An Interview with Jake Adams, founder of wellspace

• Tell me a bit about your background and where the idea behind wellspace came from?

For the last ten years I’ve been involved in a plethora of start-ups from sustainable energy to events management. I’ve always been conscious of the need to take care of employee’s health and wellbeing and how critical it is to sustain success. I saw an opportunity to combine intelligent technologies with the delivery of quality wellness service and training. The ultimate result is a bespoke, comprehensive corporate wellbeing solution.

• What are the main functions of wellspace?

Wellspace offers a proactive and comprehensive corporate wellness programme. Our software delivers clear cut and measurable results via an online portal and mobile app. This allows companies to manage their employee health and monitor their return on investment simultaneously. Utilising secure data collection, storage and modern analytics, wellspace will conduct specifically tailored:

1. Wellbeing workshops
2. Staff Training sessions
3. Health and Wellbeing events

On a regular basis. Employees will have greater engagement, the facility to share wellbeing knowledge and direct access to support.

• Why do you feel wellness should be a priority in business environments?

I’ll answer this one by reeling off a few stats:

1. Less than 10% of UK organisations have a standalone wellbeing strategy supporting the wider organisational strategy
2. 300,000 people with long term mental health issues lose their job each year
3. Poor mental health costs employers between £33 billion and £43 billion per year, with an annual cost to the UK economy of between £74 billion and £99 billion
4. The ROI of workplace mental health interventions is overwhelmingly positive. The average return per £1 spent was £4.20 (with a range between 40p and £9) and this has been supported by academic literature.
5. 507,000 workers suffer from work related musculoskeletal disorders (new or long standing) in 2016/2017
6. 9 million working days lost due to work related musculoskeletal disorders in 2016/2017

These are just a few of the reasons why I feel wellness should be a priority, and so should everybody.

• How is wellspace different to other corporate wellness systems we see in the market?

wellspace is the first organisation offering a comprehensive turn-key wellness solution for businesses. It will provide everything from the software in the form of a smartphone application, optional wearable technology, an online portal with reports and trends on company wellness as well as rewards for engagement and an extensive expert training workshop programme tailored from the data and feedback gathered from staff.

• What are your favourite features in the app and portal?

The design is really slick, so it’s easy to navigate and clear to understand. I really like the “how are you feeling?” feature, a quick daily score on how you’re feeling – whether that’s stressed, tired, happy or ecstatic! The portal is really clever too, you can easily see your company wellness and performance at an aggregate level with intelligent graphs. Also, as an individual, you can see your performance and improvement over time, as well as access to the extensive training materials.

• How customizable is the software to a company’s individual needs?

wellspace has been designed to learn which areas an organisation is strongest in and encourage these metrics, as well as support the areas for improvement. Identifying problem areas will help wellspace tailor improvement packages to address items specific to that company. This will lead to improved outcomes compared with the “cookie cutter” “One-size-fits-all” approach of others operating in the wellness space.

• How long does the implementation phase take and what does this look like?

1. Warm up and onboarding – Week 1 – 4 (4 weeks)
2. Product training – Week 4 – 5 (1 week)
3. Workshops every month (12 months)
4. Progress reports anytime from the portal, detailed reports every 3 months, 12 -month full analysis report

• How would you suggest managers ensure employees stay engaged with the programme?

We offer a detailed warm-up and on-boarding process over the first month of Wellspace. During this time we will pass on key information to staff about the benefits of the system and health and wellbeing in general. Participation in the program is gamified and rewarded. In return, participants get something back when they engage with the wellspace system. Whether that is hitting their baseline health targets each day, recording their happiness and sleep score, or attending our tailored workshops. Personal tracking keeps staff engaged with the system as they can monitor their health and wellbeing on an ongoing basis.

• How would you suggest managers use the data correctly to make decisions?

This is about improving the health of your workforce, not about discouraging staff for not hitting targets. The system and data must be used securely and responsibly. We hope Wellspace can help to deliver a more inclusive, flexible and healthy place to work.

• How do you protect employee privacy?

User data is recorded anonymously and protected under the GDPR regulations for data protection. Wellspace produces an aggregated view of company health, and an opportunity to have visibility on general trends in absence, retention and productivity across a business.

• Are there any other aspects of wellspace we should know about?

We are looking to partner with more and more reward brands to provide incentives for engagement. We want to encourage people as much as possible to help us achieve our ultimate goal: To create a happier and healthy workplace for all.

• Can I book a free trial?

Of course! Let me get you set up now!