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A Holistic Approach to Employee Wellness

Gratitude, faith, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) helped Molly Billings, director of HR operations at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska (BCBSNE), through the loss of her mom in September of 2022.

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When her mom passed away, Billings immediately reached out to the EAP offered to BCBSNE employees. The program offers short-term counseling at no cost to employees going through difficult life events. Gratitude and writing daily affirmations were skills Billings learned during the 11 years she spent at Creighton University before coming to BCBSNE. “Grief is a tough subject, but thinking and writing down the moments I’m grateful for helps,” Billings said.

In addition to using BCBSNE’s EAP and the skills she learned while at Creighton, Billings credits her faith and three pillars of well-being in helping her through the loss of her mom and keeping her on a path to better mental health. “The foundation of my well-being is my faith,” says Billings. “Beyond my foundation, I focus on nutrition, sleep, and movement.”

Guiding Billings and other BCBSNE employees are five pillars that make up the company’s wellness program: physical, financial, career, community, and emotional. These pillars kept Team Blue engaged and active during COVID-19 and continue to promote health and wellness in a hybrid work environment. “With so many employees working from home, we use Microsoft’s SharePoint to keep communication flowing and the Vitality app to promote fitness and host a variety of classes on mental health,” Billings said.

Vitality is a health resource BCBSNE offers to employees. The platform encourages users to log their physical activity to earn points toward rewards like gift cards and smart watches. In addition, Vitality can assess a user’s mental well-being and suggest classes or resources within the platform to help them grow.

“I love being at BCBSNE and watching as we embrace how the world is changing and use new technologies to help our employees and our customers,” Billings said. “We try and think about the whole person and not just the person we see at work.” Work-life balance is an important part of the culture at BCBSNE. “I know that if an email comes through at night, I can leave it until the next day,” Billings said. “We want people to come to BCBSNE and stay because they know we value them as a person.”

A holistic approach to well-being is key to a happy and productive workforce, and BCBSNE continues to prioritize wellness regardless of work location.

Vitality Health is an independent company providing workplace wellness services for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

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