Dawn's inside track: the move towards a global wellbeing approach

Wellbeing resonates across all countries and cultures. Perhaps that’s why organisations are taking an increasingly global stance towards employee wellbeing? Or perhaps the technology to enable this is now starting to catch up?

Either way, there is evidence of a strong trend towards operating a single global benefits strategy and/or set of principles. Aon’s Benefits and Trends Survey 2019 reveals that 72% of organisations either have a single strategy or are working towards one. In terms of technology, 13.5% have a single global benefits platform, and a further 26% are looking to introduce one.

Thomsons Online Benefits found this trend to be even more defined. It found that only 31% of organisations have had a defined global benefits strategy in place for three or more years. However, progress is being made and quickly. In the next few years, if the organisations planning or currently writing a defined global benefits strategy implement them, then the percentage with a strategy will rise to 82%.

Thomsons’ Global Employee Benefits Watch Report 2018/19 highlights the importance of technology in enabling employers to deliver a consumer-grade experience to employees that attracts, retains and engages. In fact, 82% of organisations said that the number one objective of their global benefits strategy was to ‘attract and retain talent’. Enhancing employee engagement (65%) and promoting health and wellbeing (52%) were the second and third priorities respectively.

Key initiatives within global strategies were identified as tighter control of costs, globally standard benefits design principals, and global governance (a single view of benefits data).

Despite this drive to introduce a global strategy, only one in three organisations believe their benefits strategy is aligned with their people strategy. Thomsons' report argues that every touchpoint an employee has with their employer must chime with what their employer says about themselves, which is why the employee experience needs to align globally to the organisation’s brand.

Global outlooks are increasingly becoming the norm within businesses, particularly where the reward function is concerned. And although there may be regional or in-country variations of benefits and wellbeing provisions, the overarching strategies remain the same.

Wellbeing isn’t only viewed in a global context but also now in terms of organisational success. The First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon recently gave a TED Talk on governments’ need to re-evaluate their measure of success.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been used as our measure of output and, in turn, success for nearly 100 years. However, this is becoming less relevant in today’s world, where sustainability and individual values have greater resonance.

Sturgeon argues that a wellbeing economy – one which considers the most important aspects to be equal pay, childcare, mental health and access to green space etc – can help to resolve global challenges.

To this end, Scotland, New Zealand and Iceland have formed the network of Wellbeing Economy Governments to challenge the use of GDP as a measure of success.

Sturgeon believes that, “wellbeing should be at the heart of everything we do”. And that is a sentiment that should not only resonate with individuals, but also within businesses and governments.

As employers take a global approach to their wellbeing and reward strategies, what is becoming clear is the need for these strategies to filtrate through all areas of business to ensure they are aligned with the growing call for organisations to be part of a sustainable, ethical and healthy economy.

The author is Dawn Lewis, content editor at REBA.