Category: Health and Wellbeing WorkpIace Issues

Health and Wellbeing is becoming an increasingly significant issue within the workplace. Employers are placing greater emphasis and investment on supporting employees with various challenges, whether they’re mental, physical, financial or social. This is fantastic news! A frequently asked question however, is who should oversee health and wellbeing in the workplace? Whose responsibility is it?

Some believe the answer is determined by the overall purpose of your health and wellbeing programme. Was it set up to help with high levels of sickness absence? To attract and retain the best talent? Was it set up to address mental health support? Or to educate employees about better nutrition?

While there is merit in this perspective and whatever the core reason for your health and wellbeing programme, we believe consideration needs to be given to the bigger picture.

Traditionally, ‘people issues’ fell to HR. Today, organisations’ are taking a more comprehensive and blended approach to supporting their employees. Health and wellbeing means different things to different people and has many facets, requiring input from different parts of an organisation. For example, HR undoubtedly still has a role to play, but so too do Occupational Health, Facilities Management, Recruitment, Employee Benefits, the C-Suite and so on.

Such a collaborative, blended approach to health and wellbeing means that the coordination of resources and the use of metrics become key in monitoring the services provided, their uptake, the level of investment and the return on that investment. Without metrics, any health and wellbeing programme will fall flat.

Metrics can be used over time to measure specified key performance indicators, to spot trends and correlations and to further enhance health and wellbeing in the workplace.

Health and wellbeing is slowly, yet increasingly being seen as an initiative that falls to many, rather than just one department. Potentially, this means that health and wellbeing programmes will be more comprehensive and robust, with more employees using the services on offer. Draw and coordinate the resources available to you across your organisation, use metrics to benchmark, monitor and ultimately, secure investment - your employees and your organisation will thank you.

With the first quarter of 2023 almost done, HR professionals and industry in general, now have a better understanding of employee and business trends going forward. In this article, we give you a summary round-up of these understandings and observations so far.

So how can employers help ease the challenges faced by their employees and what are the best approaches?
 

• Increase in People Analytics - making better use of people data from various sources within the business to inform business decisions and strategy is key. Using people analytics to inform your business’ direction can be incredibly insightful and powerful - correlations can be discovered, solutions can be found and actions can be taken, all of which will be evidence based. Unlock the potential of both your people and your business through establishing insight and context.

• Employee Feedback - Giving employees a stronger voice, makes them feel empowered and can lead to increased employee engagement. Having a feedback point accessible at all times, such as a designated chat channel or specific feedback system, as well as intermittent surveys, polls, allows their comments to be heard and valued - employers get a greater insight into what employees think, want, and need. Subsequently, this feedback can be used to manage employee expectations and for employers to incorporate employee feedback into future business decisions and strategy. In short, employee feedback can increase loyalty, engagement, productivity, and profitability, whilst also allowing businesses to track their return on investment.

• Implementation of Menopause Policies - so many women struggle with menopause and like any other health issue, it deserves due recognition. Despite the Government rejecting the call for Menopause to be recognised as a protected characteristic and to trial Menopause leave, it has however encouraged employers to give increased attention to supporting women experiencing Menopause symptoms in the workplace, by implementing Menopause policies.

• Continuation of Hybrid and Flexi-Working - during the pandemic work patterns changed significantly, as did people’s priorities. Convenience, flexibility, work life integration, and family time are now given far more importance than they previously were. In addition to this, since December 2022, legislation allowing employees to request flexible working hours from the start of their employment has come into effect. A key factor for businesses around the recruitment and the retention of employee talent.

• Recruitment and Retention - in a report published by Octopus, they state that ‘Post-COVID, many people are searching for a job that better aligns with their values or lifestyle. Others are not just quitting their jobs - but changing professions entirely - to pursue work that feels more meaningful to them….
   
  This poses a real challenge for employers because Britain is currently facing its tightest labour market in years. They are having difficulty finding and retaining employees as the great resignation takes its toll’

  Having issues around attracting and retaining talent and filling potential skills gaps, is forcing businesses to look at ways to make their organisations, job roles and employment packages more attractive and realistic for the world today - financial security, tangible benefits, flexibility and convenience, meaningful work and career progression, all being key. A comprehensive employment package will also reduce recruitment costs long term and will increase employee loyalty.

• Employee Benefits and Rewards will receive greater investment - to better engage, motivate and reward employees for the work they do, their overall contribution to the business, as well as supporting them with the everyday challenges they face.

   
  David Pye, Director At Leading Independent Consultancy Broadstone says ‘Businesses need to take a more proactive approach to both recruitment and retention, ensuring that their workers have access to what matters to them and that their employee value proposition is targeted and relevant. Good pay in the current inflationary environment is obviously important, but so are many ancillary benefit offerings such as employee wellbeing propositions and it appears key sectors have failed in many of these areas that could lead them to fail over the medium term’

  Octopus found that employees are crying out for more benefits which offer tangible financial support. In fact, 73% of employees want cash saving benefits, particularly now during the cost of living crisis. Support around childcare, food, travel, health and wellbeing and work life integration are where employers should focus their benefit package offerings.

  In the everyday work environment, initiatives such as clear career progression and development, spot bonuses, length of service rewards and acknowledgement for work well done all help to make employees feel valued and loyal to your business.

By bringing the above highlighted elements into your employee benefits package and your business management strategy, you’ll be able to fulfil the needs of both your people and your business. You’ll be able to support and reward your employees, to increase employee retention and engagement, to improve the levels of stability, productivity and of course, overall profitability to your business. People are a key asset to your business, invest in them wisely.