Isabel is grateful that smart bones and tablets were not around when her children were very little. Lots of companies are now showering staff with, well nes aps, but y kno, ultimately, do they help? And do aps connect us? I mean, it seems a bit mad that, in some ways we're saying aps ore bringing people together, because aps basically take me away from members of my family ecause i'm looking at twitter. But managers, cutting stress, staffs, amd slack, that's really important. Humanity matters.
This is the podcast about doing work differently. Join host Isabel Berwick every Wednesday for expert analysis and watercooler chat about ahead-of-the-curve workplace trends, the big ideas shaping work today — and the old habits we need to leave behind.
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The wellness industry is a trillion-dollar business, and the pandemic has turbo-charged it. One of the biggest trends has been the rise in employers buying their staff access to meditation and fitness apps. But does this ‘quick fix’ approach work? And are there better ways to boost wellbeing ?
Isabel talks to Lorna Borenstein, chief executive of Grokker, a corporate wellness app about the reasons why she set up the platform and how clients and her own staff use it. It’s all part of a culture of taking care of employees - a topic Lorna has explored more deeply in her book It’s Personal, offering advice to other managers on how to help staff feel better [tl;dr: talk less, listen more].We also speak to FT colleague Emma Jacobs, about the corporate care culture. She is a little more skeptical.
We would love to hear from you - email us at workingit@ft.com. You can also follow @isabelberwick on Twitter and Instagram or reach out via email: isabel.berwick@ft.com. Thanks.
Mentioned in the podcast and other interesting reading:
- Emma Jacobs’ prophetic pre-pandemic guide to workplace wellness by app: https://www.ft.com/content/d1d58aae-437c-11ea-abea-0c7a29cd66fe
- FT series, Burnout: https://www.ft.com/burnout
- Deloitte report [2020] on employee mental health showing £5 benefit for every £1 spent: https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consulting/articles/mental-health-and-employers-refreshing-the-case-for-investment.html
- Video, Emma Jacobs on how to detox from your smartphone: https://www-ft-com.newman.richmond.edu/video/b4115321-b915-3a42-9814-ad0be4c0e7f5?playlist-name=section-0b83bc44-4a55-4958-882e-73ba6b2b0aa6&playlist-offset=206
Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.
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