nutritionist and has been leading comprehensive employer-sponsored population health and well-being strategy for more than 22 years. Her work focuses on actively engaging employees in their well-being through a mix of innovative programs, benefits, policies and health-forward environmental approaches. Before joining Unum, she held similar positions at MaineHealth, an integrated health care delivery system in Maine; Public Service Enterprise Group, an energy company in New Jersey; and Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. She also had a private nutrition practice in NYC.
About the host
Clare Morin
Unum Content Marketing Manager
Clare Morin is the Content Marketing Manager at Unum and a journalist who’s spent the last 20 years interviewing hundreds of thought leaders on topics ranging from wellness to culture, finance, human resources and technology. Born in the UK, raised in Hong Kong and based in the U.S. since 2009, she brings a global outlook to the HR Trends studio.
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