EXCLUSIVE: Just under three-quarters (71%) of US employer respondents view employee wellbeing as a fundamental driver of their workplace culture, according to research by LifeWorks.
Its survey of 500 senior US-based HR professionals, also found that 24% of respondents believe that health insurance is the most popular employee benefit among their US staff.
The research also found:
- 17% of respondents believe employees are unaware of their employee benefits, 16% that they do not understand how to use their benefits, and a further 16% that staff do not have time to use their employee benefits.
- 14% of respondents say that flexible working is the most popular employee benefit for their US staff, while 11% say the most popular benefit for their employees is free food or snacks, and 6% that telecommuting is the most popular benefit for their US employees.
- 9% of respondents plan to offer flexible working as a wellness benefit in the next three years, 7% will provide mental health coverage over the next three years, and an additional 7% plan to introduce commuter benefits.
- 7% of respondents will offer mindfulness training as a wellness benefit in the next three years, and a further 7% will introduce stress management programmes.
- 6% of respondents plan to provide health insurance for employees over the next three years, 5% will introduce telecommuting, and 5% will implement unlimited paid or personal time off.
Jamie True (pictured), chief executive officer at LifeWorks, said: “These findings show that employers need to do more to inform employees about what’s available to them. Offering benefits is a great start, but [employers are] setting [their] staff up to fail if [they're] not properly educating them on why and how they should use their benefits.
"It starts with [organisational] culture. Therefore, to shift [organisational] culture to focus more on employee wellbeing, play an active role in promoting wellness benefits.”