Employee wellbeing is a top priority for many employers, but how many can say that their health and wellbeing provision is truly living up to its full potential?
Two separate pieces of research published this week suggest that while employers are investing in supporting their workforces’ health and wellbeing, this often appears to be missing the mark with employees. Cigna Healthcare’s Harnessing health – measuring the impact of employee health and wellbeing benefits, for example, found there to be a disconnect between employer intentions and employee perspectives. While employers reported tangible advantages of offering health and wellbeing options for staff, 58% also said these are underutilised by employees.
Willis Towers Watson’s Wellbeing diagnostic survey, meanwhile, revealed a disparity between the focus of organisations’ wellbeing provision and employees’ needs. This found that mental and physical wellbeing were the top areas of focus for employers’ wellbeing programmes, being prioritised by 72% and 45% respectively. However, 59% of employee respondents identified financial wellbeing as their top area of concern, which was only deemed a priority for 24% of employers.
In addition, while more than two-thirds (69%) of employer respondents believe their organisation’s wellbeing programmes are important in supporting employees’ health, just 29% of employees said they agree. Employees’ perception of the effectiveness of these initiatives has also fallen in recent years, from 38% in 2022 to 27% now.
With the annual hidden cost of sickness absence having increased by £30 billion since 2018, according to research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), there is a clear argument for ensuring corporate health and wellbeing strategies meet employees’ needs.
There can be no argument that many employers are prioritising and investing in employee wellbeing, so is a rethink needed to ensure strategies meet employers’ desired aims and achieve a good return on their investment? Should employees have greater input into the benefits they receive from their employer? Or is greater communication needed to ensure employees are fully aware of the benefits they are entitled to?
This change in thinking shouldn’t only lie with employers. Outside factors may also play a part in changing employees’ perceptions as they may also find themselves more reliant on their employers’ health and wellbeing provision. It may become more difficult for some to access NHS healthcare following the British Medical Association’s announcement of a work-to-rule action for GPs, for example. This could seen some GPs reduce the number of appointments they carry out per day to 25 from more than 40.
Whatever the reason behind it, addressing the disconnect in perceptions around health and wellbeing provision could have significant advantages for all parties.
Debbie Lovewell-TuckEditorTweet: @DebbieLovewell
