Mindbody Builds Be Well Wellness Program With Benepass

Background

Mindbody is a global software-as-a-service company that provides cloud-based online scheduling and other business management software for the wellness services industry. Mindbody helps people lead healthier, happier lives by connecting the world to wellness.

A broader meaning of wellness 

“Benepass really fits nicely in that gap between what's medically necessary and what someone individually needs for their wellness.” – Mia Valunte, Benefits Manager 

‍Employees today are looking for more than just “meat and potatoes” health benefits, as Mia Valunte, Benefits Manager at Mindbody, says. Benepass acts as a secondary layer to help Mindbody accomplish more than they could with a medical plan alone. Mindbody is committed to supporting employees’ seven dimensions of wellness: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, environmental, social, and occupational. Someone who struggles with mental health may find it challenging to take care of themselves. Likewise, someone who struggles to pay off student loan debts every month may not have the extra funds to join a gym or buy healthy foods. 

‍Mindbody built a wellness perk program (Be Well and Be Well PT for global part-time employees) that allows the company to support a wider set of wellness needs. The program is a non-salaried allowance that employees can use according to their personal preferences. Unlike flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs), perks programs are fully funded by the employer, and categories are defined as they wish. 

Building a flexible wellness program

‍Today, eligible team members receive a pre-loaded virtual Visa card to use directly for spending. Utilizing Benepass’s capabilities for enhanced customization, the monthly amount is based on country of residence and considers currency rates, buying power, and ease of team members’ use. Funds are not spent until employees actually make a purchase, giving Mindbody the opportunity to incur cost savings while still offering 100% of the benefit. Unused funds roll over for one month and are added to the total available funds for the following month, with accounts being capped at a maximum of two months of the total benefit. 

‍Benepass has a comprehensive “Explore” page and suggestions for how to spend the Be Well benefit. Mindbody knows that wellness is different for each individual and allow employees to spend their funds on: 

• Exercise: classes, gym memberships, trainers, outdoor sports, leagues, race fees, gear and equipment 
• Mental health: therapy and counseling, apps, coaching, relationship therapy  
• Mindfulness: Meditation, apps  
• Productivity and focus: Apps, cognitive training  
• Spa and salon

The wide variety of options was a welcome change for employees, but it took some getting used to. “We had to rewire people a bit to understand that it’s okay to spend money on themselves,” Mia said. Eligible items even include tattoos, music lessons, aromatherapy, vitamins and supplements, diet consultations, and outdoor activities like fishing or target shooting. 

Mindbody also built time into their calendar to make sure that employees were taking advantage of wellness benefits. “In the summer, we added company-wide holidays called Wellness Days to act as a good reminder to use your Benepass dollars,” Mia said.  

Mindbody plans to continue building out its wellness categories to suit the needs of its growing workforce. The ability to scale quickly has also allowed Mindbody to extend the benefit to other groups, like summer interns, who did not previously receive a health benefit. 

Investing in a seamless employee experience

“Benepass allowed us to close the gap between ‘meat and potatoes’ benefits like health insurance and offer a new self-care component.” – Mia Valunte, Benefits Manager

‍The key to improving employee engagement in a wellness program is making things as easy and seamless as possible. No busy individual wants to take the extra time out of their day for training on an entirely new system. With Benepass, employees simply need to download the app to check their available funds and categories in the portal at any time. In addition, reimbursements are not required in the U.S., allowing employees to save time on expense reports. Employees are far more likely to use funds and be engaged in a program when they are not required to front the funds. With Benepass, Mindbody has seen engagement steadily increase since implementation to an 89% cumulative engagement rate. 

Mindbody sees Benepass as a true partner in their employee wellness journey. With a 100% CSAT score for Benepass support, employee questions are answered quickly and thoroughly. This was especially critical during Mindbody’s recent acquisition of ClassPass. Working together, Benepass and Mindbody were able to quickly share the new benefit with these additional team members and help them feel at home. 

Key results

“I just love that Benepass is so flexible. I feel like everybody with Benepass has been great partners, from customer service to our account support.” – Mia Valunte, Benefits Manager

• Benefits aligned with company mission: With Benepass, Mindbody built an enhanced wellness program to offer employees the individualized care they deserve. 
• Increased flexibility: Giving employees more choice in how they use their wellness dollars has led to higher engagement and satisfaction. 
• Room to grow: The Benepass platform can easily scale to add new regions or categories to the wellness program or even to build out new perks programs entirely. ‍
• A partnership approach: The Benepass team serves as a true partner to Mindbody by maintaining a seamless communication experience and providing the guidance needed to create a top-tier wellness program.