Chipotle to offer employees custom mental health platform
Chipotle Mexican Grill will soon introduce a digital, gamified service aimed at improving mental health among its employees.
The quick-service retailer is partnering with corporate wellness solutions provider Aduro to introduce a new wellness platform called Strive. The platform provides one-to-one coaching and support to help Chipotle employees set well-being goals that are tailored to their unique needs.
Strive will be available for restaurant managers, field leaders, and restaurant support center employees starting in June 2021. The launch of Strive complements Chipotle's existing mental health benefits available for employees and their family members, including in-person, phone, or virtual visits with a licensed counselor through a partnership with Health Advocate, regardless of whether they are enrolled in the company's medical plan.
Chipotle is following the lead of Amazon, which has been providing its on-demand Amazon Care telehealth service to employees since 2019, and has started offering Amazon Care to other companies based in its home state of Washington.
"Understanding how employees leveraged our mental health benefits throughout the pandemic inspired us to partner with Aduro for the launch of this new platform," said Marissa Andrada, chief diversity, inclusion and people officer, Chipotle Mexican Grill. "By offering access to a personal wellness coach, individualized content, and solutions for self-care, our goal is to foster a continual culture of wellbeing for all employees."
In addition, on Mental Health Action Day, Thursday, May 20, Chipotle Rewards loyalty members will receive a push notification reminding them to "check in on someone today." The push notification will link to resources in connection with the #MentalHealthAction movement.
Chipotle had over 2,800 restaurants as of March 31, 2021, in the U.S., Canada, U.K., France, and Germany, and is the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants.