Activity is a key focus of MyWellbeing and is promoted widely to the organisation’s employees. We encourage staff to access our on-site fitness centres and offer tax-efficient membership through MyBenefitChoices, our flexible benefits programme, in addition to discounted rates at off-site health clubs. More than two-thirds of our employees access the on-site facilities.
We also encourage staff to participate in a variety of on-site events. For example, in February this year we hosted a ‘Get with the programme’ event where we collaborated with our food services and fitness provider. The event was promoted widely across our UK sites and included promotional offers on healthy food items, advice from an expert nutritionist and free gym access for a limited period.
Employee engagement in this initiative was good, with more than 31% participation. It also created healthy competition among employees. We ran a survey during the event which identified that employees wanted to see more variety in healthy food options and calorific information, advice from an expert nutritionist, and free gym access for a limited period.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch also provides employees with access to a range of on-site health services, including general practitioners, nurses and a recent pilot of health screenings, which are used by about 50% of employees. Given many employees commute to the City each day and, therefore, can find it challenging to visit their local health centre, the range of flexible, on-site health services is very popular.
These are just some of the ways Bank of America Merrill Lynch supports its employees in improving and maintaining their physical wellbeing.
Jay Butler is health and wellbeing manager, UK, at Bank of America Merrill Lynch
