Less-than-half-of-firms-have-a-wellbeing-strategy

Employee wellbeing is the main priority for UK HR professionals over the next 12 months, according to research by employee engagement firm WorkBuzz.

Its The state of employee engagement report, which surveyed over 640 HR professionals, including 335 from the UK, found that employee wellbeing is the key HR concern, jumping one place from being the second highest priority the previous year. Employee engagement and employee experience, was found to be HR professionals’ second biggest priority, moving up from fifth position last year.

Talent attraction is still third on UK HR professionals’ list of priorities compared with 12 months ago, while equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging moved up four positions year on year to take fourth place. 

During 2024, 42% of employees said employee engagement has stayed the same or got worse, compared to 60% in 2023. In addition, 3% said it was very difficult to reach their deskless or frontline workers, while 36% said it was easy and 13% said very easy.

Steven Frost, chief executive officer of WorkBuzz, said: “Employers are trying to solve a challenging paradox: providing their people with the option of remote and flexible working on the one hand, while managing the wellbeing fallout from this on the other. Reconciling flexibility with duty of care to ensure a supportive and thriving workplace culture, is a challenge many HR teams are currently struggling to navigate.

“HR leaders are placing greater weight on listening to their employees to find out how their daily lived experiences can be improved. They want to make changes that are genuinely reflective of what employees want and need rather than investing in sweeping top-down initiatives. Securing highly skilled diverse candidates, especially those with transformative digital skills, is a struggle across many UK industries. It requires HR professionals to take a holistic approach so that their organisation is viewed as an appealing and inclusive destination for all.”