Almost one in two employers are failing to adequately address issues of staff wellbeing, according to a new survey by friendly society Health Shield.
The survey also found that employee awareness and understanding of wellbeing services remained low, with 55 per cent of workers unsure what benefits they are entitled to through their employer.
Health Shield found that 48 per cent of employers hadn’t gained employee views on health, wealth, happiness or recent concerns.
Of those that have conducted wellbeing surveys among staff, almost one in five (16.5 per cent) do so once a year, indicating there has been little attempt to see how employee wellbeing has changed as the UK has moved in and out of lockdown.
These results come at a time when employee wellbeing is cited as a top leadership priority.
In line with this, almost two thirds (61 per cent) of employers think that communication of benefits and wellbeing programmes will be a top priority this year, particularly in relation to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs), online mental health services and wellbeing apps.
Health Shield head of marketing Jennie Doyle says: “These results suggest that many employers are still taking a traditional one-size-fits-all, top down and disjointed approach to benefit and wellbeing programme communication, if they’re communicating at all.
“Considering wellbeing provides the foundation for employee engagement, this hit and miss approach is a concern, especially during the current economic downturn.
“It’s vital that employers gather the employee insights they need – through actually talking to employees via various means, from line manager meetings through to regular physical, mental and financial wellbeing assessments available via various platforms.
“Through such insights, employers can better tailor integrated care pathways. They can also communicate in such a way that helps individuals understand relevance. It’s this that will ensure usage and value; in turn bringing advantages to people and to business.”
To help employers understand how to gain the insights needed to better target communication – with a specific focus on the current landscape with many working from home or furloughed – Health Shield has published a White Paper entitled “How to engage your disparate workforce: 3 ways HR Managers can improve benefit and wellbeing communication”.