- Education
Thomas More saw confidential conversations quadruple
At Thomas More, wellbeing grew from ad hoc actions into a strategically embedded policy, backed by managers, wellbeing coaches and employees alike.
In a nutshell
- 2,200+
- Employees
- on 11 campuses, spread across 7 locations
- Since 2021
- Strategic pillar
- wellbeing sits alongside leadership and talent development
- 4 months
- Fully activated
- after which the planned sessions were already used up
- 4× more
- Confidential conversations
- conversations with confidential advisers quadrupled
- Company profile
- Flemish university of applied sciences with more than 2,200 employees.
- 11 campuses spread across 7 locations.
- Strategic focus on wellbeing, leadership and talent.
- Challenges
- Fragmented wellbeing policy before 2021.
- Internal support did not always reach far enough.
- Need for a consistent and scalable external offering.
- Process & implementation
- From focus groups and a successful pilot to a wider rollout.
- Communication campaign at every level for clear reach.
- An active role for managers, wellbeing coaches and trade unions.
- Impact
- High activation and lasting use.
- Cultural shift towards openness and talking freely.
- Stronger HR policy and data-driven policymaking.
Company profile
Thomas More University of Applied Sciences is a leading Flemish university of applied sciences with more than 2,200 employees and 11 campuses spread across 7 locations. As a knowledge institution, Thomas More combines teaching, practice-oriented research and social engagement. From that role, the organization actively invests in the wellbeing of its students and employees.
Since 2021, wellbeing has been a strategic pillar of the HR policy, alongside leadership and talent development. That shift followed a period in which wellbeing initiatives were mostly rolled out ad hoc. Today, wellbeing is structurally embedded in policy, with a clear vision built on shared responsibility: the organization, managers and employees all actively contribute to a healthy and caring work environment.
The university focuses on innovative, evidence-based solutions and actively seeks collaboration with internal centres of expertise, students and external partners. The result is a broad wellbeing approach with wide support, one that fits the complex reality of a large, diverse educational organization.
“We notice that managers now refer to BloomUp publicly. Six years ago that would have been unthinkable.”
Daisy Van DesselHR policy officer · Thomas More
Challenges
Before 2021, Thomas More had a fragmented wellbeing policy, with separate initiatives from different departments and no central follow-up. The covid pandemic made mental wellbeing needs more visibly urgent and underlined the need for a structural approach.
Within HR, awareness grew that wellbeing had to be more than separate actions. There was a need for a shared vision, a clear division of roles and support for managers. On top of that, internal wellbeing coaches increasingly received requests for help that went beyond the work context, with no structural referral channel for them.
Many employees also turned out not to know the confidential advisers, which made it harder to access help. So the challenge was to create a coherent wellbeing policy with wide support, with attention to both prevention and fast support for more serious difficulties.
“An employee came to thank me personally: BloomUp had genuinely helped him. That was good to hear twice over, because the offering had actually worked and he felt able to say so.”
Evelyne EykelbergDirector People & Community · Thomas More
Process & implementation
From 2021, a new course was set. In focus groups with employees and managers, wellbeing and leadership were named as strategic priorities. This led to a clear wellbeing vision, based on shared responsibility. Step by step, initiatives were launched at three levels: organization, team and individual.
The decision to integrate an external wellbeing platform followed thorough research by the internal centre of expertise Mens & Welzijn, with evidence-based practice at its heart. After a successful pilot phase with several e-mental health apps, the university chose a broad implementation of the BloomUp platform, because one platform provides integrated, fast support and so fits seamlessly with the wellbeing vision.
The launch was backed by a strong internal communication campaign: through newsletters, screens, information sessions and the university conference, employees were actively informed and involved. Managers and staff representatives played a key role in this, as did the wellbeing coaches and confidential advisers. They act as important links between the internal and external offering, which strengthens the coherence of the wellbeing policy.
Impact
The partnership with BloomUp had a noticeable impact at Thomas More in a short time. Within four months of the launch, the planned number of sessions was fully used up, a clear sign of the great need for accessible support. Since then, use has stayed significant, spread widely across teams and with strikingly strong involvement from managers. The number of conversations with confidential advisers also quadrupled, which suggests the wellbeing offering is being found and used more.
Beyond these figures, the cultural shift stands out most. Where wellbeing used to be hard to talk about, today it is actively included in development and performance reviews. Managers explicitly mention BloomUp as a resource, and employees say they feel heard and supported, including with personal worries outside the work context. BloomUp is seen as a tool that takes work off people's plates, not only for employees but also for wellbeing coaches and confidential advisers, who can now refer people faster and more precisely.
At policy level, BloomUp also provides valuable insights. The anonymized, aggregated data on usage and themes feeds the university's wellbeing policy and helps adjust course where needed. By integrating BloomUp into the wider wellbeing offering, alongside initiatives such as the right-to-disconnect policy, wellbeing coaches and support at team level, there is now one recognizable, consistent platform that has replaced several separate initiatives.
Thomas More proves that wellbeing can be more than separate initiatives: it can grow into a strategic strength within a large educational organization. Through the partnership with BloomUp, the university evolved from a fragmented policy to a shared wellbeing culture, embedded at every level of the organization. The results are clear: a high activation rate, more openness around mental wellbeing and stronger involvement from managers and confidential advisers. Above all, employees feel seen and supported, including with personal worries outside work.
