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05 Aug 2019
by Mike Blake

How to evolve your wellbeing offering from ‘a bunch of benefits’ to a holistic strategy

Wellbeing and productivity are intrinsically linked and there is a growing expectation for businesses to prioritise the health and wellbeing of its workforce. 

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According to Willis Towers Watson’s Global Benefits Attitudes Survey (GBAS), almost half (49 per cent) of employees think employers should actively encourage them to lead healthier lives – a consequence of an increasingly health-conscious workforce. 

Wellbeing programmes are mutually advantageous, with employees experiencing improved health and wellbeing, and employers seeing better business outcomes linked to a reduction in sickness absence and increased productivity and retention.   

Eager to manage employee health risks, it may come as no surprise that three quarters (74 per cent) of employers say that increasing employee engagement in health and wellbeing is a key priority over the coming three years (GBAS). However, the stumbling block for many companies is delivery. 

Despite their good intentions, almost two thirds (64 per cent) of businesses said that they offer various programmes but have not formally articulated a health and wellbeing strategy (GBAS). 

Employers should be seeking to forge a holistic health strategy, rather than take a scattershot approach by offering individual, disconnected programmes. Only then can companies realise their goal of engaging employees and influencing behaviours. 

Boosting engagement

There is an evident disconnect between what employers think employees need and what they really value. 

Although 38 per cent of employers believe their wellbeing initiatives have encouraged employees to live a healthier lifestyle, just 23 per cent of employees agree (GBAS).   

Furthermore, just 30 per cent of employees said that the initiatives offered by their employer to support their health and wellbeing met their needs.

It is clear that companies are overestimating the impact of wellbeing initiatives. In order to remedy this, businesses need to be transparent and listen to their employees’ feedback.

For example, the GBAS study found that offering onsite and near-site health programmes enhances perceptions of employers’ wellbeing initiatives. 

Using insights such as these, and by promoting interconnectivity, businesses are more likely to develop an effective strategy and witness higher employee benefit uptake. 

A wellbeing strategy should clearly set out the objectives of initiatives, the health risks they are targeting and how these align with the wider corporate business goals. In addition, it should provide clear direction, defining not only the objectives but also the wellbeing programme’s delivery mechanisms, ownership and responsibilities.

The approach should be a multi-faceted one that combines education with analysis and support.

Communication is key

Opening up the channels of communication between employee and employer is key to effective delivery and encouraging programme uptake.

According to GBAS, just 21 per cent of businesses effectively communicate to employees the strategy and value proposition behind health and wellbeing programmes. 

If employees are not fully aware of the programmes available to them or do not understand their relevance, businesses will not see the benefit and their investment will be wasted. 

Employers need to take a coordinated approach to health and wellbeing, based on a clearly communicated strategy that helps employees understand the benefits of participation to both themselves and the company.

It is important to be consistent with messaging, and businesses can help achieve this through health-centric internal marketing campaigns.

Regular email bulletins, briefings, seminars or newsletters might be used to raise awareness of a series of health issues.

Preventative health is important to a well-developed health strategy, so lifestyle choices should be high on the communications agenda, covering everything from stress management and smoking to diet and exercise. 

Employers should create a communication strategy that raises awareness, educates and drives behavioural change.

Drilling down on data

An analysis of existing health-related business data can help identify where core health risks lie and can help steer businesses in creating an effective strategy for addressing them.

However, Willis Towers Watson 2017 Benefits Trends Survey showed that, only 12 per cent of businesses currently use organisational analytics to measure the effectiveness of their wellbeing programmes.

Actively, and accurately, collating and analysing data through a number of different means furnishes employers with greater insights to better identify and address employee health issues and patterns of behaviour.

Employers can gain a clear picture of the health of their workforce by implementing a number of practices which include: maintaining absence records; monitoring incidents of presenteeism; hosting onsite health screening; obtaining medical claims information; analysing data derived from wearable technologies; running regular staff surveys and collecting information from Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs), to name a few.

Quality data gathering and analysis gives employers key insights into the needs of their unique workforce, facilitating evidence-based health and wellbeing strategy that delivers real benefits. 

In the absence of a data driven, strategic approach, employers run the risk of adhoc wellbeing investments that do not meet the needs of their workforce and fail to successfully deliver on organisational objectives.

Don’t wait to take action

It is understandable if companies are somewhat trepidatious when it comes to developing an overarching health and wellbeing strategy, as it may seem like a monumental task.

However, it should be remembered that wellness supports the business strategy, and treating it as so – with clear objectives and careful planning – will help companies keep focus and strive for success.

Organisations that have tended to take a fragmented approach to wellness in the past should look to establish a strong foundation on which to build an effective and measurable strategy, suitable for the modern workplace.

Technology can help companies towards this goal, by easing the administrative burden and streamlining processes, assisting with everything from garnering employee feedback and effective communication, to analysis of absence management data and consumer-centric benefits platforms. 

On a final note, it is important to remember that a health strategy should be ever-evolving, rather than static, to ensure programmes remain relevant and meet the needs of an ever-changing workforce. 

The author is Mike Blake, wellbeing lead at Willis Towers Watson.

This article is provided by Willis Towers Watson.

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