To maintain a competitive edge in the labor market, more and more companies are recognizing the importance of aligning wellness with their policies and
Keith Saucier is the vice president of health and well-being at Mattel, a multinational toy and entertainment company and the maker of Barbie. Working in a creative field, Saucier believes Mattel's innovation can't happen without their employees feeling supported by the right wellness benefits.
"Creativity is Mattel's superpower, so we rely on people bringing their best, creative selves to work," he says. "But we recognize that life gets in the way. We have challenges from time to time that really stop us from being our best selves. I want to at least give employees the tools to help them through the challenges so that they are freed up to really do their best work."
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For Saucier, people cannot truly be creative if they are suppressing part of themselves or ignoring challenges they face outside the workplace. And between a three-year-long pandemic, inflation and political upheaval, workers have a lot to be
At Mattel, wellness is addressed across five pillars: emotional, physical, financial and social well-being, as well as career development. To support mental health, the company includes benefits like an employee assistance program with five free counseling sessions, a Headspace subscription and medical plans that account for access to behavioral health providers.
On the physical side, Mattel offers on-site fitness centers and less common healthcare benefits like fertility assistance and paid parental leave. The toy company has even begun offering free one-on-one and group coaching sessions through a third-party platform for not only career help but for guidance through any major life event.
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Saucier underlines that his goal is to provide benefits for people at all stages of their lives.
"You can't tell a person to cut all their personal stuff out for the eight hours they're at work," says Saucier. "We have programs that really target people who are focused on building a family, but that's for a specific person at a specific time. Maybe someone is also going through a divorce or about to retire."
Group coaching sessions also serve as a way for workers to connect with one another on shared goals or struggles — a social connection that can be hard to come by now that many employees can work from anywhere.
"People are starving for social connection after being isolated for a long period of time," says Saucier. "We believe the best ideas are cultivated by a collaborative culture, so we want to help build that."
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While coaching is new to Mattel, Saucier is confident this benefit will bridge the gap between their mental health and the other four pillars of well-being. For example, if workers are going through financial hardship, these sessions are one more resource to have in their tool kit, on top of the educational resources on budgeting, loans and credit cards Mattel already provides, explains Saucier.
Still, Saucier admits that including these benefits is only half of the battle; the other half comes down to
"Wellness initiatives shouldn't sound like just some HR-driven initiative in any way, shape or form," he says. "Leaders should own the fact that well-being is important."
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The last three years have certainly been challenging for benefits leaders everywhere, and Saucier is clear that he is no exception. But he believes companies can come out the other side stronger, given they care for their people.
"We use our global pulse survey every six months to measure how employees are feeling about the workplace, and through very challenging times we saw our scores rise," says Saucier. "We are doing something right."
