Hello, everyone and greetings to the amazing women tech community and all the bright women who these days participate in the conference and attend and speak. I'm Olha Boiko and I'm a VP of global employer branding and marketing at NMX.And frankly, I'm beyond talk to be here at the Women Tech Network conference to talk about one of my absolute favorite topics uh which is well being as a lifestyle for employees in tech and um as a leader who's all about keeping my team happy and healthy. I'm super excited to share my tips and tricks for making sure that team members feel their best, both on and off the clock. Um So ladies, um let's face it work can be a real track sometimes I know it and you know it and actually that's why it's more important than ever to prioritize well-being and to promote a healthy work life balance. Um I mean, like who wants to work for a company that doesn't care about the happiness, right? Um So in this speech, I'm going to spill the tea on how to create a workplace culture that puts well-being prompt and central, both for you, your teammates, your colleagues and your companies.

And um just once again, I'm super fun to be here and I'm just gonna wait to get into it with you all. So um just sit back, relax. Uh get ready to learn how to nail your well-being strategy as a leader in women in tech. And um just drop the line if you have any questions to me in the chat. Uh But first let me start by um introducing myself. Well, um I'm an active women tech network ambassador. And besides women in tech team, I'm also APR and communications professional and as a lifelong learning activist, I have recently got my diploma from the C IP Institute in the UK and the Employer Brandon College in Australia. And I'm keen on networking with my fellow professionals being a part of the Forbes Communications Council. So feel free to connect with me on linkedin if you have, if you need to consult on your communications strategy and activity. And like I said, uh in the beginning, I run employer branding at in a, as a vice president. Um Just a couple of words about the company to just to you to understand the background. Uh We are a global tech company and we have more than 800 people on board distributed globally in more than 10 countries. And when um your teammates join us, we know that they choose a lifestyle, not just a job.

And you may ask why So, um well, this has become our motto, choose a lifestyle, not a job. Uh due to specific company based approach that celebrates well-being and invests in, in place passions. Uh And actually this is exactly the case that I want to share with you in my speech and um to share with you this experience and knowledge so that we can learn and probably implement it in your daily life at your organizations. Well, um our employee well-being project is called in the club community here it is with the logo. Um And let me give you three facts on why it is success and why it is actually worth being an example for the well-being practices at your companies. Um So first and foremost, according to the feedback survey, 92% of in a club members confirmed that they got new well-being experience and skills and 80% confirmed they met like-minded teammates and found new friends due to in a club. Um Second is that well, basically implementing this practice has helped us satisfy our people and confirming this naenps rate has increased from 65 to 76% during a year. And last but not least um speak honors to my team with this project. We were rewarded with global professional recognition.

We have just received an honorable mention in the Reagans Employee Communication Award and we have also been selected as the finalist for the 50 Most Inspiring Workplaces Award this year. All due to our focus on well-being as a lifestyle. So um let's move for them. What is it about and how to approach well-being focus as a leader. Um Given that we are very limited in time, I'll frame it for you in five core pillars and we'll provide examples to each of it. Uh based on my experience, our experience is accompanying with building this in a club community. So let's go. Um The first pillar is um when approaching employee well-being and the well-being in your team as a leader, always start with research and find out what is the highest importance for your people. No matter the size of the team, you don't need a well-being activity that won't be appreciated by your people. If no one likes yoga, you shouldn't do it. So learn what people value, frame it to your organization's values and help your teammates thrive in this area. Let me bring you to the case more practically with the, in a case, we launched survey to identify in place well being needs hobbies and passions. And thus um our survey helped us focus on four main areas of well-being for our teams.

Um The um physical mental, social and financial well-being. These are like the main importance of well-being for our teams. And now the in the club that we have, it presents an umbrella concept. So it has a set of employee clubs and we actually call them communities and they include running football, mindfulness, table tennis, e-sports investment club. And more so within these four areas, sports communities cover physical well-being. The mindfulness community helps support mental well-being with its psychological support sessions, meditation courses and conversation meetups. And the investment community provides guidance for financial well-being. And of course like all together they have great positive impact um and social well-being, the first element, right?

Helping make new friends and communicate with the like-minded people. Um And all these employees, clubs are not just random choices. That's why I was saying about that in the well-being practice, you should learn what people value the most. They are all built due to initiative from the people.

Um Let's say you have at least 10 employees who are unit by one session. This means they can start a club to support their meetups, trainings, workshops and where they need to succeed in their activity. And what's most important here, focus on the grassroots approach is essential.

Um Meaning each team member can initiate their own community and develop a club of interest with like-minded teammates receiving organizational and financial support from the company. This is exactly the approach that brought us to significant results and enhancement in the well-being of our teams.

Well, you may ask why involve employees to decision making that much? Um Well, it's very simple because having community roles occupied by employees, not third parties help showcase inspiring leadership and engage peers more actively. And this is of highest importance for arts as leaders and especially as women and tacks. OK. Um Let's move to the second pillar. So to create a real employee well-being lifestyle, don't suggest runoff activities, but use a systematic approach and build a constant program. What does it mean?

Um Well, we often hear about wellness months, right, or some kind of mindfulness weeks at various companies. And um personally, I tend to see these as sometimes randomly suggested activities that do not include the story behind them. Well, you all know, right, that storytelling is the game changer for any activity and for well-being as well. And if you as a leader want to prioritize the well-being for your team, make it a real interactive and engaging experience, great story uh to bring it to real life. Here's what we did to build the system first, incorporate well-being into company policies. You can initiate actually, you can stand up with this idea, create a manifesto, a community leaders guide uh well-being community members handbook. All these are support materials for growing and developing each well-being community and each initiative inside its communities. Second, introduce community leaders system strategy with budget owning and decision making process also be agreed with the community leaders responsible for each community.

