A Case for Enterprise-Level Benefits for All—Yes, Even Small Teams

This article comes from a Peloton For Business partner Justworks, an HR technology company on a mission to help entrepreneurs and businesses grow with confidence. 

Building a mental wellness offering for your team? Consider how your fitness benefits factor in.

Small and growing companies often struggle to attract and retain talent, and being able to offer the physical and mental health benefits that employees want can be expensive. Corporations and large companies have an easier time accessing top-tier benefits and perks to keep their teams happy and healthy. At Justworks, we believe every team deserves the best—even small ones.

We're on a mission to level the playing field for small businesses. We help them access important employee benefits for less and upgrade to richer offerings. It's why we offer our customers access to the Peloton benefit, meaning it's within reach even for small businesses and their teams. Enterprise-level benefits like Peloton are so helpful for these employers, especially as they grow and bring on more talent. 

It's easy to think of fitness memberships as perks, or "nice-to-have" additions to your team's benefit package. But looking at it through the lens of mental well-being helps reframe the conversation—and justify the spend. Let's dive into how thinking about Peloton as a part of your mental wellness offering shows an added value you might have overlooked.

Peloton as a Key Component of Your Overall Wellness Offering

When it comes to creating a robust health and wellness offering for your team, the first thing employers and benefits leaders tend to think of is health insurance. We should know—at Justworks, our HR solutions help more than 10,000 small businesses access health insurance for their teams. In today's world of work, this is table stakes: 83 percent of American workers say that employer-sponsored health insurance is "extremely important" to them. 

That said, it's crucial for employers to think beyond health insurance and consider a more holistic view. Your employees' mental health plays a vital role in their overall well-being and should also be factored into your benefits offering. There are many different ways to support this, and ideas like therapy and telehealth often come to mind—to be sure, the health insurance plans you offer definitely matter here. 

But it's helpful to remember that there are other benefits and perks employers can provide to have a positive impact on your team's mental well-being. One area to explore is the fitness and wellness offering you provide your employees. Peloton is a great option because there's so much beyond the Peloton Bike.

Exercise, Meditation, and Mental Well-being

The connection between exercise and mental health is a biggie. Most of us have first-hand experience of that post-workout endorphin boost, and plenty of studies show how it impacts our minds. Exercise can help to improve sleep, relieve stress, and improve mood—all things that can lead to better mental wellness. Aerobic exercise in particular (think jogging, cycling, and swimming) has been found to ease symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Some wellness memberships, including Peloton, also provide meditation options—another beneficial practice for mental health. Meditation has been found to reduce stress as well as decrease anxiety and depression. For people who are new to meditation, a guided practice can be a helpful introduction and a way to learn and build the habit.

Physical exercise and mindful meditation both clearly have a positive impact on mental wellness. As an employer, offering a fitness benefit shows your team that you prioritize and support their mental well-being and performance—both in work and in life. When it comes to your employer brand, this holds a lot of value for recruitment and retention.

The Importance of Building Community

Another way you can think about supporting your employees' mental well-being is through the lens of community. People who have a positive sense of community are less likely to report symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. Humans are ultimately social creatures, and isolation can have detrimental effects on our mental health.

Sure, your employees are all part of their community of coworkers, but you can help foster additional communities within your organization that are tied to wellness. This can be especially helpful if you have a remote or hybrid team that doesn't get as much (or any) time to connect in person, since Peloton's offerings are available nationally. 

One easy idea is to set up a Slack group for Peloton users where people can engage with each other about their favorite classes, set up team classes, or organize fitness challenges. These bonds can also be helpful for the overall health of the business as team members build bridges across departments and foster better communication and collaboration. There's so much potential for the win-win-win!

Even beyond boosting workplace engagement, this benefit can enable employees to find their own communities outside of work, too. Through tags and Peloton’s Leaderboard, your employees can connect with other like-minded people in the Peloton’s Member community, which includes millions around the world. It might just lead to new connections and community-building you never predicted.

A Benefit That Brings Everyone In

Of course, when it comes to benefits, the more people that use them, the more successful they are. Whether you offer Peloton as a fitness benefit or part of your mental wellness offering, the barrier to entry is low. Peloton is for everybody, from the most seasoned athlete to the beginner who prefers to work out in the privacy of their own home. Given its accessibility, it's a great option for teams of all kinds.

The more employees who opt-in, the more people can gain the benefits to their mental wellness. Peloton can be an easy first step for people who want to dip their toes into a meditation practice or to implement a new fitness or wellness habit that can benefit their stress levels. It can be the entry point for your team to move into the mental wellness space with less stigma and more inclusivity.

Upgrade Your Business's Benefits

There are many ways a fitness and wellness benefit can support your team, including through positive impacts on their mental well-being. Prioritizing your team's mental health and wellness is a great way to attract and retain top talent, and build a strong workplace culture and community.

Offering an enterprise-level benefit like Peloton isn't out of reach, even for small businesses. Accessing Peloton through Justworks can make this benefit attainable for almost any startup or growing company.

Interested in bringing Peloton to your small business? Visit Justworks to learn more.