PREMIUM Project 2026-2027: benVitaal

The Project:

At benVitaal, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to stay healthy, motivated, and employable throughout their working life. We support organisations in creating healthier workplaces by developing and delivering programmes focused on sustainable employability, vitality, lifestyle, and career development.

However, making these programmes successful is not as straightforward as it may seem. Different organisations and sectors face different challenges when implementing sustainable employability initiatives. 

For example, participating in a vitality or coaching programme may temporarily mean that employees are unavailable for their regular tasks. In healthcare, this could affect staffing levels and legally required employee-to-child ratios in childcare. In production environments, it may create challenges in meeting targets. 

Organisations also face questions about whether activities should take place during working hours or employees’ own time, as this is closely linked to costs, priorities, and organisational culture.

At the same time, employees themselves have different needs and perspectives. Some groups may experience more barriers to participation, for example due to lower health literacy, limited awareness of the benefits of sustainable employability activities, previous experiences, or resistance to change. 

Understanding and addressing these different perspectives is essential to create programmes that truly reach and support all employees.
 

That is why benVitaal wants to explore this complex challenge together with a multidisciplinary team of students. We are looking for students from different backgrounds who can combine their expertise to investigate the various perspectives, identify barriers and opportunities, and develop practical solutions that work for employees, employers, and society. 

For this project, we will focus on the health care sector.
This project offers you the opportunity to work on a real-world challenge at the intersection of health, work, organisational change, and implementation. You will analyse previous sustainable employability projects carried out by benVitaal and explore what contributed to their success or created barriers during implementation. In addition, you will have the opportunity to engage directly with employers and employees from different sectors through interviews and discussions, gaining valuable insights from real-life experiences and perspectives. Your ideas and insights can help shape the future of workplace health and make sustainable employability accessible for more people.

A healthier workplace sounds simple. So why is it so difficult to make it happen? Explore the real-world barriers to sustainable employability in healthcare, from staffing pressures and organisational priorities to employee needs and resistance to change. Bring your own disciplinary perspective to help develop solutions that work for both employees and employers.

 

The Client:

At benVitaal, we help people move forward. We mean this not only literally - through our corporate fitness programme and bicycle leasing programme - but also in terms of sustainable employability. We help organisations create healthier, more resilient workplaces by providing advice and delivering services such as well-being programmes and career coaching.