Employee Wellness Research 2016: Mental and financial wellbeing key part of wellness strategies

Employers are increasingly putting mental and financial wellbeing strategies at the heart of what they do in wellness, according to research conducted by the Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA), in conjunction with Punter Southall Health & Protection.

The REBA/Punter Southall Health & Protection Employee Wellness Research 2016 report showed that more than three quarters (78.9%) address mental health and physical wellbeing within their wellness strategies while nearly half (49.3%) include financial education and advice.

The increasing focus is likely due to an increased recognition from employers about the impact that mental health and money worries can have on the workforce.

The most recent Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) absence survey listed stress and mental ill-health as the second and third most common causes of long-term absence respectively with financial concerns at home the top cause of employee stress for 10% of employees surveyed.

When it comes to mental health however the REBA report suggests that it is still a subject that needs to be dealt with sensitively and with board support and that cultural obstacles still need to be overcome to enable employers and employees to be more open with each other.

“It’s encouraging that attitudes are changing and that issues like mental and financial health are being integrated into wellness strategies,” said Debi O’Donovan, director of REBA. “However our research suggests there is still more to be done in this area to help support employees and encourage them to talk through their problems, especially since our study also showed that nearly one in five (18.3%) said that they had no plans to include financial education in the foreseeable future.”

Download a free copy of the 36 page, in-depth REBA/Punter Southall Health & Protection Employee Wellness Research 2016