Over one-third (37%) of employers chose to invest in health and wellbeing strategies to support productivity and motivation, according to exclusive research by Aon.
Its Rising Resilient report that surveyed 2,500 employees and HR decision makers, published in October 2020, also found that a further 35% of organisations do so to improve job performance. However, despite 80% of employers seeing the benefits of health and wellbeing initiatives, the report found that this does not have a significant impact on creating a resilient workforce.
Furthermore, only 15% of employees are resilient at organisations that offer no health and wellbeing programmes, just under a third (29%) are resilient if a partial health and wellbeing strategy is introduced, while 45% of staff are resilient if they are offered a broad health and wellbeing programme.
When it comes to wellbeing strategies, 13% of employers do not offer initiatives focused on healthy living, with almost a half (43%) of employees working for these organisations claiming that there are no benefits focused on this issue. Almost one-fifth (18%) of employers do not offer emotional wellbeing benefits, with 44% of staff believing that there are no initiatives in this area, while 12% of employers do not offer strategies based on flexible work or skill development, and a further 39% unaware of the benefits that may be available to them.
The report found that just under half (44%) of employees that are not resilient, say they are highly motivated. Further research found that, overall, 30% of staff are currently resilient, with an additional 86% saying they are highlight motivated to work.
Resilience at work increases employee enthusiasm by 45%, energy by 39%, followed by concentration at 27%. Additionally, confidence and satisfaction levels have proven to be impacted by resilience, with these factors seeing an increase of 32% and 44%. UK employees could see enthusiasm increase by 47% if they are resilient, followed by an improvement to satisfaction (47%), energy (46%), confidence (33%) and concentration (31%).
Just over two-fifths (42%) do not feel secure in their job, with a further 52% not feeling a sense of belonging, while over half (55%) of staff that are non-resilient, do not believe that they can fulfil their potential. Additionally, just over one-third (37%) of employees that are non-resilient feel that they can take care of their personal needs at work, compared to 88% of resilient employees. A further 28% of non-resilient staff believe that they can go to their manager for support.
In terms of job satisfaction, the most common reasons for insecurity in staff roles are employer controlled factors (50%) and the economic environment (42%). However, 72% of employees that feel secure in their jobs are likely to stay with the organisation for the foreseeable future.
Geoffrey Kuhn, senior vice president and actuary, health solutions, Aon, said: “Developing resilient employees is complex. It requires balancing many different factors and the recipe for how to do it well is evolving just as employees do. Yet smart, strategic investment is more than good housekeeping; it is part of what makes a business thrive.
“As the World Health Organisation (WHO) sets out in its Health 2020/2021 policy framework, resilience ‘is shaped by the availability of supportive environments’ which ‘are essential for people to increase control over the determinants of their health’. At work, organisations need to step up and create that perfect environment for resilience to thrive. This means understanding the context and content for delivering effective health and wellbeing programmes and initiatives, along with the ten factors, among them encouraging positive health behaviours, supporting mental health, sharing responsibility and control as well as developing financial security, that are currently impacting workforces today.”