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  • Employees’ requirements and priorities have changed since the Covid-19 pandemic, which highlighted a need for more wellbeing-related support.
  • Employers should ensure they regularly review their health strategies so these remain relevant and effective.
  • Seeking employee feedback can highlight what healthcare benefits are most valued.

Despite 87% of employees taking responsibility for their own wellbeing, just 31% actually engage with workplace programmes, according to health and wellbeing provider HCML’s November 2024 research. This percentage suggests that workplace health initiatives are not meeting employees’ needs, which often evolve throughout their career, so how can employers ensure that they continue to meet expectations and requirements?

Requirement and priority changes

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, there was more of a focus on reactive support for employee health issues, with employers offering healthcare benefits that provide help as and when an employee falls ill. Flexible and remote working were not as prominent for as many employees as they are now, particularly following the introduction of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023. Mental health assistance or dedicated wellbeing initiatives that are used now by employers as a vital support tool and build the case for an attractive place to work, were not as high a priority for employers as they are now, as highlighted by MHFA England in its July 2022 research, which saw 81% of workplaces increase their focus on employee mental health following the pandemic.

In addition, there has been a shift towards proactively prioritising employee wellbeing, mental health and work-life balance in the years following the pandemic, supported by the fact that 57% of employers introduced access to mental health resources to support employees’ health post-2020, according to research published by CBI Business in May 2022. 

Mike Hay, chief people officer at Benenden Health, says: “Continuing pressure on the NHS means employees are looking for private plans that fill the gap. Whether that is access to services such as GPs on demand, or private medical diagnostic services, it’s important to have healthcare strategies that complement demands.”

The Covid-19 pandemic created a world where employees became more acutely aware of their health and related risks, highlighting the benefits of flexible work arrangements for some individuals and comprehensive workplace health support. Employers should try to understand what impact health and wellbeing has on their organisations and how they can ensure their benefits provision meets employees’ needs. This can help them create flexible, supportive workplaces that prioritise wellbeing to differentiate themselves from competitors.

Both employers and employees now have a much greater appreciation of the role of prevention and how it can impact short- and long-term health, says Pippa Andrews, director of corporate business at Vitality. “This is because we all have a much better understanding of it,” she says. “We have also seen a steady increase in people expecting their employers to do more to support their health.”

An evolving healthcare strategy

To create a healthcare strategy that evolves alongside employee needs, employers must build a system that responds to these, using creativity and innovation in the services and benefits they provide.

Wendy Sherry, chief executive officer for global health benefits, international health at Cigna Healthcare, says: ”By focusing on physical, mental and financial wellbeing, preventive care, and by actively responding to employee needs and feedback, employers can create a proactive healthcare strategy that not only evolves alongside its workforce but also supports overall vitality.”

Providing inclusive and equitable benefits, education and awareness initiatives that address specific challenges faced by different groups can help foster a sense of belonging and create a culture that enables employees to thrive.

In order to ensure their healthcare strategy evolves to meet requirements, employers should also take the time to understand their workforce’s overall health and needs. By doing this, through surveys or regular communication, they can transform their strategy and approach to drive better health and wellbeing outcomes. “Those that support better health and wellbeing across an organisation well nearly always position it at the top of the business,” says Andrews. ”They take the time to understand who their employees are and commit to reviewing and changing their approach regularly as things change. Employees are increasingly looking for this from their employers, as those that do so have a more productive workforce.”

Employers should also ensure they stay informed about the latest healthcare innovations, regulatory changes and best practice, to ensure their strategies remain relevant and effective. Additionally, key to developing a meaningful strategy is understanding employee health risk through in-depth analysis of data. “Employee feedback can provide valuable insights into what they value most in their healthcare benefits and complement external trend research,” says Hay. “By fostering a culture of open communication and continuous improvement, employers can create healthcare strategies that evolve and meet the needs of their multigenerational workforces.”

Some employers are looking to utilise predictive analytics and AI to maximise their investment and develop more targeted interventions, says Rachel Western, principal at Aon. “With rising costs seen on employee benefits versus budget constraints within organisations, now is the time to evaluate healthcare strategies to manage the increasing costs associated with employee health risk, and meet increasing demand for support due to the NHS service availability decline,” she explains.

Reviewing employer strategies

Regular reviews of health and wellbeing strategies are important, but so too is monitoring their impact. By regularly reviewing the utilisation of what they offer, and checking how it matches with employees’ needs and expectations, employers can ensure a higher take up.

“A healthcare strategy should constantly evolve with market, employee risk, and socio-economic changes, so setting key performance indicators and measurements to test against is important,” says Western. ”Standing still is no longer really an option.”

To ensure they remain relevant to current employee needs, healthcare strategies should ideally be reviewed annually, if not more frequently. If organisations are only reviewing these every two to three years, their support may not be aligned with the latest healthcare trends, regulatory changes, and shifting requirements of their workforce.

“An annual strategy review can support organisations to see what is working and what isn’t, but different employers will need different things, depending on their size and the type of work employees do,” adds Andrews. ”By positioning health and wellbeing and productivity at the top, employers can ensure they have the biggest impact and get value from what they are doing.”

In order to ensure their healthcare strategy is evolving to meet employees’ needs, employers should frequently communicate with them and regularly review their benefits provision.