
Antonio Barradas is a passionate leader in the world of employee wellbeing and corporate fitness. As the CEO of Bedrijfsfitness Nederland, part of Epassi Group, he is dedicated to helping employers and employees in the Netherlands enhance their vitality and workplace happiness. With his strategic vision and drive, he makes corporate fitness accessible and easy to implement for businesses of all sizes.
Holding an Executive MBA from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Antonio has a strong background in business leadership and innovation.
We are delighted that Antonio will be speaking in Amsterdam as part of our European Summit. We caught up with him to find out how he’s feeling in the runup to the event.
Hi Antonio, as a leader based in the region, what are the main challenges you are facing when it comes to employee wellbeing and mental health?
Employees have many demands and balancing those with work can be demanding and be the cause of stress and feeling unwell. Finding the time to take care of oneself physically and mentally is increasingly important.
What strategies have you seen developing over the past 6 months, both internally and externally, that are moving the dial on wellbeing in the workplace?
Companies are investing more than ever in physical and mental wellbeing and putting programs in place to promote those instead of only making them available.
Why is employee wellbeing so important to you personally?
Knowing and having experienced it myself, I know how wellbeing – namely sport – can make me happier, more productive and more social and better with personal relations. I find it important to promote that with everyone that works with me.
What impact is AI having in your organisation and how are you managing that?
AI is being used as tool in different departments, namely marketing, sales, customer service. I encourage the use of AI as a way of having a template from where to start. I believe that the person can then add value and make it more impactful.
Other than AI, are there any challenges that you are seeing for the first time and how are you addressing them?
We live in a world of change. We always have. It seems however that the last years have accelerated in ways that create uncertainty. Employees are feeling it.
What areas do you think employers should be focused on over the next 12 months?
Definitely applying and implementing AI, creating safe environments at work where people understand the vision and business priorities and within those feel free to try and execute.
Do you feel that investment in employee wellbeing in the region is increasing or decreasing and is that a direct reflection on HR leaders’ increasing ability to demonstrate effective returns of their strategies to leadership?
My feeling is that employee wellbeing is increasing and that’s a result of an increased competition for talent and retention of this. HR leadership has been an advocate of this for a long time, because they know better than anyone else the impact wellbeing can have on the achievement of a business strategy.
How has your organisation been leading the way?
We have a lot of initiatives on wellbeing and plan to increase those over time. Of course, everyone has a sport benefit that they can use, Additionally, we have lunches and active events. We would like to broaden these benefits soon.
Antonio will be speaking in Amsterdam at the Wellbeing at Work Summit Europe which takes place in Zurich on 13th May and in Amsterdam on 15th May. Further details on the Summit and tickets can be found here.