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Amidst a year of upheaval and transitions in the world of work, many employees have been left feeling unmoored and unmotivated, searching for a new post-coronavirus paradigm.
Bryan Aycock is not one of those people. As the director of benefits at Zynga, a game developer company, Aycock began the year planning to start programs that supported mental health, family planning and other wellness initiatives. But once the pandemic hit, he shifted gears to offer Zynga’s 2,100 employees support for every challenge the pandemic threw their way.
“I quickly had to pivot on whatever I was working on to put as much support as we could in place. I immediately reached out to our safety team to start doing ergonomic assessments over a Zoom call,” Aycock says. “We provided new monitors and reimbursements for ergonomic chairs. I reached out to our EAP about providing mental health support. I reached out to Aetna to waive copays through the end of this year.”
Once the most immediate concerns had been taken care of, Aycock focused on new programs he had already planned for 2020, now tailoring the offerings to fit the virtual workplace. One such program was a partnership with GymPass, a membership service where employees can visit different gym locations. Instead of cancelling the benefit entirely, Aycock worked with the team to fast-track a pilot program of virtual fitness classes employees could stream from their homes.
Read more: Best tools to support your remote workforce
Aycock’s problem solving and quick thinking during the pandemic have been built over the course of a successful two-decade career as a benefits consultant for Mercer, Aon and Alliance before he joined...