john-gentry

Almost three quarters (74%) of employer respondents believe their wellbeing programme is an important element of their employee value proposition, according to research by Xerox HR Services.

Its Working well: a global survey of workforce wellbeing strategies report, which surveyed 428 organisations across 33 countries, also found that 52% of respondents feel that top-down leadership and strong support from leaders is critical to changing workplace culture.

The research also found:

  • 92% of respondents believe local ambassadors play a key role in supporting a culture of wellbeing in their organisation.
  • 33% of respondents believe there is a strong culture of wellbeing in their organisation, and 83% of respondents aspire to have a strong culture of wellbeing in the future.
  • 92% of respondents offer retirement financial security and preparedness programmes, and 91% provide financial literacy and skills programmes.
  • 24% of respondents have implemented financial literacy and skills programmes in the past year, and 39% have had these programmes in place for the last two to five years.

John Gentry (pictured), president at Xerox HR Services, said: “Healthy, productive employees are the lifeblood of [an organisation]. In the past, the thought that healthy workers meant productive workers was somewhat of a theory. Today with aggregate data and analytics, there is a much stronger case for return on investment.

“Employers are championing a culture of wellbeing, but they also recognise that there are barriers to achieving it globally, such as differing cultures, laws and practices, and a current lack of global oversight for health or financial strategy.

“That said, these issues appear to be less of a problem when it comes to global financial strategies, so employers are more likely to quickly get behind implementing global financial wellbeing programmes.”