Business Beat
The Covid pandemic has resulted in elevated stress levels for many people. For middle-aged civil servants, work-from-home has been a godsend, to take things even easier. It’s a different matter for white-collar workers in shared accommodation, for whom Zoom space is the bedroom or kitchen table. Their managers have felt the heat, too, what with having to organise work schedules that used to be taken for granted.
Arianna Huffington, who established and sold the Huffington Post, speaks of an epidemic of stress and burnout, which she has been tackling in a commercial way since she penned a book on the subject in 2014. Huffington established Thrive Global in 2016 and has secured c.$150m in venture capital, including $80m raised in July.
Investors in that Series C round included Owl Ventures. Managing director Ian Chiu notes a trend across large employers in increased demand for wellness and soft-skills training.
“While much attention has been focused on resources to teach people how to improve their technical skills, companies are increasingly thinking about how to better empower managers and employees in ways that make them feel happy, confident, empathetic and resilient in their work,” says Chiu.
That’s where Thrive Global comes in, with its online platform that helps to develop healthy habits around sleep, movement, stress, nutrition, finances and relationships. Employers in Ireland interested in strengthening staff willpower and resolve now have good reason to run the rule over Thrive’s solution. The company recently announced the opening of an office in Dublin, where up to 40 people will be employed.
Thrive Global centres on an app and Microsteps, the foundation of its behavioural change programme.
“They’re small, incremental, science-backed actions we can take that will have immediate and longlasting benefits to the way we live our lives,” Huffington claims.
One of the central ideas is that, as humans are creatures of habit, one way to change your life is to create good new habits.
“The best way to convert our willpower into habits is by starting small,” Huffington adds. “The benefit of even one small win builds that willpower muscle to create even more wins and good habits.”
For better sleep, the Thrive Global founder suggests setting an alarm 30 minutes before bedtime. Then pick a time at night when you turn off your devices and escort them out of the bedroom.