Well-Being at TD – Sponsored by TD
If the decade of the 2020s were to have a theme the word might just be "resilience"! We are only three years in. and it’s been a rollercoaster – social unrest, the pandemic, climate change, and geopolitical conflicts have all contributed to a pretty rough start and more than a few challenges for individuals, organizations and the global community.
But rather than let these events defeat us, what many of us are learning is that by taking care of one another we can survive, and actually thrive, amid the unrest and unknown. And organizations are learning too, that by taking care of their people they can build workplace resilience, which is essential to a high performance culture where employees are able to adapt and innovate and excel.
Resilience is the ability to adapt quickly during times of stress and pressure and people who are resilient tend to:
- View the world through a mainly positive lens
- Handle difficult situations with relative ease
- Not let negative emotions overwhelm them during times of stress
In the workplace this means more effective change management, improved productivity, more positive leadership, reduced absenteeism and higher morale.
One of the key ways organizations build resilience amongst their people is by making employee well-being a priority. And one organization doing this is TD Bank Group.
Culture of Care at TD
At TD, they understand the relationship between well-being and overall success and have made this a critical input for their business. As part of their strategic approach to caring for employees, TD recognizes well-being has evolved to encompass a holistic approach that includes physical, mental, financial and social well-being to support overall health and resilience.
Ultimately, creating a well-being program that addresses the multidimensional nature of well-being improves employees’ ability to manage and maintain their health for optimal performance in the long term and help them lead happier and more satisfied lives. Here are some of the ways TD encourages total well-being, enabling their people to take control of their health and build their resilience.
Physical Well-being
Physical well-being is a cornerstone of overall wellness, and providing solid benefit coverage goes a long way toward alleviating stress.
TD provides comprehensive benefits along with tools and resources that make taking care of employees' needs and the needs of their family easy and straightforward. This includes flexible benefits coverage as well as spending accounts that can be customized according to the services most needed.
Their well-being app gives employees 24/7 access to a wide range of services, credible well-being content, discount programs and lifestyle challenges through an interactive and convenient app interface. The app connects to the TD Employee & Family Assistance Program, with access to counselors, nutritionists, naturopaths, health coaches, financial advisors, legal advisors, and more.
Mental Well-being
Mental well-being is fundamental to overall health and is key to building a resilient and emotionally healthy workforce. There are so many sources of stress and pressure in the modern world, and no one is immune to their effects. Thankfully, we as a society, are starting to understand the keys to mental wellness much better now and the whole subject of mental health and wellness has become more mainstream.
TD takes mental health support very seriously. They offer mental health coverage up to $5,000 per person per year for mental health practitioner benefit and 100% reimbursement of all eligible mental health expenses. They also expanded the list of eligible mental health practitioners to include psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, family therapists, marriage counsellors, registered clinical counsellors, occupational therapist psychotherapists and registered nurse psychotherapists.
Social Well-being
Encouraging supportive relationships at work is an often-missed element of well-being that is important to address. We spend a lot of time at work so it’s important that time is enjoyable. Feeling like you belong, that you are appreciated and knowing that you have people to lean on when you are having a bad day or need some assistance contributes significantly to overall well-being. The unwavering commitment to people and inclusivity at TD ensures their approach to social wellness is top tier.
The TD culture engages and inspires its people through genuine appreciation opportunities. Acknowledging one another for delivering great work is fundamental to how they work together. Appreciation is a defining characteristic of the caring culture at TD, and ties back to a fundamental human desire to be seen, valued and appreciated. Their integrated approach is part of all their interactions and includes both enterprise and business specific programs that encourage employees to bring their authentic selves to work. Showing appreciation is a great way to recognize the impact TD colleagues make for their customers, communities and fellow colleagues. Thanking people is simply part of their culture and this contributes to a solid sense of social well-being as employees know they are valued and appreciated.
Another core element of the TD culture is diversity and inclusion; it’s been a strategic priority for over a decade. Having a robust set of diversity practices ensures people feel supported for who they are and means they feel secure bringing their authentic selves to work. At TD, they also have a wide range of employee groups that connect people with similar backgrounds and experiences helping to make social connections at work. These relationships provide tremendous opportunities that help people collaborate, solve problems, and find opportunities – all keys to overall wellness and resiliency.
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During COVID-19, with most colleagues working remotely, senior executives encouraged their teams to build schedules that worked for their life and added messages to their signatures such as "My working day may not be your working day. Please do not feel obliged to reply to this email outside your normal working hours." |
Financial Well-being
Competition for talent is fierce and competitive compensation is a must-have in today’s workplace. Beyond the practicality of providing good wages for your people, recognizing that financial security contributes to overall well-being is vitally important. If people are worried about paying the bills, providing tuition assistance for their children, or planning for retirement, they won’t be optimally focused or productive at work. Mental space taken up with worry and stress is capacity that isn’t available to solve problems, make decisions, or handle conflict.
A recent study by LifeWorks shows that finances can be a major source of stress in society. TD recognizes that employees need to be empowered to achieve their financial goals, and that harnessing empowerment allows employees to gain control over their financial well-being. Employees are offered competitive financial programs, including a pension plan, a group savings plan, a share ownership plan with matching employer contributions, and discounts on services both in-house. Through its Financial Literacy Month and a Well-being Ambassador network, TD promotes webinars, tips, activities, and resources focused on empowering employees to make positive financial decisions.
By providing colleagues with strategies to feel more empowered and how to use them to support their mental, emotional, and financial well-being, TD employees are better able to set and achieve goals and manage life’s obstacles.
Employee Affinity Groups
Over 25,000 employees participate in diversity-related networks at TD. These networks provide online discussion forums, videos, and events to share stories that typically and historically have not been part of the workplace conversation.
From stories of mental health challenges, about being Black, Indigenous, Asian, or transgender, the openness of their people has inspired the global workforce at TD to provide feedback that helps shape their diversity and inclusion strategy.
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