After living and working through the pandemic, organisations are facing a new set of wellbeing challenges such as the cost of living crisis, war in Ukraine and changes to working arrangements. To meet the needs of organisations and their employees, a more strategic approach to wellbeing interventions is required.
It’s a particularly testing time for wellbeing according to Luke Bullen, head of UK and Ireland at Gympass. “Years of Covid-related uncertainty and isolation, coupled with an ongoing cost of living crisis has not only caused employee wellbeing to deteriorate but the wellbeing of the general population as well.”
To support this, he points to World Health Organisation statistics that show the global prevalence of anxiety and depression has increased by 25 per cent since the start of the pandemic, at a cost of US$1 trillion a year to the global economy.
As this is a drain on organisations’ productivity and profitability, addressing employee wellbeing is a key priority. Further pressure is added by the fact that employees are increasingly expecting their employers to do more to support their health and wellbeing.
Pippa Andrews, director of corporate business at Vitality, explains: “Our Healthy Hybrid report found that 82 per cent of respondents believe their employer has a greater responsibility to offer health and wellbeing support following the pandemic, with 44 per cent saying their company should do more in this area. It has become an employee expectation.”
Proposition overload
Employers keen to meet this employee expectation face a number of challenges. As wellbeing has gained traction in the workplace, the number of propositions has increased significantly. “There are so many wellbeing solutions available now,” says Leo Savage, global wellbeing consultant at Howden Employee Benefits and Wellbeing. “Over the last few years, especially during the pandemic, we saw all sorts of things come to market. It’s not easy for an employer to determine which would make a difference so we carry out due diligence on the different propositions to help them find what’s suitable.”
With so many different options available, employers also need to ensure that any spend is justified. Dr Wolfgang Seidl, partner and lead for workplace health consulting for UK and Europe at Mercer, explains: “Organisations have been struggling after the pandemic too. As well as the cost of living crisis, there’s also a shortage of talent. They can’t waste money on whatever is fashionable in the wellbeing space: it has todeliver business benefits too.”
In particular, he says wellbeing initiatives should help with the productivity conundrum. “The UK is bottom of the league table on productivity. Offering the right health and wellbeing initiatives can make a big difference, making employees feel happier and that they work for an organisation that cares about them,” he explains. “This drives productivity but also helps with attraction and retention.”
Understanding what works
Sifting out the snake oil is only the start. Different organisations – and even different employees – will require their own unique set of wellbeing interventions to deliver the best results. “Employers need a data-driven approach to understand what interventions are most appropriate,” says Seidl. “Interrogating all the relevant data sets including medical insurance claims, occupational health assessments, EAP usage and absence statistics and mapping this against workforce demographics will give valuable insight.”
Alongside this, Karl Bennett, wellbeing director at Vivup, says it’s essential to speak to employees. “Find out what they really want,” he says. “An employer can run surveys or focus groups and there are also lots of services that will talk to employees on your behalf.”
Engaging employees in this way has benefits beyond building the wellbeing programme they want. The simple act of being involved is very powerful, with Seidl saying that where an employee has suggested a particular wellbeing programme, it will get higher engagement than if it had been introduced cold.
Wellbeing ingredients
When it comes to the wellbeing mix, most organisations should have a broad range of initiatives. “There’s no one-size-fits-all approach,” says Savage. “An employer can’t bring in a single service and expect all employees to use it: the more diverse the better.”
Other key components include board level buy-in, to give the programme endorsement and credibility, and a good communications programme. Bennett says wellbeing programmes can often fall flat because employees simply don’t know what’s available. “Employers need to communicate their wellbeing initiatives
well,” he explains. “Frequent communications work well. Wellbeing needs change so each message could potentially reach a different set of employees, simply because a service suddenly becomes relevant.”
Measuring results
Measuring the success of interventions is another must-have. This can help to gain further investment but also enables initiatives, and communications, to be further refined. Sharon Shier, head of product development at WPA, says that when it comes to measuring success it should be about return on investment but also value on investment.
“Start with return on investment to gain board buy-in but do look at value on investment too,” she explains. “Softer things, such as the workplace being a better environment, are harder to measure but do make a significant difference.”
Tracking employee engagement and satisfaction can give insight into these areas. Additionally, employers with 20 or more employees can use Vitality’s Britain’s Healthiest Workplace survey. This provides a snapshot of employee health and wellbeing, which can form a benchmark for measuring the success of any new initiatives, as well as recommendations to improve wellbeing.
With wellbeing needs evolving on an almost daily basis, finding the perfect solution for an organisation requires ongoing attention. Monitoring usage and employee engagement plus a robust communications programme will help to ensure an organisation’s wellbeing programme is fit for purpose.
Switched-on wellbeing technology
Technology is changing the face of workplace wellbeing, with services such as wearables, virtual GPs and online counselling bringing significant benefits to organisations and their employees.
The virtual nature of many of these services means that as well as being cheaper to provide, they’re also more convenient. An employee can have a virtual GP appointment at a time and place that suits them, removing the need to take half a day off work.
Being able to access medical advice in this way also feeds into a more preventative approach to healthcare. Rather than waiting a couple of weeks to see a GP and be referred to a physiotherapist, an employee can have an almost instant video consultation and receive a set of exercises to help them back to full health.
Sharon Shier, head of product development at WPA, says these virtual consultations came into their own during lockdown. “The sooner you can check a health issue, the quicker and easier it is to treat,” she says. “We need more of this approach, especially as the NHS focuses on catching up on the waiting lists.”
Wearables also support this, giving employees much greater insight into their health and wellbeing. Shier adds: “A wearable lets you track your health but also gives you nudges to take a break from your desk or do a five minute breathing exercise.”
Tech-based solutions also offer more opportunities for personalisation, which helps drive up engagement. For example, Gympass’s Trainiac service connects users to a personal trainer to support them with their fitness goals. Having this support led to a 22 per cent increase in gym usage within 90 days.
Anonymised data also flows from these digital services to the employer. This gives them information about the health of the workforce which can shape future wellbeing initiatives.