- What has led you to develop the “online” part of your company?

E.M.: Our main target is multinational or major companies that are geographically dispersed throughout a country and Europe. This dispersion hinders and raises the costs of implementing an in-situ project for all the workers. And, at the same time, there is no tool on the market that specializes in in measuring, managing and evaluating the impact of these programmes for the company. That’s why for more than a year we have been working on the design of the Bihealth platform, which facilitates implementing projects on a country-wide scale. It also allows us to automatically control the impact generated in the economics and aspects of prevention, of engagement through health and supportive challenges and the evolution of employees’ health through new technologies, such as bracelets or apps. Therefore, it is a health manager for workers and at the same time a scorecard and business health manager for the company, and it is totally linked with face-to-face training.

- On what is your methodology to improve business health based?

E.M.: Our methodology is based on an initial diagnosis that allows us to assess what the real needs of the company and its employees are; then we perform the strategic planning together with the company and execute an action plan for awareness-raising, training and intervention to improve certain aspects, such as cardiovascular risk, musculoskeletal disorders and stress. At the end, we assess the impact and establish monitoring with company management because it is a continuous improvement process. With the BiWel methodology we have demonstrated that if we implement physical exercise programmes in working hours, we can save up to 50 euros/employee/year.

- Is there a lot of room for improvement in the field of health in the workplace?

E.M./M.V.: Indeed. We understand health in the workplace as defined by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, that is to say, an organization that comprehensively deals with the welfare, safety and health of its human capital, taking into account the different aspects of health (physical, mental and social), the various models determining health and the impact it has on the community; therefore, from a transversal viewpoint. Many companies comply with the law on the prevention of occupational hazards, which is very important, but they need to go a step further towards promoting health to be absolutely effective in the implementation of preventive programmes and take care of the three dimensions of health. On a European scale we are a long way behind in these measures, there is a lot of room for growth, and we at BiWel want to grow with it.

- Are businesses and institutions becoming more sensitive to the well-being of their employees?

E.M/M.V.: Especially large enterprises and multinational corporations, with vast experience in the international arena, but it is still a long way off for most medium-sized and small businesses. It is true that organizations are increasingly aware, but culturally the concept of “healthy company”, approached transversally and continuously over time, is still pretty far off in our country. In many companies, specific actions are carried out and they are very well received by employees and have a positive impact in terms of health, but they have no continuity. We are working on this aspect. We still have a culture that gives priority to obtaining “short-term” results.

How can employee satisfaction and involvement be improved?

E.M.: There are many aspects that influence, but one of the most important is to understand the corporate culture, that’s the most important thing to bear in mind when performing an initial diagnosis. This is where the satisfaction and the involvement of the majority of workers come from. If this understanding is good, it satisfies the intrinsic and extrinsic needs of the person, many of the projects that help you to improve and grow as a person/employee laid on by the company will be positively received by the worker.

M.V.: We need to be really aware of the workers’ needs, and even their motivations, before implementing a certain action. For example, if we find a company that has a high percentage of sedentary workers and to promote their well-being we only offer them the chance to participate in races or sporting events, it will be extremely difficult to be successful and involve the majority of the group.

-Do we spend too many hours at work?

E.M./M.V.: We personally think we do. In Sweden it has been shown that with shorter working days productivity increased and sick leave decreased, without assessing the impact at the level of employee satisfaction and health. But we must take the country’s culture into account, and one thing is linked with the other: it is difficult to establish a European timetable if most of your customers don’t stick to one. This is a challenge for we new generations to solve.

- What are your goals in the medium and long term?

E.M.: To become firmly established as the benchmark company in the implementation of programmes to improve health in the workplace nationwide, to get involved in new studies in conjunction with universities and/or other entities, and to explore new opportunities in the international arena. At the same time, to train future professionals specialized in this new future challenge and to seek new win-win strategic alliances that promote and offer solutions for creation and transformation towards healthy companies. We want to offer tools that help improve the health of and healthy habits among the population.