Employers say that the main advantages of offering health and wellbeing support to staff are that it boosts productivity, increases staff retention and increases staff loyalty.
This is according to research from Everywhen, which found that 40 per cent of employers said that the main advantages of offering health and wellbeing support to staff were that it boosts productivity; 39 per cent said it increases staff retention; 30 per cent said it increases staff loyalty; 38 per cent and a further 35 per cent said providing health and wellbeing support was the right thing to do for employees
Around 34 per cent said it aligned with their company’s culture and values; 29 per cent said it increases engagement, while reduced absenteeism was cited by 28 per cent of employers as a benefit of providing health and wellbeing support
The data also shows that the benefits include support for recruitment, being able to meet legislative minimum requirements, and reducing costs and expenses, all under 20 per cent.
Meanwhile, 9 per cent said that they do not see any advantages to offering health and wellbeing support.
Around 16 per cent of employers said they had seen a direct link between providing health and wellbeing support and reduced costs and expenses.
Everwhen suggests expert advice for those employers who do not realise the advantages of their health and wellbeing support. The firm says that those employer may not be offering the right support for their workforce demographic and suggests finding new ways to communicate the benefits on offer.
The firm also points out measuring utilisation and outcomes, saying that not doing this effectively could make it harder for them to see the value from their health and wellbeing benefits.
Everywhen head of group risk David Williams says: “There are so many compelling business reasons for employers to offer health and wellbeing benefits. It’s great that employers are seeing advantages across the business in terms of productivity, recruitment and retention, loyalty and engagement, and more. But more companies should be seeing these advantages.
“Things are definitely going in the right direction but ALL businesses and their employees should be benefiting from the health and wellbeing support on offer. If they are not, it would be wise to take advice on what changes could be made to the offering and how best to communicate the provision and boost engagement.”
