How can you give your team the benefits they really want?

Great leaders know, a happy team is a healthy team. But common “employee wellness” initiatives often miss the mark. For example, say you establish a soccer team for your company - some of your employees will be eager to lace up their running shoes, but we guarantee that just as many would rather do anything else.

When it comes to employee benefits, a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work. Some might want to sweat it out at the gym, some might want to unwind with a massage, some might want time for quiet meditation… The list goes on and on. 

But offering every single one of your employees a tailored wellbeing program would be a full time job, right? Not if you’re offering wellbeing budgets facilitated by employee cards. 

Airwallex virtual cards are easy to issue and manage, they unlock endless options for your team, and the results can be amazing. Let’s explore how they can transform your employee experience, and easily give your team the benefits they really want (and deserve!).

What are the real impacts of employee wellbeing benefits?

New Zealand employees need a helping hand when it comes to their wellbeing. According to the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, one in four New Zealand workers are flourishing, yet one in five have reported always or often being stressed at work. 

To reduce and avoid mental stress, employers can help their team maintain work life balance. Through offering employee wellbeing benefits, employers can see a high retention rate and allow individual team members to show up to work with more motivation to drive business value. 

The numbers don’t lie. According to WorkSafe 

• 84% of workplaces agreed staff wellbeing initiatives contributed to the retention of high- performing employees

• Workplace health promotion programs decrease sick leave absenteeism by 25.3% 

• Employees save $5.81 for every $1 invested in employee health and wellbeing

In short, the benefits are mutual and powerful for your team and for you. 

How can you set up wellbeing budgets and cards for your team?

Setting up employee wellbeing budgets shouldn’t be complex or stressful, that would be counterproductive!

Employee cards - virtual or physical - are the easiest and best way to give your team their wellbeing budget. With Airwallex’s Issuing capabilities, you can issue cards in seconds, set a fixed or recurring budget, and set a category of spending. 

Before you start, you need to have a global business account with us (it’s quick and easy to sign up, it’s your gateway to Cards plus all of our amazing business account features!). Our accounts team can help you enable Cards, and then you just need to pop money in your Airwallex wallet - the centralised location that will fund your wellbeing budgets. You’re now ready to set up your first employee card!

Step 1: Create a Card Holder

Use your employee’s details - legal name, email address, home address - to assign them as a card holder. 

Need to create cards en masse? Your employee can also complete this step themselves. 

Step 2: Create an Individual Card

Now you can create the card itself. This is where you select whether you want to issue a physical or virtual card.

Personally, we love virtual cards - which can be issued instantly and have heaps of handy features including Apple Pay. Learn more about virtual cards. 

Step 3: Set up Authorisation Controls

Authorization controls allow you to specify rules around how your wellbeing cards can be used. You can manage this at the time of creating a new card or later when you update the card.

The first thing you probably want to do is set a transaction limit. This can be set once or be recurring if you want to refresh your team’s budget after a certain period (every quarter, for example). 

For wellbeing budgets, the best way to make sure they’re going towards health-related costs is to specify the allowed merchant categories codes (MCC) where the card can be used. You could select code 7298 (the code for Health and Beauty Spas), which means your employees can only spend with merchants who have that category code. 

Bonus step! Link Spends to Your Chart of Accounts

If you’re using our Xero or Netsuite integrations, you can seamlessly connect your employee spend data to your chart of accounts.

Now your team is ready to go! And remember, you can cancel or freeze a card at any time. 

How can your team spend their wellbeing budgets? 

Wellbeing budgets allow your team to access what they really want. This can span the dimensions of wellness, from physical to mental and spiritual. You can also include Learning and Development in the mix, empowering your team to grow professionally.

Here are some of the most popular ways that teams use their budgets;

• Exercise classes; including circuit classes, yoga, pilates, boxing, weight training, tai chi, cycle…

• Subsidised gym memberships 

• Exercise app subscriptions

• Massage therapy

• Meditation classes

• Meditation app subscriptions

• Mental health app subscriptions

• Acupuncture

• Naturopathy

• Float tanks

• Day spas

• Swimming pool visits and memberships

• Infrared saunas 

• Vitamins and supplements

• Aromatherapy 

• Reflexology

• Charity donations

• Work from home ergonomic equipment

• Conferences

• Tutorials

• Learning platform subscriptions

• Meal delivery kits 

• Professional network memberships

• Professional courses

How do we know that wellbeing budgets are so great? 

We’ll let you in on a little secret, we know that wellbeing budgets are so great because we use them ourselves at Airwallex! 

Our team has a budget for their wellbeing on their Airwallex employee cards. Our People Team set a $250 limit which resets every quarter, and employees love making the most of it. 

How do I spend my wellbeing budget? Every Monday I take a reformer pilates class at a small studio right next to our Sydney HQ. With my virtual card, I can easily book a time that works for me, whether that be after work or around lunch time.

Taking the class is an awesome way to break up my day and take some time that’s just for me. Plus, I feel great knowing that with my choice I’m supporting a local small business - just an extra little bonus that puts some pep in my step. 

Which New Zealand companies have wellness budgets?

We’re not alone in our passion for wellness budgets. Other New Zealand companies that have wellness budgets as a key part of their employer value proposition include;

Xero: Every Xero employee receives a budget to spend on wellbeing; from gym memberships to physical therapy. They also receive health and vision insurance as part of their employment.

Air New Zealand: Supporting wellness and learning, the staff at Air New Zealand have access to their Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and Peer Support networks. Other perks include low-cost medical cover and discounted travel opportunities. 

How can you get started? 

If you’re not yet an Airwallex customer, join us! A Business Account is your ticket to employee cards, plus better spend management tools, cost efficient FX and Transfers, and so much more. Sign up now.

Disclaimer: Airwallex (New Zealand) Limited is registered on the NZ Financial Services Provider Register (FSPR) with number FSP1001602. All product timelines are provisional only and subject to change.