by MakeUsWell

Today, companies that think about the future and have talented operators are:

1. Attentive to social media postings on “hot button” issues. 

2. Able to divine employee sentiment on these issues. 

3. Skilled in striking the right messaging notes on them. 

Key Case: Ohana

For a top-notch employee-well-being client, MakeUsWell analyzed how Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, spotted the freedom-of-choice, abortion issue back in early September, 2021, well before any of his peers.

His Twitter posting that the firm would welcome Texas-based employees to California to exercise their right to reproductive choice was powerful in triggering positive responses. It calmed employees across the nation — not just at Salesforce.

The power of our words within the context of cultural events can have an emotional impact on users that tangibly increases joy and reduces stress.

Our analysis of emotional impact showed the Benioff tweet increased joy and reduced vitriol for certain segments by ~18%.

Our analysis also accurately predicted — months ahead of time — the significant future impact of the tweet and the effectiveness of Mr. Benioff's language on the entire landscape of the abortion polemic within the American business world. 

Now months later, in response to the abortion controversy, major companies (including Amazon, CitiGroup, Kroger, and dozens more) are making employee assistance for out-of-state employee reproductive healthcare a standard benefit.

And, in a recent survey, 88% of respondents indicated they thought Marc Benioff’s 9/10/21 tweet helped employees in corporate America. It remains a powerful export of SalesForce culture over time.

By addressing his tweet to “Ohana,” Benioff invited the world to see Salesforce through his eyes. He conveyed a healthy company culture with a single word. With a single tweet, Benioff soothed his employees, while simultaneously attracting international approval for his company.

Companies aspiring to high performance cultures need to master the process of spotting issues, identifying sentiment trends, and knowing how to respond as early and effectively as possible.

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by MakeUsWell

Post-Pandemic America

In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, preliminary CDC data shows there were 3.4 million deaths in the US, 17% higher than what was expected for the year. As of July 19, 2022, America has ~1.05 million cumulative Covid deaths. (From USAFacts.org)

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by Mike Critelli

At the MakeUsWell Network, we have focused on the need to increase public health attention to stress, anxiety and burnout. These are the triggers and precursors to serious mental health crises. Employers must always focus on what their leaders do to increase or decrease stress, anxiety and burnout for individual employees. 

Recently, we reflected on the death of Dee Edington, a trailblazer for all of us who wanted to get out ahead of population health issues, as opposed to addressing them in the healthcare system. The progress from crisis-driven mental health treatment, such as responses to attempted suicides, domestic violence, extended homelessness, substance dependence, or acts of public violence, to an effective preventive strategy that addresses population-level mental health issues preventively is at its earliest stages.

Historically, the first challenge for employers and other health plan providers was parity in health plan coverage for mental health treatments of all kinds. We are making good progress, but are far from the finish line, if for no other reason than the range of therapies available does not match the needs of our populations.

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by Mike Critelli

I learned on Thursday, June 23, 2022, that Dee Edington, the Director of the University of Michigan Health Management Research Center, died on June 22, 2022 at age 84. His impact is not adequately capturable in a recounting of his credentials, his accomplishments or even the words he committed to paper in his many publications. 

Dee believed that optimal health in all its dimensions was achievable and particularly understood that achieving health and wellbeing in any population was never primarily about healthcare or affordable health insurance. He focused on employers because he recognized that they have the greatest economic and business interest in the health and wellbeing of their employees. 

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