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A quick summary:
With budgets being cut, the war for top talent, wellbeing fatigue plaguing HR teams, and the endless sea of solutions out there, the future of wellbeing at work might not look good.
But there are some positives too.
Wellbeing is more important to both employers and employees than ever before which means we have a better idea of what’s worthwhile when it comes to employee wellbeing.
What is the biggest challenge with the future of wellbeing?
When it comes to the world of wellbeing specifically, we’re at a tipping point. Things could either look extremely positive, or we could find ourselves slipping into a storm before things get better.
Future Option #1
Right now, there’s a focus on sticking plasters on problems, not tackling the real causes of ill health and poor wellbeing. And in this future PMI essentially just becomes wellbeing.
With the NHS in crisis, obesity at an all time high, and the UK’s highest number of sick absences in over a decade - things aren’t going to look good if things continue and PMI costs will increase further as a result.
What’s more, is that over half of sick absences are due to poor mental health. And the problem for wellbeing is that it’s on track to becoming only about keeping unwell people happy enough to work.
As an industry, we need to start moving away from how we categorise employees by demographic or make assumptions into their wellbeing needs. In short, stop putting people in boxes.
For example, when it comes to physical wellbeing, the standard go-to benefit is a Gym Membership.
And this means that you’re telling employees that the only way you’ll support them with their physical wellbeing is to go to the gym.
In reality, not everyone likes the gym and takes care of their wellbeing in different ways. We need to accept that an employee's individual journey and THEIR way of doing wellbeing is the BEST way, instead of telling them how to do it.
What’s the best future for employee wellbeing?
Companies are already spending thousands on worst case scenario situations instead of tackling the root cause. The question is: can we redirect that to combat issues before they arise?
Enter, Future Option #2
The overall theme is that prevention is better than a cure.
This change in perspective won’t happen overnight but by focusing on benefits that are about nurturing positive wellbeing instead of curing poor wellbeing, companies can find a whole host of other benefits.
The long term goal with this in mind is by maintaining a workforce with positive wellbeing, there will be less PMI claims, less sick absences, and better physical and mental health across the board.
As a result, your PMI and insurance benefit costs are going to be reduced.
For internal stakeholders, viewing the importance of preventative health & wellbeing benefits on the same level as PMI is the best future. And there’s no better time to start making that change than right now.
Is employee wellbeing changing slowly?
If we take a look at the employee wellbeing industry as it is today and compare it to things a decade ago, not much has really changed. The exact same employee benefits that had their place on every job description is still there and the volume of employees suffering with mental health and poor wellbeing is higher than ever.
There’s a cynic out there that may make excuses; “it’s because of Gen Z!” , “It’s the pandemic’s fault!”
The truth is, we are in the perfect primed position for employee wellbeing to be better than ever. Awareness of personal wellbeing and the importance of it in the workplace has never been greater.
So why is wellbeing at an all time low?
Because things haven’t really changed. While awareness is important it’s clear that awareness doesn’t lead to action.
Are niche wellbeing solutions the answer?
We need to take out the word ”employee” from employee wellbeing. The word “employee” has connotations with cheap products and solutions that likely are paid per person, per annum regardless of use. It has connotations that it needs to be an app or use AI or the latest sexy technology.
In reality, there’s no one app that solves wellbeing. Many companies we speak to have implemented employee wellbeing solutions that focus on a niche. And these solutions claim to have a major impact within that niche. The problem however, is that with that niche alone, you can only have a limited impact on the wellbeing of your entire workforce.
There are some great niche wellbeing providers out there but the reality of it is that they’re never going to have a wide scale impact on your workforce.
And over time, some of those are just going to fall by the wayside because it doesn’t work for everybody.
It also presents the challenge that you find yourself with a collection of different platforms and providers all focussing on various niches within wellbeing as opposed to having a truly comprehensive setup.
That means lots more admin time spent on managing each solution, lots more money spent on multiple solutions, and the risk of low employee engagement across all of them.
The problem with multiple providers covering multiple niches is that you have a benefit that doesn’t help every individual employee. And that’s not going to have the impact you are hoping for.
Allow employees to take wellbeing into their own hands
It’s time to stop pigeon-holing employees into what they can and can’t do for their wellbeing. We need to allow employees to have the ability to do wellbeing on their own terms.
The impact of wellbeing can be difficult to measure. Afterall, it’s practically impossible to understand the wellbeing of every individual employee across a large workforce. It’s often why many wellbeing benefits and solutions out there opt for simple surface-level reporting to present pseudo-impact data.
But when it comes to measuring impact, it doesn’t mean tracking how many employees have logged into your flex platform, or how many have selected their preferences. That’s not impact, despite HR teams being told that it is for the last 10+ years.
To understand the actual impact of a wellbeing solution, here are some pointers:
- How many employees are using it? - Not just logging in, but actually using your available benefits.
- Are your employees talking about your new benefit? - People love talking about things they love. If your benefits are working then word of mouth will spread naturally.
- How detailed is your provider's reporting? - If data is lacklustre and not in-depth then maybe you’re only seeing the data that they want you to see!
- Speak to your employees - Using surveys or in general conversations, ask your employees what they like, don’t like, or if there’s things they’d prefer.
- How much do you like the benefit? - You have access to company benefits too. If your new benefit doesn’t get you excited, it’s likely the majority of the team feel the same.
Other ways of measuring impact could be through feedback from leavers and new joiners, asking them what they think of your benefits offering and what excites them the most.
Finally, keeping an eye on employee satisfaction through Glassdoor or other review sites might help you have a pulse check on what employees are liking the most when it comes to wellbeing benefits.
Conclusion
While looking ahead at the future of wellbeing can be useful, it’s important to understand that you are in control of the future of wellbeing at your business. What are your business goals and objectives in the next 3 years when it comes to wellbeing? How are you going to get there?
To find out more about our perspective watch our on-demand webinar on the state of workplace health and wellness.
There’s no better time to take action than right now. Fortunately, Heka can help. We’re the top rated employee benefit in the UK for a reason. To see more about Heka, book a demo with the team today.
