Mental Health and Wellness ‘Part of the Fabric’ at Qlik, Where Employees Thrive in a Compassionate Workplace

By

Qlik Chief People Officer
Image via Qlik.
As Qlik’s Chief People Officer, Ruthann Wry aims to help employees feel good about what they do at the company and encourage them to take care of themselves and their health.

Oct. 10 was World Mental Health Day, an occasion that Qlik, the data analytics firm based in King of Prussia, observes every year with several offerings for employees. Throughout the entire year, in fact, the company provides mental health and wellness support, which makes for healthier, happier, and more productive teams.

With more than 50,000 customers across the globe, Qlik is a values-driven organization that helps enterprises move faster and work smarter by providing end-to-end, multi-cloud data integration and analytics solutions.

As Qlik’s Chief People Officer, Ruthann Wry aims to help employees feel good about what they do at the company and encourage them to take care of themselves and their health, especially during these times of a pandemic.

“We see in the feedback from our employees that they really appreciate a company that cares about them,” said Wry. “And that’s what comes across loud and clear, especially when we see that 30 percent of job openings at Qlik are filled through Qlik employee referrals.” 

One way that Qlik recognized World Mental Health Day was with mental health webinars. One was given by Headspace, the global meditation and mindfulness leader whose digital resources Qlik provides to all its employees for free.

“We brought Headspace in recently, and it was phenomenal,” said Wry. “It was a reminder why meditation is important and how there are some things you can do during the day, even if it’s just a 30-second breathing exercise.”

Qlik sees mental health and wellness as a year-round challenge and plans accordingly.

“It’s not just a one-and-done thing,” said Wry. “Sure, we’re going to acknowledge World Mental Health Day, but our efforts go beyond that.”

This month, for example, employees will participate in the annual Qlik-Athlon, a six-week fitness challenge that benefits charitable organizations and includes both physical and mental activities for overall wellness.

“Teams are randomly assigned, and I’m with a group of people I’ve never met before, which is fun, because they’re all over the globe,” said Wry. “There are a number of ways you can get points for your team, which is mostly about staying active, but it goes beyond that. You can get points for doing things that are good for you, like watching your nutrition, making sure you’re getting eight hours of sleep, doing yoga, and gardening.”

While competing against other teams around the globe, donations will be made through Qlik.org, the company’s corporate responsibility platform.

“It just combines so many things that are really good for us,” said Wry. “And these things are part of our fabric at Qlik and always have been for as long as I’ve been here.”

Another part of Qlik’s focus on mental health is through a partnership with Modern Health, which provides emotional health support at all levels. Offerings include one-on-one personal coaching, clinical therapy, meditation tools, and a series of Circles, which are live, topic-based community sessions led by therapists and coaches.

“We like Modern Health because they leverage technology that people use every day,” said Wry. “You can download the app and navigate through it to access the level of care that you need, when you need it. You sign on to complete a quick assessment and Modern Health will connect you to a coach or therapist, whichever is appropriate. Or you can go to their website or contact them directly. It’s like going to an emergency room, having them triage what the patient needs, and directing that person to the right place.”

Other employee benefits throughout the year in support of mental health and well-being include giving everyone across the globe a day off for themselves for whatever they want to do, like attending a yoga class or reading a book. There is also a day for “giving back” when employees can donate their expertise to a cause that is meaningful to them.

All these efforts advance Qlik’s goal of building a compassionate workplace where employees can thrive.

“We take mental health seriously,” said Wry. “We can’t take our eye off the ball, and this is not something that should be handled in one day. It should be an ongoing effort to ensure the experiences we can provide our employees will help them manage the complexities of day-to-day life.”

Learn more about Qlik.

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