Our commitment to nourishing wellbeing begins with our own Associates. Healthy and fully energized Associates have the stamina, resilience and focus they need to achieve their goals and to fuel our shared Purpose.
Mars Be Well
“Mars Be Well,” our Associate Health and Wellbeing program, is a long-term, holistic and evidence-based investment to build a stronger culture of wellness in our business. Our aim is to create work environments that make the healthy and energizing choice the easiest choice.
“Mars Be Well” includes targeted investment in four areas:
- Adopting and embedding healthy leadership practices
- Fostering resilient and energized Associates
- Deploying high-value health benefits
- Creating healthy and safe workplaces
To drive progress, we are deploying 10 essential, evidence-based elements of a sustainably healthy culture to Mars worksites worldwide:
- Healthy leadership practices
- Healthy facility design
- Movement and exercise solutions
- Healthy nutrition
- Preventive care
- Mental health services
- Smoking cessation
- Tobacco control
- Travel health program
- Occupational health program
We assess each of our worksites annually, with the highest achieving locations recognized as a “Mars Certified Healthy Worksite.” We track the impact of the “Mars Be Well” program through three global health vital signs:
- Nourish. Measures progress toward establishing a site culture that makes the healthy and energizing choice the easiest choice.
- Energize. Tracks our progress toward helping Associates have the energy to engage in what matters most, at work and at home.
- Thrive. Monitors the health status of our Associate populations in order to reduce risk factors for chronic disease, adding energy to days and years to life.
Mars set a global goal for the Nourish metric — that 95% of our large sites (of more than 100 Associates) will have a healthy, energizing culture in place by 2023. Additionally, Mars committed to monitor the impact of our investments in our Associates’ energy and health against yearly targets for Energize and Thrive in an enterprise Associate Health & Wellbeing scorecard. We use these insights to establish good practices worldwide and target areas for improvement.
Veterinarian wellbeing
We recognize the wellbeing needs of our Associates differ across our businesses.
Depression and suicide can be especially challenging for veterinarians. A 2019 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that 1 in 6 veterinarians have considered suicide. To help address this, Mars launched a suicide prevention training, called ASK, or Assess, Support, Know. This first-of-its-kind program in the veterinary profession is designed to help Associates recognize and address emotional distress and suicidal thoughts in others. In addition, maintaining good mental health can be challenged by financial concerns – with many veterinarians in North America taking on significant debt as well as suffering from compassion fatigue. Mars pioneered a student debt relief program, currently offered across Banfield® Pet Hospitals. Mars also is committed to ensuring Associates across our veterinary health businesses receive a competitive compensation as part of a competitive and attractive total rewards package.
