Hello, hub!

Your startup has grown. You have attracted a round, hired key people, and now the main task is to keep them and prevent burnout. You decide to introduce a psychological support program — this is a strong and modern move. But 9 out of 10 such programs fail, and the budget is drained.

At proEgo, as residents of the hub and experts in this field, we want to share a checklist of 5 critical mistakes that companies make when choosing a well-being partner.

• How it looks like: The company chooses the cheapest aggregator on the market with the maximum discount per volume. The logic is clear: you need to meet the budget.
• What is the trap: A low price almost always means that there is no in-depth expert review. You get access to a database of beginners or psychologists with questionable qualifications who are willing to work for a low percentage.
• The cost of a mistake: Your "star" developer ends up with an incompetent specialist, becomes disillusioned with both therapy and your care for him. After 3 months, he leaves for a competitor. You saved 50,000 tenge on the program, but lost an employee worth 5 million.

• What it looks like: HR sees the inscription "10,000 verified psychologists" on the service's website and considers this a quality guarantee.
• What is the trap: The word "verification" can only mean the presence of any diploma. But true professionalism means hundreds of hours of additional training in a specific method, mandatory personal therapy, and regular supervision (reviewing cases with a more experienced colleague).
• The cost of a mistake: You are buying a "pig in a poke". Your team gets access to specialists who will not be able to cope with the complex demands typical of a startup environment (impostor syndrome, stress from uncertainty, conflicts in the team). The program does not bring results.

• How it looks like: The recording and reporting process is designed in such a way that employees have doubts: "Won't HR or my team leader find out that I'm going to a psychologist and what am I telling them?"
• What is the trap: For an IT specialist, privacy is sacred. The slightest suspicion that his request for help will become known to the leadership kills all initiative.
• The cost of a mistake: Zero utilization. You're paying for a service that no one uses out of fear. The budget has been drained, the problem in the team has not been solved, and trust in the HR brand has been undermined.

• How it looks like: The company enters into a contract with one service and offers employees a choice of only its specialists, often at a single price.
• What's the trap: Therapy is "chemistry". An introverted developer may need one specialist, while an emotional salesman may need a completely different one. The lack of choice and variety of specialists (including different levels of experience and prices) dramatically reduces the chance of finding "your" therapist.
• The cost of a mistake: Low engagement and efficiency. People try it once, it doesn't suit them, and they quit, concluding that "therapy is not for me."

• What it looks like: At the end of the year, the company collects anonymous reviews in the style of "we liked it" and considers it a success.
• What's the trap: Subjective reviews won't convince investors or the board of directors.
• The cost of a mistake: You cannot prove the value of a program in the language of a business. At the first cost optimization, your well-being budget will be cut, since its ROI has not been proven.

The right choice is to partner with a "professional space" that:

Proper well-being is not an expense, but an investment in a startup's main asset — its team. At proEgo, as residents of the hub, we help other technology companies build exactly such, systematic and effective programs.

If you want to implement a psychological support program that will really work, we will be happy to share our expertise. You can find out more on our website.