Don’t let remote work keep your isolated. Create work-chats to help you become closer to your colleagues. For example, our StageIt performers now watch each others shows and have become true friends. Some meet up for events or dinners in their hometowns, etc.
The pandemic pause brought us to a moment of collective reckoning about what it means to live well and to work well. As a result, employees are sending employers an urgent signal that they are no longer willing to choose one — life or work — at the cost of the other. Working from home brought life literally into our work. And as the world now goes hybrid, employees are drawing firmer boundaries about how much of their work comes into their life. Where does this leave employers? And which perspectives and programs contribute most to progress? In our newest interview series, Working Well: How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support & Sustain Mental, Emotional, Social, Physical & Financial Wellness, we are talking to successful executives, entrepreneurs, managers, leaders, and thought leaders across all industries to share ideas about how to shift company cultures in light of this new expectation. We’re discovering strategies and steps employers and employees can take together to live well and to work well.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Lou Mann.
Lou Mann is the CEO of Stageit, VNUE, Inc.’s Soundstr technology . StageIt is one of the oldest and most well-known ticketed livestream companies in the world. He is the legendary former Executive Vice President and General Manager of Capitol Records, as well as president of Media Properties for House of Blues (HOB). VNUE, Inc. (OTC:VNUE).
Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Harvard Business Review predicts that wellness will become the newest metric employers will use to analyze and to assess their employees’ mental, physical and financial health. How does your organization define wellness, and how does your organization measure wellness?
StageIt, by nature of its very existence, integrates wellness into every event brought to over a million members.
StageIt is an online platform where artists perform live, interactive, monetized shows for their fans directly from a laptop, offering fans unique experiences that create a close and intimate connection between the fan and the artist.
Our organization, with its worldwide members consisting of performers and audience members, measures wellness by gauging not only the financial benefits for musicians and others but also by the powerful connections forged among and by performers and fans.
We measure wellness by the vibrant interaction between performers and fans, and the worldwide access every fan located anywhere can use to see concerts and other IRL events.
Based on your experience or research, how do you correlate and quantify the impact of a well workforce on your organization’s productivity and profitability?
The impact of wellness on our staff, the StageIt performers, and all fans is clear. Performers can bring in revenue from anywhere, at any time, whether it’s from their backyard, a local concert in their hometown, or a large event.
This live event is available for fans, in real-time, anywhere in the world.
The performers earn lifesaving income, which especially helped them during the numerous pandemic lockdowns. But now that many events are again live, the performers and their fans, from the US to around the world, are eager to enjoy these performances.
StageIt is free for all performers, and fans can access events from the comfort of their homes, just by using their laptops or other digital devices.
Even though most leaders have good intentions when it comes to employee wellness, programs that require funding are beholden to business cases like any other initiative. The World Health Organization estimates for every $1 invested into treatment for common mental health disorders, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity. That sounds like a great ROI. And, yet many employers struggle to fund wellness programs that seem to come “at the cost of the business.” What advice do you have to offer to other organizations and leaders who feel stuck between intention and impact?
Having good intentions can be a slippery slope for any business. The only way to get something accomplished is to choose a specific niche where you can make a difference, and tackle it like you would any business plan.
Invite your staff and your audience or consumers who love your services or products to be stakeholders in your wellness initiatives, especially for mental health issues.
We believe music is a universal language that can relieve anxiety. Science backs this idea up.
Studies report that something as simple as listening to music can help calm down your nervous system plus lower your cortisol levels! These two benefits of music reduce stress.
Simultaneously, studies show that musicians benefit from performing, and they enjoy the same decreased anxiety and a release of emotions, which also improve their mental health.
Speaking of money matters, a recent Gallup study reveals employees of all generations rank well-being as one of their top three employer search criteria. How are you incorporating wellness programs into your talent recruitment and hiring processes?
StageIt is free for performers to join, and they can offer any kind of concert or show they can imagine. This freedom for creatives of all types is in and of itself a healing tool. Every performer needs the space to express themselves.
We’ve all heard of the four-day work week, unlimited PTO, mental health days, and on-demand mental health services. What innovative new programs and pilots are you launching to address employee wellness? And, what are you discovering? We would benefit from an example in each of these areas.
- Mental Wellness: StageIt fosters a new type of true community.. The performances are live; fans become connected to other fans and the performers, using our Chat function to communicate even during shows!
- Emotional Wellness: Loneliness is a strong side-effect lingering among many millions of people today. StageIt offers a community, with live performances, no matter where you are located. This creates a sense of belonging, and the music is as I noted above, proven to reduce stress.
- Social Wellness: StageIt has a robust Chat tool, so fans can speak directly to their favorite performers. Performers also have become very supportive and friendly with one another, and we have seen a dramatically powerful social wellness community spring up!
- Financial Wellness: Performers can monetize their shows, adding a vital second or even primary source of income via StageIt.
How are you reskilling leaders in your organization to support a “Work Well” culture?
For StageIt, our work well culture is an organic creation. The performers and the fans have disrupted loneliness, and in its place, put in live connections and community for music lovers, and performers around the world.
We are reselling community leaders via our forging new connections and community between performers and fans; fans and fans, and performers and performers.
Ideas take time to implement. What is one small step every individual, team, or organization can take to get started on these ideas — to get well?
Any organization, no matter if you are connected to performances or making donuts, can instill a sense of worth and community within its company, and share this mission with its consumers. It can begin with little steps. Tell your team they did something great once a week, and be sure to be positive when good things happen. Don’t just harp on the negatives. Your company can never prosper without internal communication and appreciation for one and all.
What are your “Top 5 Trends To Track In the Future of Workplace Wellness?”
- Don’t let remote work keep you isolated. Create work-chats to help you become closer to your colleagues. For example, our StageIt performers now watch each other’s shows and have become true friends. Some meet up for events or dinners in their hometowns, etc.
- Flip the pyramid of loneliness in our digital age. We now have a new filmmaker, who wanted to reach a global and US audience with his documentary. This is a new way to build a film-lover’s community!
- Many workers today are still remote, but go into their physical office in a ‘hybrid’ fashion. But when they get there, oftentimes, no one else is there, so it’s lonely. We advise business owners to set up a schedule where there are always a number of hybrid staff in the office at the same time.
- Discover new music from around the US and around the world! StageIt is amazing since we have performers from everywhere. Visit our homepage and see what other cultures are offering in their shows. You may find out you love a new type of music!
- We offer StageIT FREE to performers. We love our performers and welcome them to check us out. Every time you have a show, even in an event space, you can welcome thousands of new or current fans to your show; make more money, and also grow your fan base!
What is your greatest source of optimism about the future of workplace wellness?
When the world of live performances went dark, and performers around the world were frightened of losing their livelihood and their passion to perform, things looked very grim.
But creative platforms such as StageIt prove that with a new way of looking at technology, we can always help both performers and fans to enjoy music or other events with the click of a button on their laptop or any digital device.
In a way, we’ve turned the internet on its head. Instead of sitting alone in a room alone, StageIt has created a social community, where fans become in-real-life friends and some of our performers have invited fans into their homes, after growing close to them.
Our readers often like to continue the conversation with our featured interviewees. How can they best connect with you and stay current on what you’re discovering?
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Thank you for sharing your insights and predictions. We appreciate the gift of your time and wish you continued success and wellness.