Data Systems International’s Expanded Health & Wellness Program Helps Employees Deal With The Pandemic

Businesses have to reinvent themselves now that COVID-19 is part of the daily challenges all companies face. Working from home used to be the exception, but it’s now the rule for businesses that want to protect employees and keep the revenue stream flowing.

Data Systems International (DSI), the Kansas City supply chain software management company, had a health and wellness program in place before the coronavirus turned the company’s office work environment into a stay-at-home ―work at home― scenario. When Mark Goode took over as CEO in 2018, he wasted no time getting employees to focus on healthy choices. Goode instilled a wellness mentality at DSI. Employees started to shape up physically, mentally, and emotionally and the results made headlines in Kansas City.

The wellness foundation Goode established at Data Systems International helped the company deal with coronavirus challenges. Mr. Goode’s mission was to show people they have what it takes to experience their professional and personal life in a positive way during the pandemic.

The company’s approach to doing business during the pandemic starts with the medical and financial benefits Data Systems International put in place before the coronavirus reared its invisible head. Those benefits along with expanding additional services like the direct support employees receive from Nick Markowski, DSI’s Health & Wellness Manager, help employees deal with the mental and physical issues associated with COVID-19.

Markowski, like Goode, joined Data Systems International in 2018. His main focus now is to reach out and interact with DSI employees around the globe. Mr. Markowski’s one-on-one sessions with employees include conversations about dietary needs and working from home coping skills. Markowski also offers employees other DSI services that they didn’t use before coronavirus became a fact in 21st-century life.

One of the services Markowski talks about is the free counseling DSI offers employees who suffer from virus anxiety and stress. Those virus side effects throw a monkey wrench in employee productivity and reliability. Nick and Mark’s Employee Assistance Program give employees the opportunity to access inpatient treatment as well as other treatment options.

Mr. Markowski believes giving employees the opportunity to air their concerns and to voice their emotions helps them release some of the virus anxiety. Markowski also believes telling people the pandemic is not a permanent crisis soothes the nerves and opens the door for them to create new forward-thinking opportunities in their professional and business lives.

The live virtual workouts sessions that include daily stretching, cycling classes, and what Markowski calls travel bag gym sessions helps employees release the mental and physical stress they experience while they work from home. Nick also rents stationary bikes and has them delivered so employees in the Kansas City area can enjoy home spin classes. Nick puts recorded workout sessions online so DSI employees who can’t virtually attend the live sessions can watch and use them.

Data Systems International wants employees to take the time to care about their personal health and wellness, as well as the health and wellness of the company. And it looks like the company’s expanded Health & Wellness program is achieving those goals, according to Mr. Goode.

Learn more about Data Systems International: https://www.inc.com/profile/Data-Systems-International