Mehiläinen is Finland's biggest social and health services company and one of Finland's largest private sector employers, employing more than 22,000 people and 5,000 healthcare entrepreneurs. In addition to Finland, Mehiläinen currently operates in Estonia and Sweden. Mehiläinen's employees are the company's key asset. The company is a brave innovator of digital health services, despite its 111 years-long history in the industry. The digital health solutions are taken to the world through its BeeHealthy company.
Mehiläinen started using the new HeiaHeia Pro service for its staff in February 2021, and has been very successful in activating the entire company's staff ever since:
- Thousands of people from all over Finland have joined the company wellbeing program
- The employees have done more than 100,000 wellbeing actions
- The amount of physical training has increased especially for the people who have not been physically active before the program
- The service has helped to reach people regardless of time and place. It has increased the sense of community, and the employees have cheered each other over 150,000 times.
Mehiläinen invests in the wellbeing of its employees
Johanna Tokola, the head of exercise and occupational wellbeing at Mehiläinen, is responsible for supporting wellbeing of their employees, especially through physical exercise.
She encourages the employees to take care of their own wellbeing by offering diverse benefits to support this. Both individuals, and teams together are encouraged to organize different kinds of activities that promote their wellbeing and increase the employee's sense of community.
Challenge: How to organize community activities for tens of thousands of people?
Mehiläinen employs more than 22,000 professionals in more than 600 different locations. Organizing joint wellbeing activities is challenging for physically dispersed personnel. "Corona has made this even more difficult, and last February, when we launched the challenge, was also a difficult phase in the pandemic - we wanted to bring a concrete and positive solution to the staff," says Johanna.
Solution: A digital wellbeing program available for everyone
In February, Mehiläinen encouraged the entire staff to use the HeiaHeia application and to join the wellbeing program implemented there. Employees from all over – from Ilomantsi to the capital region – have been excited to join the common challenge. "With the help of HeiaHeia, we have been able to offer support to everyone regardless of time and place. The wellbeing program has the power of bringing people together," Johanna explains.
“With the help of HeiaHeia, we have been able to offer support to everyone regardless of time and place. The wellbeing program has the power of bringing people together.”
The goal of supporting the community and increasing physical exercises has been achieved
The implementation has received praise from the staff. HeiaHeia has been particularly liked for its sense of community and ease of use. One user says: "Thank you for the great campaign. In our community, this made even the most passive people start moving. Great!" One other user wants to make sure they are able to continue using the app: "I am happy for many of the team members because they got activated during the campaign in a great way. Surely we can still use the app? It was of crucial importance in our wellbeing campaign."
“Thank you for the great campaign. In our community, this made even the most passive people start moving. Great!”
“...Surely we can still use the app? It was of crucial importance in our wellbeing campaign.”
-Feedback from the users
More than 80% of the participants hope that HeiaHeia and the challenges implemented there will continue in the future. All sorts of movers – both couch potatoes and sports enthusiasts – have been excited about the program. The example set by the management has even furthered the success. "I got familiar with the HeiaHeia application years ago, and now I got active with it again with the company's campaign. The application has developed a lot. The integrations with wearables (e.g. activity and sports watches) have made its usage effortless. I also participated in the campaign, and I loved being a part of this community: sharing my own activities, and following and cheering on others!" says Chief Human Resources Officer Tatu Tulokas.
“The application has developed a lot: the integrations with wearables have made its usage effortless.
-Chief Human Resources Officer Tatu Tulokas
HeiaHeia will continue to serve as a platform for Mehiläinen's wellbeing challenges
With the help of the HeiaHeia platform, Mehiläinen has built an active wellbeing community. In the community, individuals receive support in promoting their wellbeing in a positive way. Johanna says that the HeiaHeia community offers a channel to reach the employees in a fun matter, and helps to implement the welfare work she does at the company. The successful activation with the help of the HeiaHeia application will continue in the future in the form of new, tailored challenges. Last spring, we traveled together around the world through the rapidly internationalizing Mehiläinen's operational areas, while the employees would compete both individually and in teams. Something new is planned for next autumn. "HeiaHeia offers a great platform for different challenges that can be implemented on different wellbeing themes", comments Johanna.
In recognition of its activity among the employees, Mehiläisen has been awarded Finland's Most Active Workplace certificate.
