As our Wellness Week, in association with Incorpore, draws to a close, it is time to reflect on some of the trends and issues currently shaping this area of the benefits market.
Promoting and supporting employee wellbeing is high on the agenda at those organisations that recognise the significant impact it has on performance, productivity, absence rates and staff turnover. So, what factors can affect an individual’s overall wellness? And, once these are identified, how can employers provide effective support?
Broadly speaking, physical, mental and financial wellbeing are the key focus points for HR departments when considering employee wellness. Far from implementing one-off initiatives on these topics, however, tackling wellness should involve a holistic strategy.
For example, employers should consider how they can move beyond simply offering free fruit and an annual wellbeing week, and instead embrace a rolling wellbeing programme that can engage and benefit employees on a monthly basis. This type of approach can be linked to organisational culture and values, and ensure that staff feel that their employer truly cares, rather than seeing wellbeing as simply a tick-box exercise.
Preventative health measures can also help improve and encourage employee wellness. This refers to support structures covering all aspects of wellbeing, including both the physical and mental aspects, that adopt a preventative or proactive approach.
Technology, apps and workforce data can help employers in choosing or planning relevant preventative initiatives for their employees. Organisations should then be sure to engage all staff, and effectively communicate any wellbeing initiatives they put in place, to ensure maximum impact.
Whatever your organisation’s approach, Wellness Week was designed to help you take this to the next level through exclusive insights and opinions uncovering best practice in this area. These included:
- Top tips for using workplace-led interventions to improve employee wellbeing
- BSUH uses health and psychotherapy service to improve staff wellbeing
- Mark Earl: Workplace communities bring benefits to health and wellbeing
- From tactic to strategy: Creating a year-round approach to wellness
- Forster Communications aligns wellbeing strategy with business goals
- Ewen MacPherson: Health and wellbeing during organisational change
- How can preventative health measures support employee wellness?
- QBE boosts wellness programme by training managers to support mental health
- Joe McIndoe: Using corporate social responsibility to promote employee wellness
- James Shillaker: Employee wellness is more than a tick-box exercise
Kavitha Sivasubramaniam
Editor
Tweet: @kavithasiva_EB