Employers’ efforts are being driven by corporate objectives ranging from becoming an employer of choice to boosting employee engagement and retaining key talent. And then there are the organisations that are simply copying their competitors’ initiatives or chasing the latest market developments, particularly around wearable technology.
But employers must beware of developing an overly paternalistic preoccupation with fixing staff, particularly healthy staff who do not need support.
Employees, particularly Generation Y (those born between the early 1980s and 2000s), are entering the workforce expecting greater autonomy and flexibility around their roles and career paths. They are more interested in being empowered to do their job, rather than being told by a paternalistic employer how to live their lives.
They do not want to be told, for example, to take the stairs to the office rather than the lift to keep fit, or to eat healthier food to optimise their physiological health.
So, how can employers create a health and wellbeing strategy that is tailored to employees’ needs without being dictatorial?
An obvious solution is for employers to create a positive working environment that champions, supports and facilitates healthy living for all employees, rather than one that dictates the healthy behaviours they believe should be adopted by certain populations of staff affected by, or facing, ill-health. Their strategy should be underpinned by a carefully constructed communication strategy.
Organisations then need to trust that staff will take up appropriate workplace support as and when they require it and, in the event that support is lacking, that they feel able to discuss this with their line manager, who should be trained to help them find a solution.
Clare Bettelley, Associate editor, Employee Benefits