This is how you actually involve team members in growing this initiative and making it happen and leaving it in the real life, not just having it somewhere on the paper on the website. And by involving employees in the program design and implementation. You just make them feel a sense of ownership and engagement which will lead to greater success. And the third point, right, development plans for each community make it serious, don't just have a one off webinar. Um And by the way, we also have personal development plans for community members available upon request. So, um it's really vital to think of well being as an integral part of your team members day, not just a one off webinar on the set. And um for example, at, in, we wanted in a club, this community based approach to be personalized. That's why we have various communities and integrated into day to day life. And that's why well-being community meetups, workouts and events are a part of daily life of our people.

Um To give you an example, you can have um yoga in the morning, let's say a public speaking training in the afternoon. Um And, and your working day having a mobility workout or attending an investment webinar, that's how it works. That's the way. Um Now let's move to the third pillar just to remind we have five of them. So we are somewhere in the middle. Uh And for me, this pillar is about involving senior leadership and working with informal leaders in your organization. So like as a leader, you can't do this alone, right? You need to support us and they should be the leaders as well and to make well being happen, you need to your people to believe and people believe those whom they trust, right? The point here is that leaders who prioritize their own physical and mental health serve as role models for their teams and create a culture of health that promotes well-being. So by leading, by example, leaders can create a supportive work environment and encourage employees to be part of the program. So which is why when you are a leader, the first example for your team members should be you. Um Let's take example from my com company, for example, at in we have a great ceo involvement from the onboarding video where he welcomes newcomers and suggests joining in a club to his talk leadership where he speaks of a community based approach philosophy.

This all makes feel the atmosphere of well being focused of the company and helps get people involved. And um the other part besides that is working with informal leaders in the organization that can also be powerful way for you to promote well-being. Um Actually, these are individuals who may not hold formal position but have significant influence over their colleagues. Probably you are one of those as well. And by identifying and engaging with these individuals, you can leverage the influence to promote the importance of well-being through the organization. OK.

Um Just let me briefly share an example on how you can involve them. OK. Uh Let's say you could provide them with training and resources to help them become advocates for well-being and encourage them to share their own experience with their colleagues. And leading by example, here is significant important. So senior leaders should prioritize their own well-being. Like I said, such as taking regular breaks, practicing mindfulness or engaging in physical activity during the world days. This can set an example for others to follow and help to create a culture that values well-being. Now let's um move to the next point. The first one, this pillar for me is about creating Gamification that will boost motivation and make participate in well-being activities is fun and actually, you can use it as a springboard for socializing with the teammates. Um an opportunity to spend your time in general.

Well being activity is great, of course, and we appreciate it, right? But we don't want this to become a routine. And here GM makes well being fun and enjoyable. Um At innovate, we implemented in a club in our corporate ambassadors program and allowing employers to gain points for the active team which can be exchanged for gifts. The gifts are special, let's say this could be sweb drops and recognition elements for being an active community member and um for completing challenges in the community for attending meetups, et cetera. Um And this helps you celebrate and recognize individuals and teams who demonstrate a commitment to well-being.

Basically, it can help to reinforce the importance of the well-being initiative. And this can be also done through public recognition, rewards and incentives or other forms of acknowledgment relevant to your organization. So this is what actually helped us a lot to bring attention to the well-being program and to involve more teammates to join the well-being initiative. Um Now moving to the last part, at least not last. Um The fifth pillar is for building your well-being strategy and it is all about communication. Yes, of course, you should craft the communication strategy properly. Um Here, I don't want to deep dive into theory. We are very limited time. Instead, I'd like to bring you some real life examples of tools that we use to make the well-being initiative visible and understood. First, we developed designed and launched an internal activity platform called life Board. It gives employees easy access to information community meeting schedule.

Um All the events, registration to stay connected and informed about what's happening in terms of the well-being initiative. So this is easy access to the information. Um Also group chats were created for every community. So this helps communicate easily inside each club and ensures peer support, which is very important. Thus, you are never alone on your well-being journey. You can discuss your progress issues and success with other people in the community. And um additionally, what is also important is interviewing people to share feedback which can be used for your external communication. Um So basically, these are the key to keep uh communication an ongoing process and also include social proof so that teammates be see the real life examples and they feel that you and senior leadership in the company are their role models to follow and to be inspired. Um Well, I think I briefly covered the five main pillars from my experience and from the experience of innovate as the company on bringing the well-being initiative to be the priority for the teammates. And um you know, to me well-being and happiness as a corporate strategy has proved itself, especially during the hard times, just as we thought that the pandemic and all the accompanying troubles were the worst spot. The full scale war came to our homes in Ukraine.

And that's when the innova place in Ukraine faced yet another task to reinvent their lifestyle and actually the perception of happiness and balance. And we came to realize that the concept of well-being is not about ourselves as individuals and it cannot be achieved alone. And instead of challenging the effort to self-care, we decided to take care of each other and focus on a sense of belonging or happy or struggling we do together. And as a Ukrainian myself, I urge you to stand with Ukraine and help as much as you can. The NATO funds spread the information about the full skill invasion and Russia as a terrorist state. And always remember that while some people are trying to reach their work life balance. Ukrainians and Ukrainian women in tech are surviving their war, work balance with bravery and dignity.

So, thank you all for joining me today. This was my 20 minutes slot for inspiring you to build well-being initiatives at your teams and at your companies. And um thank you for having me. I hope you enjoyed the content and I hope you find some valuable insights for your well-being strategy and leadership. Stay committed uh to well-being and connect with me on linkedin. Thank you so much. It was my pleasure to talk to you. If any questions I'm available in the community, I'm available on linkedin and uh let well being, it really saves our health and it helps to be productive. I have proven this on myself. Thanks again. Thank you so much. Good Viol.