Employee wellbeing has always been important and a strategic priority at Bayer, in line with our company’s purpose “Science for a better life”. The past two years, though, the importance of focusing on the life experience of our employees has been underscored in unexpected ways. A holistic view on mental / emotional, social, physical, and financial wellness is now in the center of Bayer Hellas’s employee wellbeing strategy. We also want to understand the diverse needs of our employees and for that reason we conduct wellbeing focused pulse employee surveys. Therefore, our BeWell@Bayer program is tailored to the real needs and priorities of our employees offering a great variety of pioneering initiatives, easy-to-use tools and on-demand resources.

Some of the focus areas of our BeWell@Bayer program are:

Social wellbeing
In times of social distancing, the craving for a sense of belonging has never been stronger. We created the platform and the opportunities for our employees to stay connected and to virtually interact daily through dedicated channels and communities where they can exchange and share their experiences and challenges.
Mental & emotional wellbeing
We offer 24/7 psychological support through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). We organize monthly interactive discussions with psychologists on various topics such as managing the new normal, resilience, positive psychology, work-life harmonization, stress management. We offered resilience trainings with the use of mindfulness techniques and access to mobile app that empowers our employees to manage stress and uncertainty in their daily routine. Leadership development is essential in promoting wellness culture, and in identifying and managing behavioral risks at the workplace related to emerging mental health issues such as anxiety, panic attacks and burnout.
Financial wellbeing
We offer personal financial planning workshops with expert advisors who support our employees to optimize their personal financial plan, learn how to avoid financial stress and strategies to gain the control of their finances.
Parenting classes
We organized dedicated classes with expert counselors to support parents navigate the challenges with kid’s pandemic well-being, home learning, but also with other common challenges, like setting healthy boundaries with children.
Smart working
We offered guides on various topics related to smart working under the new normal, like time management, planning and prioritization, management of virtual meetings and emails, as well as an etiquette with actions on how to individually and collectively develop a healthier virtual meeting culture.
Physical wellbeing
We offered unlimited access to digital personal wellness platform with videos on demand, on a variety of physical wellness programs with top coaches. We offered home ergonomics, chair stretching, nutritional workshops, sessions about the importance of sleep and other behaviors that remove physical stress.

Our initiatives overall have been embraced by our employees with great enthusiasm, appreciation and high satisfaction rates (>4.5/5, >80% NPS). BeWell@Bayer program gives our employees the opportunity to achieve their professional and personal aspirations, creating a balance that leaves them feeling happy, healthy, and successful!