Germany’s Lockdown has been extended until March 7th 2021. For many, this means continued home office, reduced social contacts, short-work hours and a balancing act between family and career. Undeniably, COVID-19 has changed every aspect of our professional and daily life.
Our survey with forsa showed that many employees are struggling. They’ve experienced health problems and psychological side effects as a result of the corona pandemic. Over a quarter report that stress has had a negative impact on their mental health, resulting in depressive moods and feelings of loneliness and isolation.
Urban Sports Club wants to support companies of all sizes with these Corona-related problems, and has helped both mobile bank N26 and E-scooter-provider TIER deal with different challenges.
Who are N26 and TIER?
Berlin-based TIER was founded in 2018 and has since grown to become the leading micromobility provider in Europe. TIER provides a wide range of e-scooters and e-mopeds in over 90 cities in 10 countries and is a driving force in the transformation of the transport and mobility sector, which aims to reduce car traffic in cities. In January, TIER recorded approximately 470 employees and has been providing them with the Urban Sports Club corporate offer since December 2020.
N26 is an online German bank specializing in smartphone account management. Founded in 2013 in Berlin, the FinTech startup currently offers its service in 25 countries and has around 1,500 employees working for N26. The company has been offering its employees Urban Sports Club as a corporate benefit for several years.
How has Corona changed your daily work routine?
Nora Koestler, People Development Manager at TIER: Coronavirus has intensified our focus on working from home and has further digitized our day-to-day work as a company. To ensure that our employees feel safe and secure despite these changes, we implemented social distancing and mask-wearing rules for our offices and warehouses from the very beginning. In this way, we’re able to protect our employees and guarantee an orderly workday.
Diana Styles, Chief People Officer at N26: COVID-19 hit us all hard, forcing us to adapt to a new reality and creating turbulent times. Working remotely was certainly a challenge for many at first. On a personal level, as Chief People Officer at N26, I found it challenging to overcome the feeling of constant uncertainty in my daily work routine. It was important for us to create a safe and positive working atmosphere at N26 and thus support the physical and mental health of our employees.
How have you integrated and presented the Urban Sports Club corporate offer to your team?
Nora Koestler (TIER): In the fourth quarter of 2020, we presented our new internal focus on “Body & Mind,” – a guide for our employees to stay fit and healthy long-term. We presented our partnership with Urban Sports Club within this at our last company-wide meeting in 2020, just before Christmas. We created an information page for our employees with all the details on our intranet.
Diana Styles (N26): We already had a strong partnership with Urban Sports Club before COVID-19, and we were thankful our employees could access remote health and fitness options during lockdown. Despite the fact that sports clubs are currently closed, I generally believe that sports is a great metaphor to describe our working life – every individual contributes to the achievement of our goals, so we can create a winning culture together.
How are you keeping your teams healthy and strengthening team spirit? Are you organising team events?
Nora Koestler (TIER): During the first lockdown in Germany, we held bi-weekly, company-wide meetings to keep our employees up to date on current developments. We have regular events, open to everyone, such as “TIER Masterclass” where employees share their knowledge on specific topics, or “Coffee Chat with Management.” We also host events on various health topics, like a session with a sleep coach.
Diana Styles (N26): Urban Sports Club was able to offer online training which has been key to keeping our spirits high, bodies healthy and has boosted team cohesion.
Urban Sports Club was able to offer online training which has been key to keeping our spirits high, bodies healthy and has boosted team cohesion.
Diana Styles, Chief People Officer at N26
What impact does Urban Sports Club’s offer have on the satisfaction of your employees?
Diana Styles: We have a very diverse workforce and health is very important to all of us. Urban Sports Club allows our employees to stay fit and healthy not only physically but also mentally whenever and wherever they want, especially under the current circumstances. Urban Sports Club has always been a crucial part of our benefits offering at N26.
Why is Urban Sports Club particularly well-suited to the size of your company?
Nora Koestler (TIER): Particularly in times of home office and closed sports facilities, many employees need physical exercise to balance the mental impact of working from home. Our employees live in dozens of locations throughout Germany, so this is particularly advantageous.
Diana Styles (N26): At N26, we believe that your bank should be as mobile and flexible as you. That’s why we offer a 100% digital banking experience that’s designed to be simple and transparent. We expect a similar seamless experience from our benefit partners such as Urban Sports Club to provide our employees a great experience. Furthermore collaboration is key at N26 and Urban Sports Club helps us maintain a healthy and winning team culture.
Thank you so much for sharing your insights!
——
Did you know that Urban Sports Club customers have their own Customer Success Managers to ensure your employees stay active and maintain a healthy lifestyle? Elena Francesconi, Team Lead Customer Success, shares what this support looks like:
“Our team is responsible for actively supporting our corporate clients. To help them realize our potential as an employee benefit, we plan and execute appropriate onboardings, campaigns and events for them. The overarching goal is to continuously optimize the offering for our corporate customers so that they can support their employees in leading active and healthy lives.”
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT OUR CORPORATE FITNESS OFFERS?
As a flexible sports flat rate, Urban Sports Club offers employees a large and varied range of services – from fitness, yoga, swimming and climbing to team sports and wellness offers – members can compile their individual training plan. They can choose from over 50 sports and over 12,000 partner locations in six countries, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Portugal, and check in for sports via smartphone app. With the help of Urban Sports Club, companies can empower their employees to lead healthier and more active lifestyles.
